How do I receive a copy of the plan release letters my clients receive?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "System Settings" in the header navigation.
Locate the "Release Letters" table.
To receive a copy of plan release letters that are sent out to your clients check this box.
Management
How do I add a dedicated hosting plan?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Plan Maintenance" in the header navigation.
Click on "Add Dedicated Plan" from the side navigation.
Define the properties of your dedicated hosting plan.
Plan Name: This is simply a display field. You can enter anything in this field.
Bandwidth (GB): This variable is required. Typically dedicated servers are sold per Mbit so convert the Mbps to GB per month. This is a soft limit. Clients that go over their usage will not be shutdown. This should be a numeric value only. Enter "999999" for unlimited bandwidth.
Bandwidth Display: This is a display field only, which is not required. If you are selling a 10Mbps dedicated server then you could put "10Mbps Bandwidth" in this field.
Server Details: These are the details of the server you are selling. This variable is also not required. An example of what you could use in this field would be "3.0GHz Intel P4, 256MB Memory, 3x36GB IDE HD".
Monthly Price: This is the monthly plan price. Enter a numeric value only in this field. Enter "0.00" for a free plan.
Cost: This is your cost for the specific plan. Enter a numeric value only in this field. This field is not required.
Setup Fee: This is billed as a one-time setup fee once the plan is setup and released. Enter "0.00" for no setup fee.
Prepaid Discounts: Enter a number in this field to specify the percentage the buyer will receive when selecting a prepaid billing cycle. If you enter "15" in a field, then the buyer will receive a 15% discount per month on the plan when paying for the number of months in advance.
Overage Charge:
A) Bandwidth: Enter the price per GB for the overage. If you enter ".55" then the HMS will charge .55 per GB for overage on this specific plan. Since dedicated plans are typically sold per Mbit overage charge convert the per Mbit charge to per GB. Display: This is a display field only for the dedicated.php page on the front end website. Here you would enter "$55.00 per Mbit Overage". This field is not required.
Rank: On your "Plan Maintenance" page in the administration section and the "shared.php" page on your front end website the plans are displayed in order. If you want to change the order of the plans then modify this value. The top of the list should be #1.
Template: If you have created a "Plan Template" then you can attach this plan to a template. Read about "Plan Templates" here.
Status: If a plan is set to "Active" then it will appear on the dynamic page on the front end of your website, "dedicated.php". If the plan is set to "Hidden" then it will not appear on the "dedicated.php" page.
Disable Purchase: If checked this plan will not be able to be purchased. Sometimes users will copy your plan links and manually change the ID of the plan. This will prevent that from happening. This setting overrides the "Status" option.
Now click on "Add/Modify Plan" since this is a new plan you are adding. If you were editing the plan you would also click "Add/Modify Plan".
The "Save as New" features are described here.
After you define the properties of the plan and click "Add/Modify Plan" you will be taken page to the "Plan Maintenance" page where the new plan you created will appear in the list of shared hosting plans.
Management
How do I add/create a shared web hosting plan?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Plan Maintenance" in the header navigation.
Click on "Add Shared Plan" from the side navigation.
Define the properties of your shared hosting plan.
Plan Name: This is simply a display field. You can enter anything in this field.
Bandwidth (GB): This variable is required. Shared plans are monitored per GB. This is a soft limit. Clients that go over their usage will not be shutdown, they will simply be billed for the overage, defined below. This should be a numeric value only. Enter "999999" for unlimited bandwidth.
Disk Space (MB): Just like the bandwidth this variable is also required. Disk space is monitored per MB and billed for overage. This is also a soft limit. Enter "999999" for unlimited disk space.
Monthly Price: This is the monthly plan price. Enter a numeric value only in this field. Enter "0.00" for a free plan.
Cost: This is your cost for the specific plan. Enter a numeric value only in this field. This field is not required.
Setup Fee: This is billed as a one-time setup fee once the plan is setup and released. Enter "0.00" for no setup fee.
Prepaid Discounts: Enter a number in this field to specify the percentage the buyer will receive when selecting a prepaid billing cycle. If you enter "15" in a field, then the buyer will receive a 15% discount per month on the plan when paying for the number of months in advance.
Overage Charge:
A) Bandwidth: Enter the price per GB for the overage. If you enter ".55" then the HMS will charge .55 per GB for overage on this specific plan. Display: This is a display field only for the shared.php page on the front end website. Here you would enter ".55/GB Overage". This field is not required.
B) Disk Space: Enter the price per MB for overage. This works just like the bandwidth field. Display: This is a display field only for the shared.php page on the front end website. Here you would enter ".55/MB Overage". This field is not required.
Account Limits: Enter a numeric value only in the fields provided. Enter "9999" for unlimited. You also have the option to enable/disable PHP and CGI for users who purchase this specific plan.
Rank: On your "Plan Maintenance" page in the administration section and the "shared.php" page on your front end website the plans are displayed in order. If you want to change the order of the plans then modify this value. The top of the list should be #1.
Template: If you have created a "Plan Template" then you can attach this plan to a template. Read about "Plan Templates" here.
Status: If a plan is set to "Active" then it will appear on the dynamic page on the front end of your website, "shared.php". If the plan is set to "Hidden" then it will not appear on the "shared.php" page.
Disable Purchase: If checked this plan will not be able to be purchased. Sometimes users will copy your plan links and manually change the ID of the plan. This will prevent that from happening. This setting overrides the "Status" option.
Now click on "Add/Modify Plan" since this is a new plan you are adding. If you were editing the plan you would also click "Add/Modify Plan".
The "Save as New" features are described here.
After you define the properties of the plan and click "Add/Modify Plan" you will be taken page to the "Plan Maintenance" page where the new plan you created will appear in the list of shared hosting plans.
Management
How do I apply a discount to a clients plan?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Edit Plan" icon.
Locate the "Discounts" table. You have two options: Numeric Discount: Enter a numeric value in this field with the - sign such as "-25.00". This will take $25.00 per month off the specific plan.
Percentage Discount: Enter a numeric value in this field with the - sign such as "-25.00". This will take 25% per month off the specific plan.
In the same respect if you use a plus sign (+) such as "+25.00" then it will add either $25.00 per month to the plan or add 25% per month to the plan.
Management
What is the difference between the reseller module and the referral program?
Reseller Module: Our reseller module, named HMS LITE would be considered the traditional web hosting reseller module. It allows a client to become a reseller and resell shared web hosting space.
HMS LITE goes steps further and allows your resellers to be their very own web hosting company with control panel and billing software available.
Referral Program: The referral program in the HMS, named HMS AFF is your traditional affiliate program. It allows a client to send traffic to your website from a unique linking code and any sales they send you will be tracked. You then have the ability to modify their payout method. Please read this topic for detailed information on modifying a clients referral payout.
