Newbie Web Host Reseller

[JacknightWinters]

Hello,

My name is Jack. I am attempting to start a web hosting business so I leased a server. I have some technical skills and I can figure things out fairly quickly but I am slightly intimidated when it comes to servers. I'm better with troubleshooting software and hardware issues (Level 2) and have never had Level 3 Networking administration experience.

With that being said I was wondering if one or more people can tell me what you think my first move should be now that I've leased a server.

Question # 1 - I assumed that by leasing a server for the purpose of web hosting that the server would already be configured as a web server, is this correct? If so would the server operating system be called EasyApache which is a Linux based Operating System?

Question # 2 - Am I right in assuming that WHM (Web Host Manager) is the name of the software that I, the owner of a web hosting business uses, and that cPanel is the software that the website owner uses to manage his own website/domain?

Question # 3 - Assuming the server is already configured as a web server, wouldn't my first step be to park a domain?

Thanks,

Jack

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hello

Allow me to address each question individually.

Question # 1 - I assumed that by leasing a server for the purpose of web hosting that the server would already be configured as a web server, is this correct? If so would the server operating system be called EasyApache which is a Linux based Operating System?

It depends on how your provider deploys their servers. You should access the server via SSH and check to see what OS is installed with a command such as:

cat /etc/redhat-release

Ideally, CentOS 6 or RHEL 6 should be installed. You can then check to see if cPanel is installed with a command such as:

cat /usr/local/cpanel/version

If cPanel is not installed, you can proceed with the installation guide at:

cPanel Installation Guide

The cPanel installation automatically installs Apache, PHP, Exim, MySQL, and most other software that is required to operate a typical web hosting server. EasyApache is the utility used to install and configure Apache/PHP, as opposed to being the OS.

Question # 2 - Am I right in assuming that WHM (Web Host Manager) is the name of the software that I, the owner of a web hosting business uses, and that cPanel is the software that the website owner uses to manage his own website/domain?

Yes, that is accurate.

Question # 3 - Assuming the server is already configured as a web server, wouldn't my first step be to park a domain?

If you want to start hosting an account, the first step to that is creating an account via Web Host Manager:

Create an Account

Thank you.

 

[theoxgr]

usually when u get a new vps or dedicated server with whm cpanel installed you can do it all via whm. whm is an easy to use panel and this forum has almost all you need. i started like you 3 years back from now and with no help and just googling i managed to gain much experience to manage my vps and my whm.

i would suggest the following steps.

1. get to know DNS, nameservers, account functions, webmail, ftp and customer support

2. configure your backups to a remote ftp so your server wont fillup the disk space. offsite location also ensures data integrity.

3. configure your apache, mysql, tweak settings, exim configuration for best speed and stability on your machine.

4. setup CSF firewall or another firewall of your choice and start with basic protection settings. many attempts to hack your mail passwords, root password, etc will be made and everyone needs protection.

5. always ask a question here in the forums if you are not sure about something.

godspeed

 

[JacknightWinters]

Thanks Michael.

And thanks Theo, I will definitely take your advice. It's good to know someone started off where I am and is doing well now.

Here's a couple more questions.

1 ) In this cpanel community, how can I change my nickname to JacknightWinters with an "s" at the end. Somehow I named my account but forgot the 's' in my last name.

2 ) In WHS, how can I even find out what my password and username is? Right now I log in through my VPS providers website and it doesn't even prompt me for credentials, it also has no link to tell me what my username/pw is and I dont see anything in WHS that will even allow me to change it or have a new one emailed to me. I can guess as to what my username is because it appears in parenthesis next to the LOGOUT button but I have no idea what the password is.

3 ) I had a problem with my first step of creating a new account. It gave me an error.....

**Account Creation Status: failed (Sorry, a DNS entry for domain.com already exists, please delete it first (from all servers in the dns cluster) ) Sorry, a DNS entry for domain.com already exists, please delete it first (from all servers in the dns cluster)...

All the fixes I've viewed on this cpanel forum mention that I need to use SSH (Secure Shell) FTP to log into the server and adjust some lines of code but I can't do that unless I know what my username/pw is for WHS.

And I'm assuming that by logging into the server via SSH I'm using the WHM username/password.

Jack

 

[JacknightWinters]

Also, regarding this Account Creation failure.. would it have to do with the fact that I purchased my domain and leased the server all in one transaction through my VPS provider? Perhaps my domain has already been added to cPanel?

Jack

 

[JacknightWinters]

I submitted a ticket to my VPS provider, they responded fairly quickly which actually shocked the hell out of me.

Their response ---->

---------------

Hello xxxxxx,

As we checked and found that your xxxxx.com is your main domain and this domain is already added on our server so that you were facing this error. I would request you to create another accounts on your WHM panel.

---------------

So that gives me a better understanding of my problem. I was able to create another account for a client which is good. It just seems that I would be able to operate my own website through WHM for practice.

 

[JacknightWinters]

Update:

I can operate my own website through WHM/cPanel. They must have waited for my ticket to be submitted before they actually juiced me up and added my domain to my server because I can see it now when I click "List Accounts". So I'm up and working fine now. I'll stop talking to myself.

 

[cPanelMichael]

I am happy to hear you were able to resolve the issue.

Thank you.

 

[Infopro]

...
In this cpanel community, how can I change my nickname to JacknightWinters with an "s" at the end. Somehow I named my account but forgot the 's' in my last name.

...

The requested change has been made to your username.