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Welcome to
the Online Operating Manual
The AZ
Hosting Online operating manual will
assist in making you familiar with the
many features we have to offer. Whether
you're looking for a quick start to
uploading your files, or would like to
familiarize yourself with our many
advanced features, this manual provides
easy to follow step-by-step instructions
on just about everything you'll need to
know. New users are encouraged to print
this manual and read it over at their
leisure.
Assuming you've just signed up with AZ
Hosting, you're probably wondering
how to test out a few of the features
and begin populating your web site with
files. You're only a couple steps from
doing just that, but first things first.
Your welcoming email contains the basic
information you'll need to access your
account and get things underway. Print
it out, or open it up in a separate
window, as you'll need to refer to it
during these tutorials.
Table Of Contents:
Account
Basics:
Where to
Upload Your Files:
Configuring
Your FTP Clients:
Understanding
the Web Site File System:
Using CGI
Programs:
The Ins and Outs of
DNS and How It Affects Your Domain:
Setting Up
and Managing Subdomains:
Configuring
Email for Your Domain:
Using Microsoft
FrontPage:
Account Basics:
Username and Password
These are
stated in the first paragraph of the
welcoming email. Until you change them,
they're needed to authenticate
everything including FTP, email access,
Control Panel, and MS FrontPage if
you're using it. In short, use this
Username and Password for any access
you're attempting to your account.
NOTE: When
submitting a tech support issue to the
help desk, you'll be asked for a
separate username and password. DO NOT
use your 'main account' username and
password for the login!
Accessing your account
via its URL or associated IP number
If you've just
signed up to AZ Hosting, chances are
you've begun the process of transferring
a domain to our servers. In all
likelihood it will take from 48 to 96
hours for all worldwide DNS records to
report your domain name as residing on
our servers. While our welcoming email
refers to the domain name you signed up
with, we recommend that you use the
accompanying "IP" number until
you can verify your domain name is
actually resolving to your new account
on the AZ Hosting servers.
The IP we've
provided you will soon be registered to
your domain name. Until such time as
your domain is officially answering to
our servers, you can use your new IP to
access and set up your web site. For
example, if your assigned IP was
69.56.216.114, your welcoming email would
provide the URL http://69.56.216.114 as an option
for accessing your new account. Again,
it's a great way to test features and
make sure everything is functioning
smoothly before launching your web site
to the world.
Accessing
"IP-less" accounts
Account packages
are "IP-less" accounts. This
means the IP is shared with several
domains as opposed to being dedicated to
one. There are a few small differences
regarding how you access these accounts
and most notably how you access them
before your domain name is officially
pointing to our servers. Instead of
accessing the account with a plain IP
number, you access it with an IP and
your associated Username. Both of these
were sent to you in your welcoming
email. Let's try an example:
Your username is tom
Your IP is 69.56.216.115
To reach your account via the web, you
would access this site as: http://69.56.216.115/~tom/ Don't forget
the ~ before your name! Also remember
that the IP we're using in this case is
an example. Check your welcoming email
for the IP number and Username that was
assigned to your account. Once again,
when your new DNS settings have
propagated across the world's DNS
servers, you'll be able to access your
domain by referring to it in the
standard way, which is
http://www.yourdomain.com.
Accessing
your account via FTP
IP-less accounts are accessed by FTP in
generally the same way as a dedicated IP
account would be. Again, if your domain
name is not officially pointing to our
servers yet, use the IP and Username
that were sent to you in your welcoming
email. If you have additional questions
regarding the ins and outs of FTP,
please see our FTP support section,
which covers it in broad detail.
Accessing your Control
Panel
To access your
Control Panel account manager, point
your web browser to:
http://www.mydomain.com/cpanel/
(For name based accounts)
or
http://69.56.216.115/~username/cpanel/ (For IP-less
accounts, but change the IP number to
the one we sent you)
Again, if your domain name is not
pointing to our servers yet, referring
to it with your IP will enable you to
access your account.
