Sunday, February 27, 2011

Install virtual min on vps

Virtualmin is a FREE control panel that allows you to configure domains, email accounts etc via a easy to use interface. We are going to outline installing it on supported operating systems using the installation script provided by virtualmin.

We suggest using this on VPS MINI or Higher packages. However, here is a link to tweaking memory usage inside a VPS for customers with lower VPS packages:

http://www.virtualmin.com/documentation/id,virtualmin_on_low_memory_systems

Support Operating Systems:
=================================
- CentOS 4 and 5 on i386 or x86_64
- RHEL 5 on i386 and x86_64
- Debian 4.0 and 5.0 on i386 or amd64
- Ubuntu 6.06 LTS and 8.04 LTS on i386 or amd64

More details: http://www.virtualmin.com/os-support

Installation:
=================================

More details: http://www.virtualmin.com/documentation/installation

From the command line in your VPS:

cd /root
wget http://software.virtualmin.com/gpl/scripts/install.sh
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

And follow the prompts, when asked for your ethernet interface use venet0:0
When the installation has completed you can browse to https://IPADDRESS:10000 and login with your root account details.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

back up WordPress website

With the growth of your wordpress website, increasing number of data and information gets accumulated and stored your your server. In the back-end, the database too keeps on growing with new posts, webpages and visitor-comments.

It does not matter how reliable wordpress hosting company is, it is your responsibility to take steps on your part to safeguard your data. It is a crucial aspect as a webmaster to keep your data of WordPress database and other files backed-up which can help you restore them if at all there is a disaster strike.

Though there are few WordPress plugins that can help you take a full back-up of your website, but it is equally simple to take a manual back-up to help avoid the chance of a plugin malfunction.
Step 1 : Taking a Back Up of Files

Inorder to take a manual back-up of your WordPress files, an FTP client is required. You must establish connection with the host’s FTP server, then search for the WordPress installation directory. It the WordPress installation has been done by you, this should be an easy task, else you’ll need to find the file. You should find a folder named “WordPress”.

You must download the complete directory to your local machine.



Step 2 : Taking Back-up of the WordPress Database

As a default feature with your webhosting account, you have the access to manage your database via. phpMyAdmin. Unless you use some other Db administration tool. In that case, the procedures might slightly differ, but there wouldn’t be any difference in its functionality.

You now, need to access the phpMyAdmin and look for your WP database. Once you’ve managed to locate it, look for the Export tab, hit it for exporting the database.



On clicking the Export option, you should see the below screen. In left column, there is a list of all the tables present in your WP database. Choose SQL as the format for exporting and tick the option Save as file. Click Go, this would export the database. This will download the file that would consist of all the SQL statements necessary for recreating the database. BY default, the file name would be the same as that of your database example : databasename.sql



Step 3 : Restore Your WordPress WebSite

Restoring your WordPress website is really simple. You are only required to upload your wordpress directory onto the server and restore your database from the databasename.sql backup file that you had downloaded in Step 2.

It is highly recommended to use a secure FTP client for restoring the WordPress files back onto the server. You must use the same location as it was when you had downloaded it.

A new database needs to be created before restoring all the data. You can proceed with it by going to phpMyAdmin. You can contact our support department for assistance doing that.



Once done, you need to click Import link.



You’d then be prompted for selecting your database file i.e. databasename.sql



Once you click GO, the database would get restored.

Note : You can even back-up your site using an automated WordPress plugin: WP-DB-Backup Plugin. For that, you are first required to install it in your WP and activate it as well.

How to install WordPress using Softaculous offered with your cPanel control panel ?

The below description will help you with installing WordPress from your cPanel control panel using Softaculous.

Step 1 : You must first login to your website’s admin panel to initiate the WordPress installation on your website. Usually, you can locate it at yourwebsite.com/cpanel or yourwebsite.com:2082.



Step 2 : You must now scroll-down until you find Software/Services where you can see Softaculous. There are multiple scripts offered by Softaculous, but here we are interested in installing WordPress, if you intend to install some other web application, the process would be more or less similar.



