ok FINALLY got apache to work. After i got it to work i set port 80 and 21 to forward to my ip. Well i can view the default apache page but no one else can....can you PLEASE help?

More details please, were not psychic you know ? How is anyone trying to access your website ? By IP or name ? Do you have any firewall restrictions ? How are you accessing it, locally or from another machine on same network, etc ? If they are trying to access by name, did you setup DNS or update your DNS with your domain name registrar.. etc ??

Details will get better answers, instead of a bunch of questions asked in return.

sorry, they are going by ip. the server is on a network. I set the ports to forward to the right ip addy not the one the router gives you. THanx

Ok, what's their error message they receive then ? Could be possibly your ISP blocks port 80 to prevent you from serving web pages ?

it says the page cannot be displayed, no the ports are not blocked...here is what i have
Cable Modem Access
Use DHCP
No static IP's. Server assigned IP address
(Persistent IP's available for commercial accounts only)
Disable DNS
After successful registration, IP Configuration should result in 24.11x.x.x
Ports that are BLOCKED : 135 through 139 and 445
(FYI - most of these ports being blocked help prevent malicious control of your computer from the outside world)
If using a router, during the signup of a Cable Modem the router must be a DHCP Client and a DHCP Server

And the router, is this like a Linksys type router, or a machine you might be running with iptables, etc ? If they are getting page cannot be displayed, something is being blocked as that is usually just a default time out, not found type error in browsers.

yes its a netgear RP114, like i said it has a firewal but i enabled the ports through the configuration....still dont know why it dont work

Try running a portscan on your IP address to see if port 80 is actually open. I suppose that would be the next step to find out for sure.

naww its not.....i just done that. ok well netgear SUX!!! thanx for the help......i will call them in a sec. again thanx

Well it might not be Netgears fault. If you are able to remove your router from the equation, try that. Give your box the IP and then try accessing via the actual IP not the router assigned one (dummy IP). If you do get it, then you will at least be able to let the Netgear folks know when you talk to them that you successfully connected without their router there, then added the router and now it doesn't work (hence, something wrong with the configuration in the router, or the router itself).

Cool

is why it wont work is b/c im telling people to acces it through the ip on the comp which is http://192.168.0.3 that is the ip that the router gives me

The 192.168.0.3 is a private IP behind a firewall. It is not addressable or routable to the real world. Only behind your router on the local network. If you setup port forwarding on the router than then IP the world would use is the router IP from your ISP that is dynamic so it will change. You will need to determine what that IP is for the router.

Somebody posted a link before that you could use to determine what it is, but I do not remember it. Perhaps somebody else can supply it. If you are able to login to the router it should have a status screen that would report what it was assigned.

ok i have it up....i just have 2 problems. FTP when i try to connect to my ftp it trys to connect to my router. And the other thing is my cable provider is stupid and doesn't off persistant ip addresses. Im looking at No-IP.com does anyone know anything about this company???? post replys

You stated in your first post that you set port 21 to forward from the router as well as port 80. If you now have port 80 functioning and ftp on port 21 is not, then I assume it is a machine config issue. Are you able to ftp from inside your network to your server? If yes, then it would probably go back to the router config or ISP. If no, then verify that ftp services are enabled in the /etc/inetd.conf file. For slack 8.1 it should point to proftpd.

If inetd.conf is set correctly, then verify that you connect from the local machine.

ftp localhost

Should present an ftp login prompt. If not then your proftpd needs to installed or fixed.

see i set it up on dmz. So that open like 6 ports. Well i can connect to the ftp by 192.168.0.3 then type in user name and log in. But when i connect to my ip it connects to the router. What about dns should i use it since i dont have a persistant ip