User Guide - Managing your Websites with the PBA Control Panel
- 15/04/2010 3:13 PM
Applicable Plans - All eApps General VPS Plans
User Guide - Managing your Websites with the PBA Control Panel
Overview
The Parallels Business Automation (PBA) Control Panel can be used to perform almost all the configuration for your websites. For the majority of users, all of the Apache web server configuration can be done from the PBA Control Panel in an easy to use GUI interface. This makes it easy to have their sites up and running with a minimum of effort and without having to become an expert in Apache web server configuration.The majority of all site management is done from the Website Settings link in the Website Management section. Website Settings will be covered in detail, and a brief description will be given for the other options.
This User Guide is a quick overview on managing your sites using the PBA Control Panel. For more information on managing the Apache web server and your sites, see the following User Guides:
- Adding Sites to your VPS - http://support.eapps.com/hsp/apache
- Apache Troubleshooting - http://support.eapps.com/hsp/apache_troubleshooting
- Apache web server configuration (htaccess, mod_rewrite, etc) - http://support.eapps.com/hsp/apache_mods
- Adding a Server Alias - http://support.eapps.com/hsp/alias
- Apache Performance Tuning - http://support.eapps.com/hsp/apache_performance
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This User Guide is for managing sites using the Apache web server, not an application server like Tomcat, JBoss, Ruby on Rails, or GlassFish. For information on troubleshooting sites using those application servers, see their specific User Guides - http://support.eapps.com/kb |
A word of caution regarding managing your sites manually
The PBA Control Panel is very tightly integrated with the Apache web server. This is especially true for the virtual host blocks that define the individual site configurations in /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf.
If you make manual edits outside of the Control Panel to the virtual host blocks in the httpd.conf file, those changes will be overwritten by the Control Panel software. This is a feature, not a bug, and this behavior cannot be changed.
If you do make manual changes to httpd.conf, it is your responsibility to keep a known working backup copy of that file on hand so that you can put your working copy in place when (not if) the Control Panel overwrites your modified file.
Assistance from eApps Support for issues caused by manually modifying httpd.conf could be considered billable work, at our standard rate of $15 per 10 minutes. If you need a copy of your modified httpd.conf file restored from backup the fee is $15.
Site management features
Website Settings
Server Aliases
Error Documents
Aliases
Mime Types
Custom Settings
Secure Website
Website Monitoring
eApps Support Guidelines
Links to other information
Site management features
To start managing your websites, log in to the PBA Control Panel, and click on the System Tab. If necessary, click on the Select Another System (Subscription) link on the left, and choose the correct Virtuozzo container.Then, click on the Site Tab. If necessary, click on the Select Another Site link on the left, and select the correct site.
This shows the Site page, with links to all the management functions for your site.
Website Management
This is the main area for all website management.
- Website Settings - the vast majority of all website management is done in the Website Settings screen. This screen will be covered in depth.
- Website Files and Scripts - the Files tab is the File Manager for the site DocumentRoot directory. The Scripts tab is where executable scripts for the site are configured (such as CGI scripts or perl scripts)
- Website Statistics - this is the location for the current website access_log and error_log files. This is not where to find the site analytics - install the Awstats application to see those.
Mail Management
This is where to manage the mail users for the site domain.
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The Mail Management functions on the Site Tab only apply to the specific domain for the site. This means that only mail users with an e-mail address that matches the name of the site will show in these screens. Please do all Mail Management on the System Tab and not on the Site Tab. |
- Mailboxes - only users whose e-mail address matches the name of the site, and users who have @(multiple domains)will show in this screen. In this screen you can add mailboxes for users, or change existing passwords for users, or delete mailboxes.
- Mail Forwarding - forwarding for users whose e-mail address matches the name of the site can be set up here.
- Mailing Lists - a MajorDomo mailing list for the site domains can be configured here.
Applications
This is where to manage the Applications available to the site. The applications installed will determine what links are shown in this section.