Step 3 : Scroll-down to Blogs. Look for the WordPress link and Click it. You should find link on the left-hand sidebar in Softaculous.



Step 4 : Once in, you can view a brief information regarding WordPress. Look for the Install link placed above the header to initiate the installation. Click Install



Step 5 : Softaculous will automatically fill in default settings, but you may want to customize them.

At the top of the page, you will have to select the domain where you wish to install WordPress. Select the directory to install WordPress on. It will fill the box with the default install destination to yourwebsite.com/wp.



You would be required to populate the empty boxes. For In Directory type the name of a new directory you would like created. The box would be left blank to install the software into your main directory by default. Once you are done, click Install.

Step 6 : Add a name and description for your website, type in your desired administrator username, password, and email address. If you wish to have a secure key (password), you must click the key logo and get a randomly generated password. Then click Install.



Step 7 : You will now see a confirmation page of your installation



Step 8 : You may access the link to go to your WordPress admin-page or type “yourwebsite.com/wp-admin” in the browser. You must now use the login name (username) and password that you had set during the installation.



Step 9 : At the first login, you would be prompted to change your password. You can ignore this by clicking the link that says “No Thanks, Do not remind me again”.



This concludes the installation.

WordPress Hosting is one of the widely used hosting solutions due to the flexibility and simplicity it offers.

How can I back up and restore a database on Dedicated server using SSH

How can I back up a database on Dedicated server using SSH

You must follow the steps as described below inorder to back-up the MySQL database on a Linux dedicated server using SSH.


Step 1 : First of all you must root log-in to your linux dedicated server using SSH

Step 2 : Then, enter the below command to take backup of the MySQL Database

mysqldump -h host -u -p [] > BACKUP.sql

Note : Here you must replace “[]” with the of your current database which you intend to backup.

With these simple steps you can easily take backup of your database, where the file created would be BackUp.sql .


How can I restore a database on Dedicated server using SSH ?

Now that you have the backup file with you, you can restore it as well, whenever required.

Inorder to do so, you again need to follow few simple steps as stated below.

Step 1 : You must be logged into your dedicated hosting server as root using SSH

Step 2 : Locate the dump file of the MySQL database.

Step 3 : Once in it, you must manually enter the below command for importing it into the chosen database :

mysql -h host -u -p [] < BACKUP.sql

NOTE : Replace “[]” with the of the database backup file (here it is BACKUP.sql) for restoration.

It may so happen that the dump file of the database contains a “CREATE DATABASE“clause, in that case, you must erase this line from the dump file. Any text editor can be used for that purpose.

generate an SSH key on Windows using PuTTY

Accessing your server using a key adds to your efforts of server security. With an SSH key, you are not required to SSH into your server, hence it offers an enhanced security for your servers. With this you can even change the default port to any of your choice and still access it normally.

Using the PuTTY SSH client, users can easily generate an SSH key on Windows machines.

You can generate an SSH key on Windows using the PuTTY SSH client. You can download PuTTY for free from any external site.

Inorder to generate a key using PuTTY, users must follow the below steps :

Step I – You must first download and start the puttygen.exe generator.

Step II – You must now select SSH2 DSA and hit the Generate option. You can find the SSH2 DSA option in the section named “Parameters“.

Step III - You can opt for moving the mouse pointer in random within the small screen and generate the key pairs.

Step IV – For identifying the key, you would be prompted to enter a key comment. This is usually helpful when you have multiple SSH keys active on a server.

Step V - You are required to enter the passphrase and confirm it. This passphrase would hereafter take care of protecting your key. Whenever you get connected via. SSH, you will require this unique key.

Step VI – Hit the “Save private key” for saving your private key.

Step VII – Then, hit the “Save public key“. This would save your public key.

how to change the memory limit in htaccess file

Users can make alterations in the memory_limit using php.ini file located at /etc/php.ini. Incase you have a shared server, it is not recommended to make these changes on your own. The main reason is that, if you make changes to memory_limit on a shared server using php.ini file, every account on the server would reflect these changes. Though, this is the case with Windows servers.

