Web Hosting Linux Server Frequently Asked Question

What is the structure of the hosting account?

Every customer gets his own password protected username.

By logging in to your username, yopu are able to gain access to your web storage space. Every username "owns" a structure of disk subdirectories in the file system. The "root" of this structure is the "home" directory, found at path "/home/username".

Inside the home directory is a subdirectory named "public_html". You have your own separate "public_html" subdirectory. Any files placed in "public_html" are visible to remote browsers over the Internet.

As many clients are used to having their main directory refered to as "www", we have created another directory www. When www is attempted to be accessed, the directory is automatically redirected to the correct public_html directory.

For example, when a browser asks for URL http://yourname.com/page.html, Apache looks for the file /home/username/public_html/page.html and sends it out.

There are also a range of other files and directories in the home directory.

  • public_ftp. This is your anonymous ftp directory. Users can only download from this directory the files that you place there.
  • /public_html/_private. This is part of MS Frontpage Extensions. Please do not alter.
  • /public_html/_vti_*.These are parts of MS Frontpage Extensions. Please do not alter.
  • public_html/cgi-bin. This is your cgi-bin directory. Put all of your own scripts here. This is not the location of the preinstalled scripts.
  • Vpanel. This is your Control Panel. Please do not alter. You may utilize the control panel through: http://www.yourdomain.com/vpanel/
  • .lists. This is your Mailing List information. Please do not alter. You may utilize the control panel through: http://www.yourdomain.com/vpanel/
  • .mail.This is your Mail information. Please do not alter. You may utilize the control panel thru: http://www.yourdomain.com/vpanel/

What is the process for transfering a domain name to you and setting up a hosting account once I order?

Upon receiving an order from you we will immediately email you advising that we have received you order. We will then commence setting up your account. The process is as folows:

  1. We configure one of our servers to recognise your domain name so that the domain name can be transferred to our server. This can be completed very quickly.
  2. If you are transferring a web site you do not want it to be "down" during a transfer, or you may have email addresses that you wish to keep activited. Thre next step is therefore to establish your web hosting account and load a test page into your web hosting account.
  3. We will then email you advising that the web hosting account has been established, and provide you with all your relevant account information including IP address, password, and user name. You can the upload your web site and establish email settings through the Interspeed Control Panel.
  4. We also provide you with instructions for transferring the domain name. These instructions vary depending upon where your domain name is registered. For example, for .com domain names only the existing technical contact (likely to have been the company which registered the domain for you) or administrative contact (which is likely to be you) can transfer a domain. either you can email the technical contact and ask them to make changes, or we can direct you to the exact url you need to go to and the information your require. For other domains, for example, .co.nz either you can supply us the Domainz authorisation key and we can make the transfer or you may make the transfer.

This process ensures as seamless a transition as is possible.

Please be aware of web hosting companies that advise they can have an account established in "five minutes" or "less than an hour". That is most likely true, and we could claim that too, however it does take longer for all facets to come together and for the web site to be actually be fully operational.

I want a new domain name and a hosting account. Once I order, what happens?

We will immediately email you advising that we have received you order. We will then commence setting up your account. The process is as folows:

  1. We configure one of our servers to recognise the domain name that you want registered.
  2. We will then register the domain name for you.
  3. We will establish your web hosting account and upload a test page to ensure the account is working perfectly.
  4. We will then provide you with all your relevant account information including the IP address, password, and user name. You can the upload your web site and establish email settings through the Interspeed Control Panel for your account.

How do I set up email on the domain?

There are two common methods of establishing email on the domain.

The first is to set the default in the control panel under email to the mailbox given to you by your ISP, for example, alfg@aol.com.

Then all email sent to eg alfg@yourdomain.com will automatically forward to alf@aol.com.

You can then change the mail identity settings in your email program (eg Netscape, Outlook Express, Eudora etc) to alfg@yourdomain.com, and use that as your email address.

The second method is to set up POP accounts for individual users which you may do in the Control panel under email, POP. Each user can choose their own password, and you can access email from anywhere.

I need to configure my mail reading program so I can access my emails. What are the proper settings?

Assume your domain is fred.com

Smtp = mail.fred.com

pop = username@fred.com

*** Replace username with what the control panel gave you as your login.

from = anyname@fred.com

passwd = was chosen in "pass" field of control panel pop setup

How do I use SSL on a webpage or form

Option 1 - With Reliaval's "securetopay.com" digital certificate.

Ifyour file is normally http://www.yourdomain.com/orderform.htm then the page link must be called https://securetopay.com/~username/orderform.htm.

For the domain slimming.com, with a user name of slim, the page link must be called https://securetopay.com/~slim/orderform.htm.

The "s" in https:// suggests an SSL related file.

The orderform.htm file is uploaded into the normal directory.

If the webpage you are trying secure is a form, the action the form performs must be a secure action as well . Below is an example of the beginning of asecure form using formmail, for the domain slimming.com, with a user name of slim:

<FORM ACTION="https://securetopay.com/~slim/cgi-sys/FormMail.cgi" METHOD=POST >
<INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME=recipient VALUE="orders@slimming.com">
<INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME=subject VALUE="Slimming Company Order Form">
<INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="redirect" VALUE=value >

Option 2 - With your own digital certificate

Below is an example of the beginning of a secure form using FormMail, for the domain slimming.com, with a user name of slim:

Where do I put my cgi-bin scripts?

Put them in the subdirectory cgi-bin which should be under your public_html directory. You may then call themthru a browser as http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/your.cgi

What is the correct path to perl and other programs?

perl 5.6.0: /usr/bin/perl

perl 5.6.0: /usr/local/bin/perl

sendmail: /usr/sbin/sendmail

sendmail: /usr/lib/sendmail -t

date: /bin/date

java: /usr/bin/java

python: /usr/bin/python

Http Accept Encoding: gzip, deflate

Click here to view the Perl Modules installed

Domain server paths:

using example if your domain was fred.com

Main dir: /home/fred/public_html/

Cgi-bin: /home/fred/public_html/cgi-bin



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