Advanced web server statistics with AWStats v5.3

[TheLinker]

Update: You can also find this tutorial here.

Hi all... this is an updated (and bugfixed) article on how to use AWStats to generate advanced web server statistics from the Abyss log files. My previous "how-to" article can be found here.
AWStats is a perl script and can be run in CGI mode and from command line. The following preparation needs to be done before you install and configure AWStats...:

1. Download the latest stable version from http://awstats.sourceforge.net/. At this time it is version 5.3.
2. Make sure you have configured Abyss to run perl script, as described on http://www.aprelium.com/abyssws/perl.html.
3. Open the Abyss Console and go to Server Configuration > Advanced > Server Parameters. Set Extended Logging Format to Yes. If this is already done, and you are sure the log only has data in the extended logging format... skip the next instruction.
4. Delete your current Abyss log files, as you need to get access information in the extended logging format.

Now it's time to install AWStats. In this example I use c:\awstats as the program directory for AWStats. Unzip the awstats-53.zip archive to your c:\ drive. Rename the directory c:\awstats-5.3 to c:\awstats. If done correctly, you should see 3 directories inside your c:\awstats...: docs, tools and wwwroot. Do the following within your c:\awstats directory...:

1. Create 1 new directory called data.
2. Rename the wwwroot directory to www.
3. Move the contents of the directory c:\awstats\www\cgi-bin\ to the c:\awstats\www\ directory.
4. After the above operation is done, your www\cgi-bin\ directory should be empty. You can delete www\cgi-bin\.

Inside your c:\awstats\www directory, you should see the following directories and files...: icon, lang, lib, plugins, awstats.pl and awstats.model.conf.

Now it's time to make a configuration for your site. The next message will tell you how...[/b]

[TheLinker]

I am not an expert in all the configuration details on AWStats, so I'll just describe the basics.

Make a copy of the file awstats.model.conf and call it awstats.mysite.no-ip.com.conf. Change the mysite.no-ip.com part of the filename to what your site name is... e.g. awstats.www.mysite.com.conf. It's just a filename, so don't worry about the site name being registered.

Open the newnamed conf file in your favourite notepad editor. Look for the following sections in the file, and change accordingly:

LogFile= Set this to the location of your log file... e.g.
LogFile="C:/Program Files/Abyss Web Server/log/access.log"

LogFormat=1 , Remember we changed the log format for Abyss. This is why.

DirData="C:/awstats/data" , Storage directory for statistical data. This is where the new data directory is in use.

DirCgi="/awstats" , We need to make an alias later.

DirIcons="/awstats/icon", A path to the AWStats icons.

SiteDomain= , Set this to your site name... e.g.
SiteDomain="mysite.no-ip.com"

AllowToUpdateStatsFromBrowser=1 , This makes it possible to update the statistics from the web. Read the notes for this switch.


Save the conf file, and keep on reading for the final instructions...

[TheLinker]

Now we need to make this perl script accessible from the web. Open the Abyss Console and go to Server Configuration > Advanced > Aliases. Create a new alias, where virtual path is /awstats and real path is c:\awstats\www. It's time to access the statistics for the first time.

Open your web browser and enter: http://mysite.no-ip.com/awstats/awstats.pl?config=mysite.no-ip.com. You must of course enter your site name, and the name of your conf file. In the page being generated, you should see a link called Update now. Click this link to update the statistical data.

If you deleted your current log file, you will not see much data for now. But if your site is frequently visited, you will soon see alot of information about your visitors.

As I wrote earlier, I'm not an expert on AWStats. Read the included documentation and conduct your own experiments with the conf files.

Best of regards... 8)

[aprelium]

The Linker, thank you for your contribution :D
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Support Team
Aprelium - http://www.aprelium.com

[vbgunz]

Excellent 5.3 article... I tried your earlier version but it just didn't work and I thought maybe I should abandon all hope but luckily as I was trying to install awstats as according to the awstats manual I came across this article.

Excellent! it works perfectly now... You are the man and I thought not... Sorry but I was burnt as their was nothing out there that can easily set me up and running in 5 minutes...

Perfect, Keep it up 8O

Thanks!

[Docster]

[TheLinker]

Thank you all for these nice comments... :)

To make this article easier to find, I have uploaded it to the following address: http://home.no/thelinker/abyss/awstats/.

Best of regards... 8)

[Grundlegod]

i kno i kno its a little old but i cant get awstats to work i followed ur tutorial to the bones but all i get at the end is just a bunch of writing :cry: plz help

[Grundlegod]

plz some1 help! :cry: :(

[Axis]

Hi Grundlegod--

I just installed the awstats via this thread a few weeks ago. Try checking to see if you have the awstats path in your CGI Paths. Mine looks like this:
/awstats

Also, are you using the current version of Abyss (V1.2.0)?

Regards,
Axis

[Iwalter]

It worked! I can't believe it worked. I thought I was cursed when it came to the installation of cgi perl stuff. Thank you TheLinker, thank you very much.

One question though, Is there any way I can modify the server console so that I can view my new detailed statistics instead of the basic default ones?
-Ian

[senmax]

i did as your tutorial said and it worked great!
good job

what i wonder if ther is a possibility to see live stats ??

thanks

[Axis]

Hi senmax--

You might try baretail.exe from:
http://www.baremetalsoft.com/

Regards,
Axis

[senmax]

[AwPhuch]

Got a screenshot of working AWStats? or a linky??

P.S. Webalizer does this as well but isnt as flashy

Brian
AwPhuch
_________________

[some random person]

Hmm... I "think" I followed the steps correctly but something is messed up... When I go to the page that should view the stats, I get this error:

Couldn't open config file "awstats.awstats.clan-con.no-ip.org.conf" nor "awstats.conf" after searching in path ",/etc/awstats,/etc/opt/awstats,/etc,/usr/local/etc/awstats": No such file or directory

Setup (Config file, web server or permissions) may be wrong.
See AWStats documentation in 'docs' directory for informations on how to setup awstats.
Probobly something dumb on my part...
Edit: I think I have a version 5.9 not 5.3, i'll se if that has anything to do with it.
Ok, that was it. Works now... I think.
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[NickCR]

Many thanks for the informtaiton on setting up AW Stats, I have it all working now although I did have one problem that foxed me for a while so I thought I would post it here just in case it can help someone.

On following the instructions all I got was a Error 500 page, I eventually traced this down to the "CGI Scripts' Timeout (seconds)" variable in the CGI Parameters part fo the Aminimistration of Abyss. By increasing the time out from the default of 30 seconds to 60 seconds it all worked fine, I guess this is because I am running on an old machine and it is doing a fair bit (especially as the firwall and virus scanner take up a fair bit of the processor).

Regards

Nick

[Lobsterkins]

This was an excellent tutorial - thank you very much!! :D

[nrgfm]

[nrgfm]