Where to Upload
Your Files:
The Home directory
Your HTML files and/or the files you
want to make accessible to the World
Wide Web must be uploaded to your
account. When you first FTP into your
account you'll be taken to your
"Home" directory. Don't
confuse this with your "web
directory". The home directory is not
accessible to the World Wide Web; it's a
private directory where critical system
files reside. DO NOT delete files that
have been created by the system,
otherwise your web site may disappear
into cyber oblivion!
The
public_html and www directories (where
web accessible files are placed)
These are the
two directories where files you want
accessed from the web must be placed.
Open the folder "public_html"
, which is your "web accessible
directory". The folder named
"www" is actually a shortcut
to public_html (both of them take you to
your web directory). Upload the files
you want accessible to your visitors and
feel free to make the appropriate
sub-directories you'll require.
Configuring
FTP Clients:
Configuring
Cute FTP (based on version 4.2)
Please note
that there are a number of versions of
Cute FTP floating around. The
instructions provided here cannot
possibly reflect all the versions that
have been released in the past 5 years.
Don't worry: the only small differences
you may encounter are the locations of
some options. Let's get started:
1. Open Cute FTP
2. Select "File"
3. Select "Site Manager"
4. Select "New"
Options you'll
see
- Label for
site: Enter a name for this account. For
example, "My Root Account."
- FTP Host Address: www.mydomain.com
- FTP Site Username: Your main system
login name
- FTP Site Password: Your main system
password
- FTP Site Connection: Port: 21
- Login Type: Normal
Notes About Cute FTP
There are a few advanced features you
may want to be aware of. These features
may need to be enabled if you're having
problems accessing your site via an FTP
client. The following will explain:
Trouble accessing your site via FTP:
This can sometimes occur if you are
accessing the Internet from behind a
firewall, personal router, or using an
Internet connection sharing system such
as a NAT (Network Address Translation).
This is a classic scenario in a home or
small office where several computers are
being shared by one Internet connection.
Symptoms include difficulty logging in
via FTP and/or maintaining a reliable
upload or download session.
Use Passive Mode instead
From your
FTP main interface, select:
1. Edit (from the
main drop-down menu)
2. Settings
A dialog box called "Settings"
now appears. Select:
3. Connections
4. Firewall
This opens the Connection/Firewall
dialog box:
5. Check the box that says "PASV
mode."
6. Click OK
Don't touch any of the other settings
Ignore all other
settings you see here except for the
"PASV_mode" setting!
Give it a try and see how it works. If
you're still having problems, you should
contact your ISP to see if they can make
the necessary changes required for you
to access your site via FTP. There are a
vast number of network configurations
ISPs sometimes use, some of which can
cause problems for users wanting to
access the web without a browser.
How to view all files in your account
(For Advanced Users).
Advanced users may want ability to view
all "hidden" files in their
directories. While most of these are
critical system files, there are a few
which can be manually edited by advanced
users. Viewing these is done by
inserting an entry into the "File
Masking" feature in the client.
Unmasking Hidden Files
1. Open Cute FTP
2. Go to the site manager
3. Select your account
4. Select "Edit"
A dialog box
opens called "Site
Properties":
1. Check the "Enable Filter"
box
2. Click the "Filter" button
3. Check the "Enable Remote Filters
(Server Applied Filer)" box
4. In the "Remote Filter"
window, type this command -a
5. Click ok
That's it!
The -a command
will unmask "all" files in
your web account.
Final Note
NEVER REMOVE OR ALTER FILES THAT HAVE
BEEN CREATED BY THE SERVER or Control
Panel!! Unless you're an advanced user,
please leave all files that have been
created by the system alone! Doing
otherwise could cause serious problems
with your account and in some cases take
it offline completely. When in doubt
ASK, do not delete!
Configuring
WSFTP
Please note
that there are a number of versions of
WSFTP floating around. The instructions
provided here cannot possibly reflect
all the versions that have been released
in the past 5 years. Don't worry: the
only small differences you may encounter
are the locations of some options. Let's
get started:
Setting up WSFTP
1. Open your WSFTP client
2. The dialog box "WS_FTP"
Sites should display. If not, click the
"Connect" button.