Management
How do I delete a client’s plan from their account?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table for a specific plan click on "Delete Plan"
A new window will open up with the following options. They are as follows: Delete all plan details, control panel items, charges, usage statistics and then delete the plan:
This option should be used when you want to remove everything associated with the plan such as charges and all control panel items as well as the plan. This would be used if you completely want to remove a client from the HMS and remove all traces of their financial history and everything else in general including the plan.
Delete only control panel items, leave everything else in tact:
This option will only delete the control panel items attached to a plan and not the financial details or the plan itself.
Customer cancelled option. Delete all control panel items, leave everything else in tact but also set plan to inactive:
This option should be used when a client cancels their account. This will delete all control panel items and then set the plan to inactive. No financial details will be removed nor will the plan itself. Generally if a client cancels you still should keep their old financial history.
Management
How do I setup and release a shared hosting plan?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Pending Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you want to setup and click "View Client".
Locate the client plan you want to setup and under the "Plan Functions" table click the "Edit Plan" icon.
Under the "Setup & Status" table put the "Plan * Setup?" on "Yes".
Under the "Setup & Status" table select the server you want to setup the plan on from the "Server" dropdown menu.
Click "Update Plan *".
After you click update plan you will be redirected to the view client page for the specific plan.
A few things happen when you setup a plan. They are as follows:
The master FTP account is created along with the clients main directory.
A charge is posted for the prorated amount along with an invoice. An email is also dispatched to the client with the invoice.
The servers shared IP address is allocated to the client. If your client purchased unique IP(s) you can allocate IP addresses accordingly. Please read this topic for details on client plan IP allocation. Typically at this point make sure you received payment on the plan or bill out the client accordingly.
Once billing is completed release the plan by following these steps:
Locate the plan you just setup and under the "Client Plan #*" table click the "Release Plan" link.
The details of the release letter are as follows:
Full Name: Is pre-filled and cannot be modified. This is the clients name.
Customer ID: Is pre-filled. You should not modify this field.
Shared Server ID: This is the server ID you setup the client’s plan on. This field is also pre-filled and should not be modified.
Release Date: This is the date the release letter was originally sent out. This value is also pre-filled.
Username: This is the master FTP username that was created for the client plan. This value is also pre-filled.
Password: This is the password for the master FTP username that was created. This value is also pre-filled.
Hostname: By default when you setup a client plan the servers shared IP address is automatically allocated to the client account. That will be the first IP address if your clients IP list. This hostname field will be pre-filled with that IP address.
Notes: Enter any special notes, which will be visible to your client in the release letter.
When you''''re ready click on "Send Release Letter" and a copy of the release letter will be emailed to the client.
Management
How do I add extras to my shared or dedicated plans? I want my clients to add extra IP addresses or anything else I choose.
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Plan Maintenance" in the header navigation.
Now locate the plan you would like to add extras and options to and click on "Edit Extras".
Now you want to add extras and options.
Add Category: The category would be "Memory" or "IP Addresses" or the primary category you''''re going to add options to.
Name: Enter the category name in this field. This should be the main category name such as "Memory", or "IP Addresses".
Description: This is the category description or question. If your category is "Memory" then an example description would be "Would you like to add additional memory to your dedicated server?".
Type: There are three types you can choose from.
A) Text Field: This will allow the buyer to enter a number for the extras they purchase, a quantity. This is useful for IP address adding, a text field would allow a buyer to enter "50" as the quantity.
B) Check Box: This will allow the buyer to check the option they want to purchase.
C) Drop Down: This will allow the buyer to select the option they want to purchase in a drop down menu. This is useful when allowing your buyers to custom build their plans.
Add Options to Category: If you added "Memory" as a category then an option would be "256MB" or "512MB".
Add Option To: The categories you created will appear in this dropdown menu. Select the category from the dropdown for which you want to add the option to.
Details: Assuming your category was "Memory" then an example of an option would be "Add 256MB Memory".
Amount: Enter the amount in numeric form only such as "20.00". This is the monthly price of the option.
Type: If the option is a price per month then select "Price". If the option adds a certain percentage to the monthly plan price then select "Percentage".
Management
On the manual payment page in the client area how do I enable/disable some of the payment options?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "System Settings" in the header navigation.
Locate the "Customer Payment Options" table.
To enable a payment option in the client area on the manual payment page simply check any payment option you would like to enable.
Prior to enabling a payment option please make sure the details are setup as described in this topic.
Management
How do I duplicate a shared or dedicated plan? What are the "Save as New" features for on the edit plan page?
When are you in edit plan mode, either by adding a new plan or editing an existing plan you have an option to "Save as New" or "Save as New/Hide this one".
If you want to save an existing plan as a new one, in other words create a duplicate then you should locate the plan in question on the "Plan Maintenance" page and edit the plan.
Without modifying any values click on the "Save as New" option. If you click on "Save as New/Hide this one" that will duplicate the plan the same way but change the "Status" to "Hidden" for the current plan.
Once you click a "Save as New" option you will be taken back to the "Plan Maintenance" page where the new plan you duplicated will appear at the bottom of the shared or dedicated plan list.
All of the extras & options will be duplicated with the plan as well.
Management
How do I setup prepaid discounts on my shared and dedicated plans?
Prepaid discounts can be setup when adding a shared or dedicated web-hosting plan. You can also edit a plan and set prepaid discounts.
Please review the adding a shared plan topic and adding a dedicated plan topic for detailed information on setting up prepaid discounts.
Management
When my clients buy a dedicated server from the front end of my website I want to bill them in real time, how do I do that?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "System Settings" in the header navigation.
Locate the "Real Time Dedicated Billing" table.
To enable real time dedicated billing check the box provided.
When users signup on your front end website and select "Credit Card" or "Paypal" as their payment method they will be prompted to pay the full plan amount.
Management
How do I setup and release a dedicated plan (server) to my client?
** Please note that prior to following these instructions the HMS API must be running on the dedicated server you are going to release to the client. Please read this topic for detailed information on setting up the HMS API on secondary servers. ** Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Pending Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you want to setup and click "View Client".
Locate the client plan you want to setup and under the "Plan Functions" table click the "Edit Plan" icon.
Under the "Setup & Status" table put the "Plan * Setup?" on "Yes".
Under the "Setup & Status" table select the server you want to setup the plan on from the "Server" dropdown menu.
Click "Update Plan *".
After you click update plan you will be redirected to the view client page for the specific plan.
A few things happen when you setup a plan. They are as follows:
The master FTP account is created along with the clients main directory.
A charge is posted for the prorated amount along with an invoice. An email is also dispatched to the client with the invoice.
The servers shared IP address is allocated to the client. Since this is a dedicated server you should allocate ALL of the servers IP addresses to your client. Please read this topic for details on client plan IP allocation. Typically at this point make sure you received payment on the plan or bill out the client accordingly.