Alternately, you can copy the php.ini file into the individual linux user account and search for the memory_limit in the file using a suitable editor on the server and make amendments to the values.

There is also one more method to go about doing this, ie. with the .htaccess file. Users can simply create a .htaccess file and add a code in that file.

Here is the procedure to do that :

Step 1: Build a .htaccess file using .

pico .htaccess

Step 2: If you wish to set a memory_limit of 64 MB, you must use the following code within the .htaccess file :

php_value memory_limit 64M

Step 3: Press ctrl + c for saving and exiting the file.

Step 4: You must then create a phpinfo.php file using the following :

pico phpinfo.php

Step 5: Now use the following code within the file.

phpinfo();
?>

Step 6: Now look for the file in the browser and for the memory_limit and confirm if the changes have been applied.
Incase you wish to do it using FTP, then the following steps can be followed :

Step 1: Make an htaccess.txt file on your local system.

Step 2: Add the code for changing the memory_limit to the file.

php_value memory_limit 64M

Step 3: Then upload the htaccess.txt file using an FTP client software that you usually use.

Step 4: Upon uploading the onto the server using FTP account, you must rename it to .htaccess using the FTP client software.

Step 5: Create phpinfo.php file over your local machine.

Step 6: Type the following code within the phpinfo.php file.

phpinfo();
?>

Step 7: Again, using an FTP client, upload it onto your server.

Step 8: Now look for the file in the browser and for the memory_limit and confirm if the changes have been applied.

NOTE: These steps can only be used by customers who have a VPS or a higher web hosting account. Customers using a shared server specifically Linux Shared Hosting must contact Linux support department for increasing the php memory_limit.

Backup Joomla Website

If you have a website, you should be aware about the importance of maintaining a backup of your own. However, if you aren’t aware of how to take back up of your Joomla website, then the following procedure should help you taking backup using cPanel web hosting control panel.

* Login to the cpanel control panel of the website which you intend backup
* Use the appropriate user-name and password.
* Look for the ‘phpMyAdmin‘ tool within the control panel. You can even search this tool using the search box.
* Once you find it and click on it and look for the ‘Export‘ option present in the menu.
* Clicking the link would take you to ‘Settings’. Confirm the settings in the export box and click it for selecting the relevant database name. Now, look for the radio button to SQL.
* Check the settings in the save as box and click ‘Save as‘. Then select the Zip option.
* Select GO.
* Within no time, you would see a dialog box asking you for a confirmation of the intended storage location on your local machine.
* Here, you must select the location where you wish to save the database backup.
* The time taken for saving the file would depend on the size of your website data. Once the download process is complete, you must verify the size of the file.
* Now, you must backup the public_html folder of your Joomla site via. the file manager tool present in the cpanel.
* Select the file manager option.
* Look for the public_html folder.
* You must check all the boxes seen in the presented list.
* Now select the compress option.
* Once the files get compressed, you should be able to view a new file along with the other files.
* You need to choose that particular file and hit the download option.
* Again you would be asked for the location where you intend to save this file. It is recommended to save the file in the same location where you have saved the database.

This concludes the steps for backing-up your Joomla Website.

Joomla Hosting has been a popular alternative to WordPress Hosting, hence it becomes important for users owning a Joomla site to keep themselves aware about the methods of Back-up and Restoration of their sites.

How to reset the WordPress password ?

You may try retrieving the password by clicking the “Lost your password?” option available on the wp-admin login screen. Then, you are required to enter your username or the registered email address. WordPress would check its database for the details that you have entered, if they match, a new password would be sent to your mailing address in an instant.

But, there are instances when this procedure is of no help and you cannot figure out a way to access your WordPress admin area. In that case, you must do it through the WordPress database. The simplest method of managing your WordPress Database is through phpMyAdmin which is offered with your WordPress Hosting package.