3. Select "New"
You
should see this dialog box
You'll be
taken through these options
1. New Site/Folder: Choose a name
for this account
2. Host Name or IP address: www.yourdomain.com
3. User ID: Main System Login
4. User Password: Main System
Password
5. Select "Save Password."
6. Select "Finish."
Done! You can now FTP into your site
Notes
About WSFTP:
Main Username and Password
The main Username and Password was sent
to you in your welcoming email and are
also the same ones used to access your
Control Panel. If you've changed your
main Username and Password before
setting this up, then use the new ones
instead.
Trouble
accessing your site via FTP
This can sometimes occur if you are
accessing the Internet from behind a
firewall, personal router, or using an
Internet connection sharing system such
as a NAT (Network Address Translation).
This is a classic scenario in a home or
small office where several computers are
being shared by one Internet connection.
Symptoms include, difficulty logging in
via FTP and/or maintaining a reliable
upload or download session. If this is
the case, try "Passive Mode."
Setting
Passive Mode
1. Open the WSFTP account manager
2. Highlight your account
3.
Select "Properties"
4. Select the "Advanced" tab
5. Check the
box called "Passive
Transfers."
6. Click "OK"
Select
passive mode, click "OK", and
try it again.
How to view
all files in your account (for advanced
users)
Advanced users
may want to view all "hidden"
files in their directory. While most of
these are critical system files, there
are a few which can be manually edited
by Advanced Users. Viewing these files
is done by inserting an entry into the
"File Masking" feature in the
client.
Unmasking
Hidden Files:
1. Open the WSFTP account manager
2. Highlight your account
3. Select "Properties"
4. Select the "Startup" tab
5. In the "Remote File Mask"
window, enter -a
The -a command
will unmask all files in your web
account.
Final Note
NEVER REMOVE OR ALTER FILES THAT HAVE
BEEN CREATED BY THE SERVER or Control
Panel!! Unless you're an advanced user,
please leave all files that have been
created by the system alone! Doing
otherwise could cause serious problems
with your account and in some cases take
it offline completely. When in doubt
ASK, do not delete!
Understanding
the Web site File System:
index.html and why you
should use it
This is where a
number of newer webmasters become
stumped. They upload all their files and
directories and then want to access them
with their browser, but they forget to
name their welcoming page index.html.
Here's what happens: They access their
site as http://www.mydomain.com
(or using the associated IP number, for
example, http://69.56.216.114/)
and they see their entire file directory
structure! Yikes! It looks just like
exploring the C: drive on your computer!
You don't want visitors seeing that, do
you?
When you access your site by calling it
as http://www.mydomain.com/ or
the assigned IP (for example), http://69.56.216.114/,
the web server looks for the "index.html"
file as the default file to be sent to
visitors. This is why http://www.mydomain.com/
by itself will automatically display the
home or welcoming page. Again, the
server automatically looks for
index.html whenever a domain or
directory is called without a filename
appended to it such as http://www.mydomain.com/file.html
If the server can't find index.html it
will simply list your entire web site
directory to everyone that accesses it,
which is a MAJOR security risk! ALWAYS,
use an "index.html" file in
any directory you create, including your
"root" web directory. In
general, it's always a good idea to use
"index.html" as your main page
in all sub-directories of your account.
Forgetting to place an index.html in
your root or any subdirectory of your
web site will effectively leave all of
its contents viewable to the world.
Understanding case sensitivity
Another small
detail that can throw many newer users
into a tailspin is case sensitivity.
Unlike your local PC, the Unix file
system (which is used on the web server)
is very particular about
"uppercase" and
"lowercase" file names.
Therefore, if you were to install a
script, (let's say the wwwboard
discussion forum, for example), the name
of this script would be wwwboard.pl. If
you name a picture file me.jpg on the
web server, then this is what you must
call it in your HTML as well. Another
file named me.JPG (note the uppercase)
is treated as a totally different file.