Once billing is completed release the plan by following these steps:
Locate the plan you just setup and under the "Client Plan #*" table click the "Release Plan" link.
The details of the release letter are as follows:
Full Name: Is pre-filled and cannot be modified. This is the clients name.
Customer ID: Is pre-filled. You should not modify this field.
Server ID: This is the server ID you setup the client’s plan on. This field is also pre-filled and should not be modified. This is your clients dedicated server ID.
Release Date: This is the date the release letter was originally sent out. This value is also pre-filled.
Primary IP: This is the dedicated servers primary IP address. This is not pre-filled. This is the IP address your client would use when logging into the server as the root user.
Virtual IP''''s: These are the IP addresses available to your client. This is not pre-filled. Since you already allocated the IP addresses to your client and the available IP addresses will be visible to your client on their domains page this field is also not required or necessary.
An example of using this field would be to enter "123.123.123.123-555".
Root Pass: This is the server’s root username password. This value is not pre-filled. Please enter the root password in this field.
Mysql Root Pass: This is the server’s root MySQL password. This value is not pre-filled. Please enter the root MySQL password in this field.
FTP User: This is the master FTP username that was created for the client''''s dedicated plan. This value is also pre-filled.
FTP Pass: This is the password for the master FTP username that was created. This value is also pre-filled.
Hostname: The first IP address that was allocated will be pre-filled in this field. If you look at the IP addresses that you have allocated on the IP allocation page the first IP address listed under the "Allocated IPs" table is the first IP address.
Notes: Enter any special notes, which will be visible to your client in the release letter.
When you''''re ready click on "Send Release Letter" and a copy of the release letter will be emailed to the client.
Now that you have released the dedicated server you should remove it from the available server pool. Please read this topic for detailed information.
Management
How do I set or change a client’s referral payout amount?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Client Actions" table locate the "Modify" link and click it.
Locate the "Referral Payout" table. You can select & set the following options:
Pay Per Sale (One time numeric.): Select this option to pay your referral partner a one-time dollar amount.
Pay Per Sale (One time percentage.): Select this option to pay your referral partner a one-time percentage amount. The percentage is based on the plan total price that they sell.
Partnership (Recurring percentage.): Select this option to pay your referral partner a recurring monthly percentage.
Set Amount: Enter a value in this field such as "25".
For option 1 above if the value was "25" in this field then your referral partner would earn $25.00, once.
If option 2 were selected then your referral partner would earn 25% of the plan total amount, once.
If option 3 was selected then your referral partner would earn 25% of the plan total amount on a recurring monthly basis.
Management
How do I add a new admin username for my administration area?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "User Administration" in the header navigation.
Click on "Add Administrator" from the side navigation. Username: Enter a username for the new administrator.
Password: Set a password for the new administrator.
Level: Enter a level for the new administrator. Levels are described here. Level 1 is the lowest permission level, level 10 is the highest permission level. Your main administrator user is set to level 10 by default.
Management
How do I release a plan to a client?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Client Plan #*" locate the "Release Plan" link.
Detailed instructions on setting up and releasing shared or dedicated plans are described here.
Management
How do I use the plan templates feature?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Plan Maintenance" in the header navigation.
Click on "Plan Templates" from the side navigation.
Now enter a template name such as "Dedicated_Basic" or "Dedicated_Advanced".
"Plan Templates" work in two different ways. The front end of your website has two pages, shared.php and dedicated.php. The shared and dedicated plans you have created under "Plan Maintenance" will be dynamically generated on those two pages unless of course they are "Hidden".
If you are using the dynamically generated plan pages on the front end you can create more of them. If you were to create "Shared_Silver" & "Shared_Gold", the HMS will create two more templates on the front end of your website. Now if you create a shared plan you can put it on the "Shared_Silver" template for example and the plan will be dynamically generated on the "Shared_Silver.php" page on the front-end and not the generic "shared.php" page.
Even if you''''re not using the dynamically generated pages on the front end of your website "Plan Templates" still come in handy on the administration side as well.
From the administration section on the "Plan Maintenance" page you can sort that big list of plans by the templates they are attached to. This greatly helps for organization. So even if you''''re not using the dynamically generated plan pages on the front end of your website we do recommend you make use of "Plan Templates" for organization.
Management
How do I change the dynamic page titles on the front end of my website, the client section and the administration section?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "System Settings" in the header navigation.
Locate the "Page Titles" table.
Change the titles accordingly.
Management
How do I add servers to my network or manage existing servers?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
From this page you can add new servers to your network, modify existing servers in your network and view all of the related information for each server in your network such as bandwidth usage, server monitoring, and more.
To add a server to your network you have two options.
You can add a new server from scratch by clicking the "Add New Server" link under the "Add Server" table.
Typically since most servers do share a lot of the same configuration there is no point in adding a server from scratch and filling in all of the information.
Instead use the "Duplicate Server" link under the "Action" column for a specific server.
Using this feature will duplicate the server and leave a few fields blank and a few other settings blank.
Management
How do I change the date my invoices are generated and emailed out to my clients?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "System Settings" in the header navigation.
Locate the "Invoice Settings" table.
Each payment method has it's own setting.
If you set "Paypal" to "1" then invoices will be sent out on the 1st of the month for clients paying via Paypal.
If you set "Paypal" to "-5" then invoices will be sent out 5 days prior to the 1st of the month for clients paying via Paypal.
Management
How do I install software on a domain name using the software install feature?
The auto-install software feature is only available in the CLIENT HMS.
Please visit this topic to learn how to login.
Management
What is the directory paths setting for and how do I access it?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Click on "Directory Paths" in the left menu.
This setting is for the HMS bandwidth (per GB) monitoring. This value should always be pre-filled.
Management
How can I check the HMS API running on secondary servers to see if the control panel is working?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Click on the "Check HMS API" link under the "Action" column for a specific server. A message will appear above the "Servers" table displaying that server’s status.
If your API is down please check this topic to view a list of possible symptoms and remedies.
Management
How do I obtain a plan link to send to a client to purchase a specific plan?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Plan Maintenance" from the header navigation.
Locate the plan you wish to work with.
After you locate the plan you will see a link named "Plan Link". To copy this link right-click on "Plan Link" and copy shortcut.
If you click "Plan Link" and copy the URL from the address bar in the new window that opened that will not work properly.
If you right-click on "Plan Link" and copy shortcut make a note of the link and examine it. Now click "Plan Link" and look at the URL in the address bar and copy that. Now compare the two links. You always want the link with the "addplan.php" in it.
Management
Can I resend my client the welcome template they received after they signed up?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table for a specific plan click on the "Welcome" icon to resend the template.
Management
Can I email a client from the administration section of the HMS?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" from the left menu.
Locate the client you would like to email and click on the "Email Client" link.