Upon accessing the phpMyAdmin, you must choose the database that your WordPress website is using. You must then click it, after which you would be able to view different tables of your database. Now, you must look for the SQL tab located at the top of the navigation bar.

Now, you must type the below SQL query in the field provided:

UPDATE `wp_users` SET `user_pass` = MD5( ‘new_password_here‘ ) WHERE `wp_users`.`user_login` = “admin_username”

NOTE: You must type your new intended password and in place of the terms “new_password_here”.
You must type your username by replacing “admin_username”.

Having done that, simply select the GO tab for submitting the query.

Assuming the you have followed the exact steps mentioned above, you should now be able to easily login to your WordPress blog with the details that you have just submitted.

Note: It is suggested to change your password on a regular basis. The password you choose should be Alpha Numeric and such that it cannot be guessed easily.

how to install phpbb3 from cpanel using softaculous

Step 1: Login to your cheap web hosting cPanel using your control panel username and password.

Step 2: Search for “Softaculous” icon and click on it. It will launch, and the following screen will appear. Click on the “phpBB” listed under the Forums section as shown in the image below:



Step 3: Once you click on “phpBB” it will show you the Overview page of phpBB Version 3.0.8 as shown in the image below.



Step 4: Now, click on the “Install” tab, it will take you to the installation steps. Fill the required information shown in the image below:



Step 5: Click on the “Install“ button at the bottom of the form to finish the installation. Once the installation is successful, the following message will appear on your screen, “Congratulations, the software was installed successfully.” Now, you can login into your phpBB3 board administration control panel area using the Administration URL shown on the confirmation page.

How to install magento with plesk on dedicated server

Magento is an open source, free ecommerce software application, which is a universal solution for e-commerce businesses. Magento provides maximum flexibility in the use of both the buyer and the store managers. Accelerated deployment, versatility, many additional modules, the possibility of introducing unique modules designed for a specific functionality, all fully included in Magento.

In order to Install Magento using Plesk control panel on your domain, you need to go through the following simple procedure:

Step 1: First, login into your Plesk control panel on your dedicated server.

Step 2: Now, simply click on the Domains, listed under the domains section.

Step 3: Moving further, once the page is reloaded it will show you list of domains under your plesk control panel. Select the domain on which you wish to install magento application.

Step 4: By clicking on the domain it will reload and show you sections like Web Site, Additional Tools, etc… Search for Applications & Services section and click on the Web Applications icon.

Step 5: Now the next step is to Click on the “Install Web Application”.

Step 6: Put Magento in the search box and hit the Search button.

Step 7: Click on “Install” in order to start the installation of Magento application.

Step 8: Kindly, accept the License Agreement and move further and click on Next.

Step 9: Please fill the required information and enter the destination of the Directory where you would like to install the magento application.

Step 10: While entering the destination directory, please ensure you have entered the correct directory, or else the auto installer will overwrite it, if any data exists there. Entering the destination directory as [/] will install the magento application in the root directory.

Step 11: Now, to finish the magento installation on your dedicated server hosting, click on “Install”.

Done!!!

Now, to access the magento application, navigate to “http://yoursite.com/destination-directory”. Replace “yoursite.com” with your original domain name and the “destination-directory” with the directory you have entered during the installation process.

how to install magento manually on dedicated server

If your web hosting provider offers the Site software tool in the cPanel, then you can go for Automatic Installation of Magento using cPanel. Else, you may proceed with the following easy steps to install magento manually on your dedicated server hosting.

Following are the steps for installing magento manually of your dedicated server:

* Go to Magento official website and download the latest version in Zip format: http://www.magentocommerce.com/download.

* With your cPanel >> File Manager or using your choice of FTP client upload the zip file and unzip it. You can upload the zip file either in the public_html folder or create a new folder under the main directory ex: public_html/magento, where you will get an access URL like http://www.yoursite.com/magento . Once it is unzipped, make sure to change the files permissions to 755.

* Now, its time to create a MySQL database and associate a user to it, which can be done through your cPanel >> MySQL Databases. Note down the database details as you will require it when installing the script.