Unix file servers are exceptionally
fussy on this issue, so make sure you
pay close attention to "case"
when uploading files or installing and
configuring CGI-based scripts. The same
rule applies for all files including
your .html pages. Again, the server
treats .html and .HTML as two entirely
different file extensions. Want to keep
it simple? Try to stick with lowercase
letters in all file names and
extensions.
Uploading
your files in the correct mode (ASCII or
Binary)
Uploading in the wrong format for images
or binary files will result in a strange
mess appearing in your web browser
instead of the file. For CGI scripts,
this mistake is one of the most common
causes of annoying errors. While there
are many various programming errors, the
most common among new users is uploading
scripts in the WRONG format. Your CGI
scripts MUST always be uploaded in ASCII
mode. Alternatively, if you upload an
image or .exe file, it must be done in
"BINARY" mode.
The
difference between ASCII and BINARY
In short, html or text files are
supposed to be transferred in ASCII
mode. Uploading them in Binary mode will
append ^M's to the end of every line. In
most cases, this is OK with html files
because your browser will ignore them.
BUT, with other text files such as CGI
scripts, uploading them in binary will
damage them, thus causing a "server
500 error". This is because binary
mode has added ^M's to the end of every
line, which are not supposed to be in
the program. This, of course, is what
causes the additional message,
"Malformed Headers", which
often displays at the bottom of the
"Server 500" message when a
CGI script has crashed.
Once again, BINARY mode is used for
transferring executable programs,
compressed files and all image/picture
files. If you try to upload an image in
ASCII mode, you will see a strange mess
appearing on the page where the image is
suppose to appear. ASCII mode in this
case, has corrupted the binary coding in
the jpeg or gif image. If this happens,
just re-upload it in the Binary format.
Setting your FTP client
to automatically detect ASCII and Binary
file transfers
Most FTP programs have an
"AUTO" mode, which will tells
the FTP client to automatically detect
the file type you're transferring and
select the appropriate mode. By default,
most FTP programs will attempt to
transfer everything in binary mode, but
when "Automatic" is selected,
the FTP client will check a list of
known ASCII extensions (for example,
.pl, .cgi, .txt). If it detects one of
these extensions, the client
automatically switches to ASCII mode.
By Default, most of the well-known files
that need to be uploaded in ASCII mode
are already entered, however you can
manually add additional extensions that
you would like to transfer in ASCII mode
by selecting the feature called
"Extensions". Here, you can
enter any additional extensions that you
want to cause the FTP client to toggle
to ASCII mode automatically. Remember,
you must set your transfer mode to
"Automatic" for this to work.
File types and what they
represent
Various file types can affect both the
behaviour of your files as well as how
the server treats them. While there are
numerous file extensions that represent
a host of various file types, we'll
stick to the basic ones in this quick
overview:
The .html file
This is one is the most commonly used
and the one most people are familiar
with. HTML stands for Hypertext Markup
Language. Essentially, it tells the
server, as well as the client's browser,
to process and display the .html coding
in a way that is meaningful to the
end-user through a browser.
The .htm file
Many of you have probably noticed this
newer extension appearing in place of
the traditional .html one. In short, .htm
is most often created and/or generated
from the Microsoft FrontPage web editor.
The two are essentially the same and
provide the same basic purpose. Unless
you're using FrontPage, you will
probably use the .html extension at the
end of your web pages.
The .gif and .jpg file
These are image files, most commonly on
web sites used because of their good
compression. Generally, .gif files are
the fastest loading, as they remove a
lot of information that is not required
to maintain image integrity, but only to
a certain point. .jpg will allow more
flexibility in compression and quality
settings, however it can also result in
larger files.
The .cgi and the .pl file
.cgi and .pl are most often used for
Perl scripts. Perl scripts are small
text based programs that are executed on
the server end, and will perform a host
of interactive functions for a web site.
In short, when a .pl or .cgi file is
called it tells the server to process it
using the "Perl interpreter".
The Perl interpreter understands the
programming within the script and will
perform the set of subroutines that will
yield your desired effect. This desired
effect could be anything from a simple
web page counter to more complex
programs such as discussion forums,
e-commerce applications, to online
auctions. In many cases, you can
download these "ready to go"
scripts for free, and in others you may
have to purchase them.