Management
When a client orders a plan does HMSPANEL record their IP address?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Edit Plan" icon.
Under the "Plan #" table you will see the "IP" field, which lists the IP address the plan was ordered from.
Management
How do I edit my server settings and configuration?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "Edit Server" under the "Actions" column.
A detailed description of each value is described in the tool-tips located next to each item.
Management
After a client purchases a plan how do I modify those plan details?
When a client or clients own (purchased) a specific plan the plan becomes locked. If you go to "Plan Maintenance" and edit a plan that is locked you will see this message at the top of the edit plan page:
Warning: This plan is locked. If you modify the details it will apply to all active plans.
A plan becomes locked when more than 1 client owns (purchased) the plan and are active.
If you modify a locked plan it will affect all clients that have purchased that plan so you do not want to edit a clients plan that way.
The proper way to edit a plan for a client would be:
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Client Maintenance" in the header navigation.
Click on "View Active Clients" from the side navigation.
Locate the client in the list and click on "View Client".
Select the plan you want to modify and click the "Edit Plan" icon.
On the bottom left of the page click on the "Edit Plan" link.
You will now be taken to the edit plan page.
Modify the details accordingly and then click "Update Plan" at the bottom of the page.
Once you do that you will be redirected back to the original "Edit Plan" page you were just on and you will see a message letting you know you have to click "Update Plan", which will finalize the update.
Any and all changes you made to the plan with the exception of the monthly price will be immediate. For example if you raised the "Domain" limit those changes will be reflected immediately.
If you raised the price of the plan the new monthly price will not be billed until invoices are generated on the first of the month.
Management
Can I monitor services on my servers such as FTP, Apache, MySQL and other services?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "Server Monitoring" under the "Actions" column.
In order to setup service monitoring follow the following steps:
Enable: Check this box to enable monitoring on this server.
Email: The email address you want notifications to be sent to.
Subject: The subject of the email message that is sent.
Message: The body of the email message that is sent.
Monitor Apache: Check this box to monitor Apache web server.
Monitor MySQL: Check this box to monitor MySQL server.
Monitor FTP: Check this box to monitor VSFTPD server.
Monitor Named: Check this box to monitor named (BIND).
Monitor Hard Disk(s): Check this box and enter a numeric value in the field provided. For example:
If you enter 50 in the field, when the hard disk(s) on the server reach 50% in use you will be notified.
Management
Can I view a list of IP addresses available on a server and also see what domains are using them for justification purposes?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "IP Assignment" under the "Actions" column. On this page each IP address on the server will list the domains, which are setup on that specific IP address.
If you ever need to justify your IP usage, ARIN justification, then simply print the pages accordingly.
Management
How do I find the total (aggregate) bandwidth usage graphs? I want to see a total for all of the servers in my network.
Login to your administration section.
Locate the "Aggregate Bandwidth 5-Minute" table and view the graph. The graph represents a 24-hour period. The graph will display usage in Mbps.
Management
Is there a shortcut link in the administration section to login to a clients account? (What they see.)
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Click on the "View Client Area" link from the left menu.
A new window will open taking you directly into the client HMS. This is the same view your clients see.
Management
I want to export my client list into Microsoft Excel. How do I go about doing that?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "System Settings" in the header navigation.
In the menu on the left there are three options:
Export Customers Export Charges Export Payments
When you click one of those options you will be promoted to download a file. It will be a CVS (Comma Separated File), which can be opened in Microsoft Excel.
Management
How do I suspend a non-paying client?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" from the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client" next to their listing.
Now locate the plan you wish to suspend and click on the "Edit Plan" icon.
Locate the "Setup & Status" on the right and put the "Status" on "Suspended".
When you put a plan on suspended the HMS will only disable the websites (domains) setup under the plan and client control panel access will also be disabled. Everything else remains in tact.
Management
Can I view the messages log file from within HMSPANEL?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "Edit Config Files" under the "Actions" column.
Click on the "tail /var/log/messages" link and the /var/log/messages log file will be displayed.
Management
Do servers automatically pickup IP addresses on the server or do I have to add them manually?
HMSPANEL does not pickup IP addresses on a server. You have to add them manually. If you ever add more IP addresses to your server then you must edit the server and add the new IP addresses to the settings and save them.
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "Edit Server" under the "Actions" column.
Locate the "Server IP Settings" table and add the IP addresses accordingly.
For a detailed description of the IP settings please read the tool tips located within the "Server IP Settings" table.
Management
Some of my clients have not paid for their hosting service, how can I send them a reminder invoice?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Client Maintenance" in the header navigation.
Click on "Send Reminder Invoices" from the left menu.
Once executed all clients that have a past due balance will be emailed a reminder invoice.
Reminder invoices are automatically generated 7 days after the initial invoice date.
Management
How do I manage FTP users for a domain name?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Click on "FTP Management" in the left menu.
** We recommend using the "FTP Management" utility within the CLIENT HMS. **
Please visit this topic to learn how to login.
Management
Can I modify a domains current zone file?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Now you''''re on the domains page.
Under the "Active Domains" table locate the domain in question. Under the "Functions" column click on "Edit DNS".
This allows you to modify the "raw" zone file for the domain you''''re working with.
Management
How do I view a servers specifications, resources, heath, and other such information?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you wish to work with and click the "Server Specifications" link under the "Actions" column.
Management
How do I modify the signup page on the front end of my website?
Applies to HMSPANEL CS Login to your administration section.
Click on "System Settings" in the header navigation.
Locate the "Signup Page Functions" table.
Terms & Conditions: If this field is empty then the terms & conditions will not appear on the signup form.
Hear About Us: To enable this on the billing page check the field. This field is sorted by line.
Custom 1-4: Check the boxes to enable each field on the signup form. You can label these custom fields anything you want.
They will appear on the front end billing page, on the personal information page in the client area and the client details page in the administration area.
Management
How do I bill a single client without billing all of my clients?
Applies to HMSPANEL CS Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Client Actions" table locate the "Bill Client" link. Remember the "Bill Client" functions in HMSPANEL CS only works with clients paying by credit card and only when you are using a primary gateway, not a third-party gateway.
Management
A client has requested changes (upgrades) to their hosting plan, how do I set those up?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Edit Plan" icon.
Locate the "Changes" table.
If changes were requested the drop down menu will say "YES - Changes Requested", and the changes the client requested will be listed under "Changes Requested".
HMSPANEL does not dynamically setup the changes that are requested. Assuming your client adds 5 MySQL databases you have to edit their plan, as described in this topic, make the necessary changes to the MySQL database limits and save the plan.
Once you setup the requested client plan upgrades you can put the drop down menu on "No - No Changes Requested". Then click "Update Plan #".
The billing process for plan upgrades is described in this topic.