Remember that when you are on the Site Tab, everything is relative to the specific site. If you need to manage applications at the system level, please go to the System Tab, All Applications.
See the Support Site - Knowledgebase - http://support.eapps.com/hsp/kb for links to specific application User Guides.
Other
In the Other section you can manage the Crontab for the site. Again, the crontabs set here are only for the site Admin user and the site itself, they do not apply to the entire system.
For more information on how to set up the cron jobs for the site, please see the User Guide - Adding a Cron Job - http://support.eapps.com/hsp/cron
Website Settings in depth
The majority of all site management is done in Website Settings. This is the screen where you are taken to after adding the site. To access the Website Settings screen again, click on the Site tab, and if necessary click on Select Another Site. Select the site you wish to manage, and in the next screen, click on Website Settings.In Website Settings, there are at least six tabs at the top of the screen. If the Apache mod_ssl application is installed from the System tab, there may be a seventh tab available.
Each tab allows you to manage different aspects of your website configuration. The two tabs that are used most frequently are the General Settings tab, and the Custom Settings tab.
- General Settings - this tab is where you can manage the configuration of the site, such as the Administrative User and the DocumentRoot
- Server Aliases - allows you to add another domain as an alias to your sit
- Error Documents - this tab is where you would manage or customize any error documents to your site, such as a customized 404 error page
- Aliases - allows you to set aliases that locate files or directories outside the site DocumentRoot
- Mime Types - this tab manages the types of file that can be opened in the browser
- Custom Settings - allows you to manage the Apache httpd.conf file virtual host blocks from the Control Panel
- Secure Website (only available if the site has SSL) - this tab manages your SSL Certificates
The General Settings and Custom Settings tabs are the most important tabs to know and understand. The Server Aliases tab is used on an infrequent basis, as is the Aliases tab. It is very rare to ever have to make any changes to the Error Documents or Mime Types tabs.
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The information in this User Guide is designed to cover the basic information needed by the majority of users. If you need more information on the PBA Control Panel features that is offered here, click on the Help Tab, and then on the Documentation link on the left. Scroll to the bottom of the screen, and click on the link for Parallels Business Automation - Standard Subscribers Guide. This is the official manual for the PBA Control Panel, in PDF format. |
General Settings
When you first click on Website Settings, you are on the General Settings tab. This is where the basic settings for the site are managed.At the top of the General Settings screen are links for Manage Documents, Manage Scripts, and Restart Website. The Manage Documents link takes you to the Files tab of Website Files and Scripts, and Manage Scripts takes you to the Scripts tab of Website Files and Scripts. Restart Website is somewhat misnamed, because it doesn't restart just the website, it restarts the entire web server, which restarts all the websites.
The General Settings screen is divided into three sections: General, Options, and Status.
General
- Website - URL links to the site itself
- Type - either Name-based (the default) or IP based (if using SSL)
- Document Root - the location of the files being served by the website
- Scripts - the location of any cgi scripts being used by the website
- Admin E-mail - the e-mail address of the Administrative User
- Admin username - the Administrative User for the site
- Prevent hot-linking - a red X is OFF, a green check is ON. This is OFF by default. (see the Adding Sites User Guide - http://support.eapps.com/hsp/apache for an explanation of this feature)
In the General section. the most important values are the DocumentRoot and the Admin username. The DocumentRoot is the file system location of the directory where the content for the website is located, and the Admin username is the system user who 'owns' the files for the site. This information is often needed when uploading files to the site.
Options
In the Options section, a red X is OFF, a green check is ON
- Allow Indexes - OFF by default. This allows a browser to list an index of the files in a directory if there is no defined index file for the directory
- Allow Includes - ON by default. This allows server side includes (SSI). More information on SSI can be found here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_Side_Includes. Note that assistance with SSI is outside of eApps support guidelines.
- Allow non-executable includes - OFF by default. This allows SSI that are not executable files.