* In this tutorial, the installation of magento will be done in the subfolder “Magento” which is created under the main directory. Now open this URL in your browser: http://yourdomainname.com/magento

* Agree the “terms and conditions” by checking the box and proceed with the installation by clicking on the Continue button.

* Select your choice of Locale, Time Zone and Currency and click on the Continue button.

* Now the next step is to configure the magento, here you will need the created database details (database name, user name and user password). Keep the other options intact.

* Check the box which says “Skip Base URL validation before next step“. Proceed further by clicking on the Continue button.

* The next step is to Create your Admin Account, here you must enter your personal information and login information. Leave the Encryption Key field empty as the script will generate the key itself for you. To finish the installation click on the Continue button.

The installation of Magento is successfully done. Note down the encryption key as it will be used by Magento to encrypt passwords, credit cards and much more.

how to install magento on dedicated server using cpanel

Magento is an e-commerce software application specifically designed to be simple to customizable. It offers great flexibility, scalability and appealing features for the growth of any business. It is an application that provides merchants full flexibility and good control over the presentation, functions and content of their online store. Magento installation on dedicated server hosting is very easy and can be installed within few clicks using the Site Software Tool present in the cPanel.

Lets begin with the magento installation with cPanel:

Step 1: Search for the Site Software tool which is listed in the Software/Services section in the cPanel.

Step 2: Click on the Site Software tool, find the Magento in the Ecommerce area and click on it to open.

Step 3: Once it open, you will have to enter the Admin User & Admin Pass in order to proceed with the Magento installation.

Step 4: If you wish you can specify a subfolder under the root directory for the installation. If you want to install it in your root directory then just leave it blank.

Step 5: Now, simply click on the Install button in order to finish the installation of Magento.

Installation Successful!!!

The installation is now finished, you will get a confirmation screen showing you the following things:

* Front-end and back-end URL’s to access your store.
* User and Pass to login into your store.
* Your Magento Encryption Key.

Make sure you save your magento encryption key in a safe place. See if your web host offer such Site software tools, if not you can consider eUKhost’s inexpensive Cheap Web Hosting and enjoy the fully functional features of cPanel.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Account Migration

Requirements:

* cPanel on both servers
* WHM access on the new server (one that the accounts are being moved to)
* root access on the new server

Throughout the instructions I will refer to the server your are transfering the accounts from as the “old server”, and the server to are transfering the accounts to as the “new server”.
Instructions:

1. Log into WHM of your new server and create a new account called “restore“, or anything you like for that matter. Remember the FTP address, username (‘restore’, in this example), and account password. We will need these for later.

2. Log into the cPanel account you are wanting to transfer on the old server.

3. Click on “Backup >> Generate/Download a Full Backup“.

4. Once here, select the backup destination to be “Remote FTP Server“.

5. Enter your email address for verification, follwed by all of the FTP account information for “restore”, which we created on the new server.

-Remote Server: new server’s address
-Remote User: restore
-Remote Password: restore’s password
-Port: 21

Then, click “Generate Backup“. This may take some time to backup the files, depending on how large the account is. You should receive an email provided in the above info once it is complete.

How-to: Migrate Accounts From One Server To Another (cPanel)

6. Now, log into SSH on your new server.

7. Type in the following commands:

cd /home/restore/public_html

ls

After running the list command above (ls), you should see the tar file of the account on the old server. This means that you have successfully sent the file via FTP to your new server.

8. Now move the tar file to your new server’s /home directory with the following command:

mv tar_file_name /home

9. Now, log into WHM on your new server and navigate to “Backup >> Restore a Full Backup/cpmove file”

Once here, you should see the old account’s username under “Possible cpmove archives found:“.

If you do not, log back into SSH and be sure that the account’s tar file has been moved into /home.

10. Type in the account name in the text field in WHM, which is proceeded by “Enter the username for the account you wish to restore:“.

11. Click “Restore“.

12. Repeate process for additional accounts.

MySQL versions may present a problem, but the versions of cPanel should be ok!