Management
How do I change a client's plan status?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Edit Plan" icon.
Locate the "Setup & Status" table and change the status accordingly.
A description of the plan status types is described in this topic.
Management
How do I allocate IP addresses to client plan accounts?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Click on "IP Allocation" in the left menu.
Under the "Allocate IPs" you will see a list of IP addresses known as the "IP POOL".
A description of the IP address options is as follows:
Shared IP Address: The very first IP address in the list (IP POOL) is the shared IP address as defined in your server settings.
This IP address is assigned to all plans that are setup on a specific server.
This IP address will never be removed from the IP POOL as you can allocate this IP address to any number of clients as long as they are using the specific server.
Unique IP Addresses: All of the other IP addresses in the list are unique IP addresses.
Each IP address can only be allocated once. If you allocate an IP address to a client plan then it will be removed from the list and not added until it is thrown back into the pool either by your manual removal of the allocated IP address or client account cancellation.
To remove an IP address locate the IP under the "Allocated IPs" table and click on the "Remove Address" link.
Management
How do I change the next client & plan number HMSPANEL will use when I setup a new client?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "System Settings" in the header navigation.
Locate the "Customer/Plan ID Start #" table. An explanation of client and plan numbers is described here.
Change this number to any value you want. This will increment the next client number (ID) and client plan number (ID) the HMS will use when you setup a client or client plan.
Management
How do I enable domain registration on the front end of my website during the ordering process?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "System Settings" in the header navigation.
Locate the "Domain Registration Settings" table.
Enable on Front End: Check this box if you want to enable domain registration on the front end of your website during the ordering process.
Select either "eNom" or "OnlineNIC" and enter the necessary account information.
Domain Prices: Enter the pricing for each TLD in the field provided, sorted by line. An example would be:
com,19.99 net, 20.99
This indicates that .com domains sell for $19.99 per year and .net domains sell for $20.00 per year.
Management
What are the differences between the client status types?
HMSPANEL has 5 different client status types.
Active: These are active clients, which have at least 1 active plan.
Inactive: These are inactive clients, which are usually clients that have cancelled their service.
Pending: These are pending clients, which are usually new clients that have just signed up.
Suspended: These are suspended clients, which generally are clients that have not paid their bill and you suspended.
Learn how to suspend clients here.
Quoted: These are clients that you have sent quotes to that have not purchased any service from you yet.
Management
How do I specify my default server and exactly what is a default server?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "Default" under the "Actions" column.
Your default server is the server HMSPANEL will use when auto shared setup is enabled. Auto shared setup is described in this topic.
Management
I want to accept Paypal, 2CO and another third party gateway. Where do I setup the details in the HMS to accept such payment methods?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "System Settings" in the header navigation.
Locate the "Third Party Gateway Settings" table.
Currently HMSPANEL supports 4 third party processing solutions:
Please enter the necessary information in this section to enable the gateway.
To make these options available for your clients to use please see this topic.
Management
Can I add a plan to a client account manually from the administration area of HMSPANEL?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Click on the "Add Plan to Account" link from the left menu.
Locate the plan you would like to add to the clients account and click "Add Plan".
Please note the plan will be in pending status. You must setup and release this plan manually.
Management
How do I edit or upgrade a clients plan after they purchased it and are set to active?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Edit Plan" icon.
Under the "Plan #" table at the bottom click on the "Edit Plan" link.
You are now in "Edit Plan" mode.
This is the proper way to edit a client’s plan after they are already setup and released. You do not want to actually edit the original plan from the "Plan Maintenance" section because if 10 people own (have purchased) the same plan then those changes you make will apply to all of the clients who have purchased the plan and are currently active.
Editing the plan as described in this topic doesn't actually edit the original plan. Once you make the changes to the plan and click "Update Plan", the HMS will duplicate the original plan and attach that duplicate to the current clients account you''''re editing the plan for.
If pricing changes on the plan those changes will not take affect until their next billing cycle.
Management
How do I enable AWStats and Webalizer for a specific server?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "Edit Server" under the "Actions" column.
Locate the "Stats" table and enable/disable Webalizer or AWStats. For a detailed description of stats and their settings please read the tool tips within the "Stats" table.
Management
A client wants to use a new name server for a domain that is already setup, is that possible?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Now you are on the domains page.
Under the "Active Domains" table locate the domain in question. Under the "Functions" column click on "Change Zone File". Select the new name server option and save the settings.
Please make sure the name servers are also changed from the domain registrar level as well. Also allow for propagation time.
View all of the topics related to name servers & DNS.
Management
How do I view payments for a client account?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Click on the "View Payments" link from the left menu.
Management
How do I change the system email address the HMS uses when sending out emails?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "System Settings" in the header navigation.
Locate the "System Email Address" table.
Change the email address to anything of course choice. This is the email address your clients will see when HMSPANEL sends out invoices or any other email messages and this is also the email address the HMS will send email to when notifying you, the administrator.
Management
What are payments, credits, charges, & the overall balance? How does HMSPANEL handle accounting for client accounts?
On the view invoices and view payments pages there is an account totals table. That table represents the following data.
Lifetime Total Charges: This represents all of the charges posted to the clients account.
Lifetime Total Payments: This is the total amount the client has paid on the account.
Referral Credits: If your client sends you any referrals they will receive a referral credit. This acts as a "Payment".
Overall Balance: This is the overall client account balance. The formula would be charges minus payments equal the overall balance. If payments exceed charges then the overall account balance would be positive. The account would have X amount of dollars in credit.
Total Late: Any charges not paid within 7 days will act as late.
Total Due Now: The amount currently due on a clients account. If the "Overall Balance" was +$15.00 then there will be nothing due on the client account so this field would show "0.00".
Charges are applied to client plans specifically and then a total is formed. Each individual charge is posted to an invoice.
Payments are made and then deducted from the total charged, which brings you to your overall balance.
Management
How do I view charges posted to a specific client plan?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table for a specific plan click on the "List Charges" icon. This will display only the charges posted to the specific plan.
Management
How do I add notes to an actual plan and not the overall client account?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Edit Plan" icon.
Find the "Notes" table and add your notes. These notes are related to the specific plan and not the overall client account.
Management
How do I access a domain's Webalizer or AWStats URLs?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Now you''''re on the domains page.
Under the "Active Domains" table locate the domain in question. Under the "Functions" column you will see links to Webalizer & AWstats.
Management
How do I edit a servers zone templates and what are zone templates used for?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "Edit Zone Templates" under the "Actions" column.
A server can have any number of zone templates for custom DNS solutions. If you're just offering your clients one single name server option then simply add one zone template.
If this server is for a dedicated plan and your client wants multiple name servers since the client is the only one using the server you can simply create any number of zone templates and make them all visible.
Then from the CLIENT HMS when your client adds a domain name they will have all of the name server options in the drop down menu.