- Allow overriding options using the .htaccess configuration file - ON by default. Allows the use of .htaccess files. Note that assistance with your customized .htaccess files is outside of eApps support guidelines.
- Allow the following symlinks - ON by default. This allows the web server to follow symlinks.
- Allow user directories - OFF by default. This allows you to create user directories in your sites, which are accessible by URLs such as http://eapps-example.com/~user. This option is very rarely used today, but was common in the early days of the World Wide Web.
Status
The Status section shows the current status of the web server and the site.
- Web Server - Running or Stopped
- Website - Enabled or Disabled.
Cancel | Delete | Configure
In the General Settings tab, clicking Cancel will take you back to the Site page for this site.
Clicking Delete will delete the site, and all the files in the DocumentRoot for the site. There is no undo - the only fix if you accidentally hit Delete is to restore the files from the last backup, for a charge of $15. Any changes made since the last backup and the time you hit Delete will be gone.
If you do want to remove the site, the Delete button is the only correct way to remove it. If you remove the site files manually or from the Control Panel file manager, the Apache web server will fail to start because it will be looking for files that no longer exist.
Clicking Configure will allow you to modify the values in the General and Options sections.
Server Aliases
The Server Aliases tab is where all Server Aliases are set. A Server Alias allows you to make your site available with one or more additional domain names. See the User Guide - Creating Aliases for a Site - http://support.eapps.com/hsp/alias for more information on adding Server Aliases.Error Documents
The Error Documents tab allows you to manage and customize the web server error documents. To see all the available Error Documents, click on Show Search on the right of the screen, and in the Search box, select Advanced in the drop down menu, and then click on Search. To customize an error message, click on the name of the error message and choose one of the options to customize.Aliases
The Aliases tab allows you to redirect a URL request to a location outside the DocumentRoot of the site. There is one alias created by default, that points a request for /cgi-bin/ to /home/webadmin/eapps-example.com/cgi-bin/ (note the trailing slashes at the end of each file path).In an Alias, the URL path is the request at the end of the URL, and the Local path is the actual location of the files. For http://eapps-example.com/cgi-bin/ the /cgi-bin/ is the URL path, and /home/webadmin/eapps-example.com/cgi-bin/ is the Local path, the absolute path to the files on the VPS.
An Alias is either a Script Alias, meaning that the file or directory at the Local path contains executable files, or an Alias, where the Local path points to non-executable content.
Mime Types
MIME Types are the types of files that can be opened in the browser. A more detailed definition of MIME Types can be found here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_media_typeThe description of MIME Types given in the MIME Types tab is also helpful. It is very uncommon to have to add anything to Mime Types.
Custom Settings
The Custom Settings tab is where the manual changes that would normally go in the virtual hosts sections of httpd.conf are located. This is where all mod_jk or mod_proxy_ajp settings go, along with any mod_rewrite directives. All Location directives go here, as well as any changes to the DocumentRoot of the site.
Remember than any changes you make manually to the httpd.conf file in the virtual hosts section will be overwritten by the PBA Control Panel. Keep all changes to the virtual hosts in Custom Settings.
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If you do have a site that requires extensive customizations, you can instead create a file in /etc/httpd/conf.d/ called sitename.conf where you can put these settings. The httpd.conf file has a line to include the files in the conf.d directory when Apache starts up. |
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On rare occasions, the values in the Custom Settings tab do not get rewritten to httpd.conf after software that also has to write directives to httpd.conf (Awstats, phpMyAdmin, etc) is installed or updated. If you see that some sites are not working properly or do not resolve at all after adding or updating this software, go to Custom Settings, click Edit, and then immediately click Update. This forces the Control Panel to rewrite the values in Custom Settings to httpd.conf. |
Secure Website
The Secure Website tab is only available if the Apache mod_ssl application is installed on the VPS, and then only if no other sites sharing the same IP address have an SSL Certificate installed. For multiple sites to have SSL Certificates, each site must have its own IP address.In the Secure Website tab you can generate a CSR, and install an SSL Certificate. Normally all of this is handled by eApps Support if you purchased an SSL Certificate from the eApps Store. See the User Guide - mod_ssl - http://support.eapps.com/hsp/ssl for more information on SSL Certificates, including how to install a self-signed SSL Certificate.
