configuring cgi-bin using .htaccess

Question

I'm trying to configure a directory as cgi-bin using .htaccess, but when I try to access the executables, the files are downloaded. I'm using apache2.2. What is the problem?

My .htaccess looks like:

# cat www/cgi-bin/.htaccess
Options +ExecCGI
AddHandler cgi-script cgi pl

File permissions are

# ls -1la www/cgi-bin/
total 60
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root  4096 iun 10 19:22 .
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root  4096 iun 10 19:18 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    46 iun 10 19:23 .htaccess
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 15358 iun 10 19:23 paperload.cgi
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 12728 iun 10 19:23 papers.cgi
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 12593 iun 10 19:23 paperview.cgi

Answer 1

Don't forget your dots:

Options +ExecCGI
AddHandler cgi-script .cgi .pl

Make note that you also have to modify the AllowOverride directive for that directory to allow your .htaccess files to be read.

Don't forget to restart Apache.