You can also create zone templates but not make them visible to everyone. You can then allocate one zone template to a specific client plan. Please see this topic for allocating a zone template to a client plan.
The "Directory to Write Zone Files" should generally be "/var/named/", which is default for the HMS. If you setup a custom solution then please modify this field accordingly.
To add a zone template follow these steps:
Click on the "Add New Zone" link from the "Edit Zone Templates" page.
For the "Zone Template Name" field enter the name server names such as "ns1.domain.com,ns2.domain.com.
Then under the template paste your zone template in the field. An example zone template can be found under the "Zone Templates" for your original server that was setup during installation.
Be sure to modify the zone template to show the correct name server names.
Visible to Customer: If you want this zone template to be visible to all clients on this specific server then check this box. If this is a custom name server solution for a single client then do not check this box.
The drop down menu at the bottom of the page simply shows whom that zone template is allocated to.
Management
Where can I view and modify my client’s credit card details?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
View the "Client Actions" table and find the "View CC Details" link. In that window you can view and modify the clients credit card information.
Management
Where is the control panel located and how do I access it?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
For a detailed description of the "Control Panel" please view these topics.
Management
How can I restart Apache on a specific server from HMSPANEL?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "Restart Apache" under the "Actions" column.
Please wait 10-15 seconds for Apache to fully restart. The "graceful" command is used during this Apache restart.
If the service appears to be hung and not responding to a graceful restart, it is recommended to SSH to your server and re-attempt the Apache service restart.
If there are problems with the service, Apache errors will be posted to help you troubleshoot further.
For more help on how to stop/start/restart Apache from the command line, please visit this link: httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/stopping.html
Management
How do I modify the phpMyAdmin URL for a specific server that my clients access?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "Edit Server" under the "Actions" column.
Locate the "MySQL Settings" table and update the URL under "phpMyAdmin URL".
Since every server has it's own MySQL database server then each server needs it's own copy of phpMyAdmin running.
Management
How does the referral program work and how do I use it?
Every client of yours has a link in their CLIENT HMS named "Referral Statistics".
On that page your client can view all of the referrals they sent you, along with the date and commission earned.
On that same page your client has a linking code, which they will use to send traffic to your Website. Any sales that come through that linking code will be recorded by the HMS and the client will be paid their referral fee.
To learn how to setup the referral payout please read this topic.
Management
How do I add a manual payment to a clients account?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Click on the "Add Manual Payment" link from the left menu.
A description of adding a manual payment can be found here.
Management
How do I enable auto shared account setup?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "Edit Server" under the "Actions" column.
Under the "Settings" table put "Auto Shared Setup" on "Yes" in the drop down menu.
When a shared hosting plan is ordered and the buyer selects Paypal or Credit Card, once the HMS receives a successful payment response from the Gateway the plan will be setup.
Auto shared setup only works with real-time payment methods.
The client's plan will be setup on the server marked as "Default", as described in this topic.
Management
How does HMSPANEL handle billing on all types of orders?
There are several different types of orders that can be placed from the HMS. Below describes all the different types of orders.
General Orders: General orders are shared or dedicated plans that are purchased on the regular month-to-month billing cycle. Such orders are prorated. An example is:
Monthly Plan Price: $50.00 Order Date: January 5, 2005
The formula for the order would be:
31 days in January minus 5 days into the month = 26 billable days. $50.00 per month divided by 31 days in the month = $1.61 per day. 26 billable days times $1.61 per day = $41.86 charged.
After you setup and release a plan, shared or dedicated, that is how the billing is calculated. An invoice for $41.86 will be posted to the client account.
If the plan is ordered with extras & options (upgrades) during the point of purchase billing will work the same exact way as described above.
The clients first full month invoice will be posted on the 1st of the month, which is the next billing cycle.
Pre-Paid Orders: Pre-paid orders are billed by the length of time the buyer prepays for during the order process. An example is:
Monthly Plan Price: $50.00 Length of Time & Discount: 3-Months 5% Discount Order Date: January 5, 2005
The formula for the order would be:
$50.00 monthly plan price times 3 months = $150.00 total. $150.00 total times 5% discount = $7.50 discount. $150.00 total minus $7.50 discount = $142.50 charged.
After you setup and release a plan, shared or dedicated, that is how the billing is calculated. An invoice for $142.50 will be posted to the client account.
If the plan is ordered with extras & options (upgrades) during the point of purchase billing will work the same exact way as described above. The prepaid discount also applies to any extras & options (upgrades) that are ordered.
The next invoice would be posted on the 3-month anniversary date for this example. Pre-paid plans are not prorated for the 1st of the month billing.
Upgrading a General Order: If a client upgrades their shared or dedicated general plan as described in #1 above the extras & options they add (upgrades) will be pro-rated using the exact same formula as #1 above.
Please see the formula example under #1 above.
Upgrading Pre-Paid Orders: If a client upgrades their prepaid plan then upgrade will be prorated based on the amount of time left, which was prepaid. An example would be:
Use #2 above as your guide for the original prepaid order that was placed and let's use the following example as the upgrade:
Original prepaid plan was for 3-months, which in our example we'll say is exactly 90-days. Upgrade made 1-month (30-days) into the plan. The upgrade was for $50.00 per month, which is $150.00 total prepaid. The HMS will then prorate the $150.00 based on the time left in the original prepaid plan, which in our example is 60-days.
$150.00 total divided by 90-days = $1.67 per day. $1.67 daily fee times 60 billable days = $100.20 total. $100.20 total minus the 5% discount for prepaid = $5.01 discount. $100.20 minus $5.01 discount = $95.19 to be charged.
After you setup the upgrades the billing will be calculated using the above method. An invoice for $95.19 will be posted to the client account.
Overage Billing for Shared Hosting: Overage is billed on the 1st of the month as a separate charge, which is posted to a client plan and invoiced.
Shared plans are monitored per GB for data transfer and per MB for disk space usage.
The overage amounts per GB and per MB are defined when you add a shared plan. Please review this topic, specifically #8, to learn how to define an overage charge.
Overage Billing for Dedicated Hosting: Overage for dedicated hosting is not dynamic. You should manually read your bandwidth graphs each month for your dedicated servers and add a manual charge to the client plan.
Automatic overage billing for dedicated servers will be implemented in the near future.
Domain Ordering: When domain names are ordered or renewed the fee for the domain name is posted as a charge and invoiced. Since charges are posted to specific client plans the domain charges will be posted to client plan #1.
Management
How do I allow my clients to add .info, .tk, .biz, etc. domains into HMSPANEL?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "System Settings" in the header navigation.
Locate the "Allowed TLDs" table.
Enter the TLDs you want HMSPANEL to accept in the field provided. They should be sorted by line. An example would be:
com net com.uk biz name
If a client were to attempt to add the domain "domain.org", and it was not in the "Allowed TLDs" list then HMSPANEL would reject the domain addition.