Website Monitoring
All physical servers hosted by eApps are monitored 24/7/365 so that we can either work proactively to resolve problems before they can cause issues for our customers, or be able to react quickly to any problems we detect.We also monitor our network both internally and from various locations around the globe to see if there are any network problems that may affect our customers.
However, unless you have purchased the Website Monitoring service, we DO NOT monitor your web site. eApps hosts many tens of thousands of sites, and it is impossible to monitor them all. The bottom line to this is that unless you have the Website Monitoring service, we will not know your site is down unless you tell us.
The Website Monitoring service from eApps costs $10 a month - more information about the service can be found here - http://www.eapps.com/services/monitoring-performance-services.php - and by contacting our Sales department at sales@eapps.com
There are free site monitoring services available online, and depending on your needs, those services may be fine. The main thing to consider is this - with the eApps monitoring service, Tech Support is notified that your site is down, and can take quick action to resolve the problem. With the free services, only you will be notified. No one at eApps will know your site is down unless you inform us directly.
eApps Support Guidelines
eApps Web Hosting is responsible for the Apache Web Server as installed in your VPS. It is our responsibility to ensure that Apache is installed correctly, and that the default Welcome Page shows correctly in a browser. We use a standard install of the latest version of the Apache server that was available to us from Parallels when the VPS was created. If you are using PHP for your sites, it is our responsibility to ensure that PHP is installed correctly and functioning.eApps Web Hosting is not responsible for your sites, or the content of your sites, or the functionality of your sites. If the Apache Web Server is running, and the default Welcome Page shows for a new or default site, then that is technically the extent of our responsibilities.
If your sites have mission or business critical data or configurations, it is your responsibility to make sure that the content for the sites is safely backed up. Do not rely on eApps to have current copies of your data or files.
Any server modifications, such as htaccess files or mod_rewrite directives, are outside of our support boundaries. It is assumed that if you are making these types of modifications to your web site that you are familiar with the setup, configuration, and troubleshooting for these types of modifications, or that you know where to search to find the answers. Any assistance with server customizations such as htaccess files or mod_rewrite, or any assistance troubleshooting your site content or functionality could be considered billable support, at our standard rate of $15 per 10 minute increment.
If you make manual changes to httpd.conf, or add modules or make any other configurations changes to the web server, be aware that any support needed to correct problems caused by these modifications will be billable, at our standard rate of $15 per 10 minutes.
If you have made manual, unsupported changes to httpd.conf or to any other part of the web server and are requesting eApps Support assistance, please let us know, as this could save valuable time troubleshooting the problem.
The general assumption, if you are making unsupported changes to httpd.conf or to the web server, is that you are an expert in Apache web server configuration, and will not require any support assistance from eApps if you encounter any problems.
All changes to the virtual host blocks in httpd.conf must be done from the Control Panel. If you manually edit the virtual hosts in httpd.conf, the Control Panel will overwrite your changes, and your sites may stop functioning. This is a feature, not a bug, and this behavior cannot be changed.
As always, eApps support will go the extra mile to assist you with any problems you may have with your websites, but with the understanding that the content and functionality of your sites is ultimately your responsibility.
Links to other information
Parallels Business Automation Subscribers Guide (this is the canonical reference from the Control Panel vendor, not all information will apply) - http://download.pa.parallels.com/pbas/3.3/doc/PBA_SG/FTP User Guide - http://support.eapps.com/hsp/addftp
SFTP User Guide - http://support.eapps.com/hsp/sftp