Python

The easiest way to get started with Python on a server is with CGI. The only real difference between CGI and running the script on your home computer is that CGI needs to output a Content-Type header.

Steps

• Open the File Manager in Plesk

• Open the httpdocs webroot directory. (If you were transferred from the old cPanel, the directory will be called public_html.)

• Open the cgi-bin directory

• In the top left click the + button and select Create File

• Type test.py as your filename

• Click OK to create the file

• Highlight the test.py file and select Change Permissions

• Add a checkmark to the Execute / Search column for all three rows (Owner / Group / Others)

• Click the Save button

• Make sure rwx r-x r-x (755) is displayed under the Permissions column

• Highlight test.py and select Edit in Text Editor

• Leave UTF-8 as the encoding, set Line break type to Convert to Unix style and copy/paste the below into the large text field:

#!/usr/bin/python3.10

print("Content-Type: text/html\n\n")

print("Heliohost rules!")

• Click the Save button

• Highlight the test.py file and select Open in Browser (Or manually navigate to: <your subdomain>.heliohost.org/cgi-bin/test.py)

If everything worked, you should see Heliohost rules! displayed in your browser.

Code Explanation

In the code pasted in, the first line is called the shebang. It tells the server which version of Python to use. On Tommy and Johnny, you can pick between:

Path	Version
#!/usr/bin/python2.7	2.7
#!/usr/bin/python3.6	3.6
#!/usr/bin/python3.10	3.10

The second line of code is the Content-Type header. This is important so the server knows what to do with the output that follows. If you forget it your script will give a useless 500 error. The Content-Type header always has to have the two end lines immediately after it. That's what the is.

Modules

You can see the modules that are currently installed on the Python versions:

Johnny

• Python 2.7

• Python 3.6

• Python 3.10

Tommy

• Python 2.7

• Python 3.6

• Python 3.10

If you don't see the module you need, your script will probably give a useless 500 error when you try to import the missing module. To request modules, please raise a request in the Customer Service forum, making sure to provide your server, the version of Python you're using, and the module(s) you need including any relevant version numbers for them.

Extra: Python scripts outside cgi-bin folders

Executing a CGI script outside the cgi-bin folder is possible with some modifications.

Steps

• Go to /home/<your username>/httpdocs. (If you were transferred from the old cPanel, the folder will be called public_html)

• Create a file named .htaccess and copy/paste the below in:

Options +ExecCGI
AddHandler cgi-script .py
DirectoryIndex index.py

The first two lines make .py files executable outside cgi-bin, and the last line makes the filename index.py show up if someone goes to your domain without having to type out the filename like domain.heliohost.org/index.py. This also supports other CGI file extensions.