Management
Can I manually add a client to HMSPANEL without making them signup on the front end?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Client Maintenance" in the header navigation.
Click on "Add Client" from the left menu.
Simply enter the email address, password and client name.
Click on "Add New Client".
Once completed your client will be under "Pending Clients".
Management
How do I batch out all of my clients paying via credit card?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Client Maintenance" in the header navigation.
Click on "Bill all Clients (BATCH)" from the left menu.
Click "OK" to confirm.
All of your clients paying with a credit card, whose account has an owed balance will be billed out using the selected primary gateway you're using. You can find an explanation of the primary gateway here.
This batch feature is not for third-party processing solutions. You can find an explanation of third-party gateways here.
Management
Can I add custom code to a domain names virtual host file?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Now you''''re on the domains page.
Under the "Active Domains" table locate the domain in question. Under the "Functions" column click on "Edit Custom Config".
This feature does not allow you to modify the default "VirtualHost" container, it simply allows you to add new custom code to the "VirtualHost" file.
Management
How do I manage password-protected directories for a domain?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Click on "Protected Directory Management" in the left menu.
** We recommend using the "Protected Directory Management" utility within the CLIENT HMS. **
Please visit this topic to learn how to login.
Management
How do I change the company name & information that is generated on my client’s invoices?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "System Settings" in the header navigation.
Locate the "Invoice Settings" table.
Change the "Address" field. This field supports HTML & plain text.
Management
How do I setup my primary gateway for payment processing in HMSPANEL?
Applies to HMSPANEL CS Login to your administration section.
Click on "System Settings" in the header navigation.
Locate the "Primary Gateway Settings" table.
Currently HMSPANEL supports 4 primary gateways for payment processing:
Link Point Central AuthorizeNET Echo TrustCommerce
Please select a primary gateway and enter the required information in the fields provided. Only one primary gateway can be selected.
When you use any of the "Bill" features in HMSPANEL CS this is the gateway that will be used.
If you are using a third party gateway for billing then simply put the primary gateway setting on "None".
If you are using a primary gateway and would like to test transactions please be sure to check the "Test Mode" field.
Management
How do I create an invoice with line items for a client?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Click on the "Create Invoice" link from the left menu.
A new window will open to create an invoice. Creating an invoice will create charges. Each line item will have it's own seperate charges created.
Since an invoice is really charges being posted to an invoice, you must select the plan you would like to create the invoice (charges) for.
Management
Once a domain is setup how do I change the IP address the domain is setup on?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Now you're on the domains page.
Under the "Active Domains" table locate the domain you wish to work with. Under the "Functions" column click on "Change IP".
Management
Can I leave notes for a client that is private, for the administrators only?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Client Actions" table you will see "Enter Notes". Enter any notes you wish and click on "Submit Notes".
Notes are private and for administrators only. Clients will not see these notes.
Management
How do I delete a domain or sub domain?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Now you''''re on the domains page.
Under the "Active Domains" table locate the domain in question. Under the "Functions" column click on "Delete".
If there are items such as email addresses, MySQL databases or any other "control panel" items attached to a domain you will receive a message notifying you about the additional items. Confirm that you want to delete the domain and everything associated with it.
When a domain is deleted the folder with all of the data is not deleted. It is still visible via FTP and can be deleted from there.
A domain name cannot be deleted if it has sub domains. The sub domains must be deleted first.
Management
How do I manage cron jobs for a domain name?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Click on "Cron Job Management" in the left menu.
** We recommend using the "Cron Job Management" utility within the CLIENT HMS. **
In order to setup your cron jobs you will need the full path to PHP. Here is an example: /usr/bin/php -q /usr/local/path_to_file
Management
How do I specify which server in my network will be my primary name server (ns1) & secondary name server (ns2)?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server in your network that will act as your "ns1" server and click the "NS1" link under the "Actions" column.
All of the zone files for domains added in HMSPANEL will have the zone masters written to this server.
Now locate the server you would like to use for your second name server (ns2) and click the "NS2" link under the "Actions" column.
All of the slave zone files for domains will be written to this server.
By default when HMSPANEL is installed, the server HMSPANEL is running on is considered and set as the "NS1" server. If you change your "NS1" server then you must make sure the "named" service is running on that machine and a record exists for your HMS domain.
Management
How do I delete a server from my network and my HMSPANEL?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "Delete Server" under the "Actions" column.
Management
How do I modify administrator levels and what are they for?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "User Administration" in the header navigation.
On this page you will see a section named "Page" where each page has it's own level. Now remember your main administrator user is set to level 10 by default, which grants access to everything.
Assuming you had an employee and you wanted them to access the HMS administration section then you would create a new admin user account for them. Set their level to "9" when you create the user account.
Find the "admins.php" under the "Page" table and set it's level to "10". Now only users level "10" or greater will be able to access the "admins.php" page in the administration section. So the new user account you created, which was set to level "9" will not be able to access that page.
The above details are assuming you have two levels of employees. If you have multiple levels of employees you can create user accounts and change the levels accordingly.
There is also a feature on this page named "Global Level Change", where you can quickly change the levels on all pages to one specific level.
Management
How do I search the client database so I can quickly locate a client?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Search Client Database" from the left menu.
Enter the necessary search parameters and search for the client. Only one field is required for a search.
Management
What version of HMSPANEL am I using?
Login to your administration section.
Locate the "HMS Details" table. The HMS version number will be listed there along with the build date.
Management
What is a client number (ID) and a plan number (ID) and what is the difference?
The HMS has a client number (ID) and customer plan number (ID) that it uses when you setup a client or client plan.
The client number (ID) is the actual ID for the client itself. Let's assume "John Doe" signs up and is your first client, well he is client number (ID) 1.
The client (customer) number (ID) is the actual ID for the specific plan that was ordered. Above "John Doe" signed up and is client ID 1. When "John Doe" signed up he ordered a plan. Assuming it was the very first client & plan ordered in the HMS then this would be client plan ID 1.
Now let's assume before another client signs up "John Doe" orders a new plan, he will then have client plan ID 2.
So far we have client ID 1, which has client plan IDs 1 & 2.
A new client signs up, "Jane Doe". She is client ID 2. "Jane" also ordered one plan when she signed up, which is client plan ID 3.
With that being explained please remember that the client ID and client plan IDs do not always match.
To learn how to change the value of your next client ID please read this topic.
Management
How do I modify the email templates the HMS sends out?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "System Settings" in the header navigation.
Click on "Modify Email Templates" from the left menu.
You can modify all of the email templates HMSPANEL sends out from this page. You can also modify the subjects that are used for each template as well.