FrontPage and FTP (what
you should know)
If you're planning to use
Microsoft FrontPage to manage your web
site, there are a couple of issues you
may want to keep in mind:
There are two worlds: The General Unix
hosting world and the Microsoft world.
While this is not necessarily a bad
thing, Microsoft has indeed decided to
play by its own rules. As a result,
FrontPage does not always conform to the
rules of Unix, so you should be
extremely careful when accessing a
FrontPage web via FTP. It's easy to
damage the FrontPage web, as well as its
associated server extensions and if it
happens you may loose the ability to
administer it from your FrontPage
Explorer. To avoid problems like this:
- Do not
alter or delete files that are part
of a FrontPage web
- Do not
delete, move or alter directories
ending in _vtf. These are the
FrontPage extensions
The
ultimate solution:
If possible, try to create your
FrontPage webs in sub-directories of
your root. For example, http://www.yourdomain.com/home. This
way, you can safely FTP into your root
account to perform other tasks, while
avoiding the FrontPage webs, which are
safely out of the way in their own
separate homes. Remember! DO NOT delete
any folders, which end in _vtf! This
will kill your FrontPage web, and we'll
have to reinstall the extensions for
you.
Using CGI
Programs:
Where to
place your CGI scripts
Although there is nothing dangerous
about placing CGI scripts in random
directories throughout your site, it's
best if you keep them in their own home
known as the cgi-bin. This minimizes
security risks and allows you to
maintain your CGI programs from one
directory.
The path
to Perl
One of the first things you must do when
configuring a script is set the correct
path to the Perl interpreter, which is
the engine responsible for processing
the script. The path to Perl on our
servers is: #!/usr/bin/perl
The
path to Sendmail
Some programs, such as ones that send
email, will need to know where the
Sendmail program resides on the server.
The script will typically have a setting
like this: $mailprog = '/usr/sbin/sendmail';
and will want you to set it
appropriately. Sendmail on our servers
can be found here: /usr/sbin/sendmail or
/usr/lib/sendmail.
Setting
directories within your CGI scripts
When you configure a CGI script for any
server, it may ask you to set variables
such as the base, relative, and CGI
directory/url settings. Here's an
"example" using Matt Wright's
wwwboard.pl script. Obviously, each
script may vary, but this should provide
you with some basic idea:
$basedir = "/home/yourlogin/public_html/wwwboard";
$baseurl = "http://www.yoursite.com/wwwboard";
$cgi_url = "http://www.yoursite.com/cgi-bin/wwwboard.pl";
Most scripts come with documentation on
how to set these directories. Please
make sure you read and understand it
before configuring the script. New to
CGI? Here is a page with answers to
numerous questions concerning the ins
and outs of using CGI scripts: http://www.w3.org/Security/Faq/www-security-faq.html Another excellent site
that provides step-by-step chapters is: http://www.cgi101.com/class/
Understanding
file permissions
There are a number of file permissions
that can be used for a variety of
different purposes, however we'll limit
this tutorial to the ones most commonly
used. To begin with, it's important you
understand the three categories of
permissions, which are:
Owner Permissions:
The owner is you. In most cases, this is
not much of a concern, as you can only
obtain owner permissions in one of two
ways: 1. FTP into your account using
your Username and Password; 2. Login via
Telnet with the same information.
Group Permissions:
This represents a group of users who
have access to a particular directory.
For example, a password protected
directory where only members can access
it upon providing the correct Username
and Password. In this case, any
permissions you assign to
"Group" would be applicable to
users with access to that particular
directory.
Public Permissions:
This is the most important one of all.
Public permissions determine what your
worldwide visitors can and cannot do
with your files. ALWAYS make sure you
understand what a particular permission
does before assigning it to a file. If
not, you may find your web site
demolished by some clown who was
snooping about and gained access to your
files.
Setting
file permissions
To set file permissions
1. Log in with your FTP client
2. Open the directory where the file you
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