If you receive an error when trying to modify a template related to permissions then you do not have permissions set correctly. Please be sure all of the .txt files located in your /htdocs/templates directory are set to writable.
You can also modify these templates by downloading them via FTP, editing them on your local computer and then re-uploading them.
All of the .txt files in your /htdocs/templates directory are email templates.
Management
On the add manual payment page what are all the different payment methods and options for?
A description on adding a manual payment for a client can be found here.
Payment Amount: Enter the payment amount you would like to apply to the clients account in this field. Enter a value such as "50.00".
Payment Date: Enter the payment date in this field in the following format "02/10/2006". You can back date, date forward or use the current date.
Payment Method: There are 6 different payment methods. They are as follows:
Credit Card: Will be posted as a payment made by credit card.
Paypal: Will be posted as a payment made by Paypal.
Check: Will be posted as a payment made by check.
Wire/EFT: Will be posted as a payment made by wire transfer.
Other: If none of the above options apply then post the payment using this option.
Credit: If you apply a payment as a credit the payment will not be recorded in your overall HMSPANEL financial details. It will be applied to the clients account as a credit.
Payment Notes: Enter any notes you would like to post with the payment such as a transaction ID or anything else you wish.
Send Receipt by Email to Customer: If this field is checked then a receipt of the payment will be sent to your client. If it is not checked then no receipt will be sent.
Management
How to I view and modify a client’s personal information, payment method & all other information related to a client account?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Client Actions" table locate the "Modify" link and click it.
On that page you can view or modify all of the clients personal information, payment method, & set their referral payout.
Management
Where can I view a servers overall bandwidth usage graphs?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "Bandwidth Graphs" under the "Actions" column.
There are two graphs available on this page. The first graph is the 5-minute average, which is updated every 5 minutes and the second graph is the 30-day average, which updates every 2 hours.
Management
Can I change the server’s root user password from HMSPANEL?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "Edit User Passwords" under the "Actions" column.
To change a password follow these steps:
Username: Enter the username you want to change the password for. You can change any user password from this form as long as the username exists.
Be careful because if you edit a password for a clients FTP user from here the password displayed to the client on their FTP management page will still be the old password they had.
Using this feature is to override any settings. This should mainly be used to change a servers root user password.
Password: Enter your new password.
Management
How can I find out what username last logged into my administration section of HMSPANEL?
Login to your administration section.
Locate the "General Details" table. You will see the "Last Login" detailed listed there. The username, date & time & IP address from the last login are listed.
Management
Where can I view a client’s usage statistics such as HTTP, FTP & MAIL traffic & disk space, broken down by site?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the specific plans "Functions" table click on the "View Usage" icon.
These stats are generated by HMSPANEL. They are displayed per domain for a monthly period. You can view statistics for any month/year you wish. You can also view a daily breakdown by clicking on the domain, which is linked. There is also a total available as well.
INBOUND & OUTBOUND traffic for HTTP(S) and FTP are monitored and for MAIL (POP) only INBOUND is monitored at this time. SMTP traffic monitoring will be available shortly.
Disk space is also monitored and displayed on this page as well.
Management
Can I edit any server configuration files from HMSPANEL such as php.ini or httpd.conf?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "Edit Config Files" under the "Actions" column.
You can edit the following files from the HMS:
php.ini - Edit the PHP configuration file. After you edit the file be sure to restart APACHE.
httpd.conf - Edit the APACHE configuration file. After you edit the file be sure to restart APACHE.
mime.types - Edit the mime.types file. After you edit the file be sure to restart APACHE.
vsftpd.conf - Edit the VSFTPD configuration file. After you edit the file be sure to restart VSFTPD.
sendmail.cf - Edit the SendMail configuration file. After you edit the file be sure to restart SendMail.
Management
Can I remove a server from the drop down menu that is used to select a server when setting up the plan?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "Edit Server" under the "Actions" column.
Under the "Settings" table locate the "Remove from Pool" option and put it on "YES" in the drop down menu.
This feature is useful once you setup a dedicated plan. Since a dedicated plan (server) is only used for one client plan, you can remove it from the pool after it's setup.
This will remove the server from the drop down menu you select the server from during the plan setup. It will keep the list of servers to setup plans on organized.
Management
How do I view all of the active (ordered) plans in HMSPANEL?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Plan Maintenance" in the header navigation.
Click on "View all Ordered Plans" from the side navigation.
On this page you will see all of the active (ordered) plans in your HMS. These are plans that your clients have ordered, which are still active.
The "Plan ID", "Original Join Date", "Plan Total Amount", "Billing Duration", & "Plan Belongs To" are displayed. The owners name is hyper linked to their specific account.
Management
How do I view invoices for a client account?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Click on the "View Invoices" link from the left menu.
A description of the "Account Totals" table can be found here.
Management
Where are the domain registration details for a client located?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Click on the "Domain Registrations" link from the left menu.
Here you can view all of your client’s domain registration details. For more advanced client domain features please login to the client''''s account (client HMS). The administration side simply shows flat data. Changes can only be made on the client side.
Management
How do I create a quote to send to a potential client?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Click on the "Create Quote" link from the left menu.
When creating a quote there are three fields that need to be filled out. They are as follows:
HTML: This is where you enter the details of the quote. An example would be:
2.66GHz CPU 512MB Memory 2 x 80GB SATA HD
Price: This is the price of the plan.
Plan Link: When you send out a quote you should create a plan for the potential client to purchase. You can learn how to obtain a plan link here.
Management
How do I access the control panel for a specific client plan?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table for a specific plan click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Management
How do I add a manual charge and post an invoice to a clients account?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Click on the "Add Manual Charge" link from the left menu.
A new window will open up. The details of the add manual charge window are described in this topic.
Management
How do I add domains & sub domains in the control panel?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Now you're on the domains page.
In order to add a domain or sub domain please follow the following instructions.
Locate the "Add Domain" table.
Enter Domain: Enter the domain name or sub domain you want to add. If you're adding a sub domain please be sure to check the "Subdomain" checkbox.
Select IP Address: Select the IP address you would like to use.
Select Name Server: Select the name server you want to use and add this domain to. HMSPANEL supports multiple & custom name servers (DNS). Please see our detailed topics related to name servers (DNS).
Click "Submit New Domain".
Management
Can I label my servers with a custom name for internal record keeping?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "Edit Server" under the "Actions" column.
Under the "Settings" table locate the "Internal Server Name" option and label the server anything you want, such as "My Server 1". This name is for your internal purposes only and will not be visible to the client.
Management
What are all of the options on the add manual charge page for?
A description on adding a manual charge can be found here.
Apply to Plan #: Charges always apply to a specific plan. When you post a manual charge you have the option to post the charge to a specific plan the client has purchased.
Accrual Amount: Please enter the amount of the charge you would like to post. An example would be "23.00".
Accrual Details: Please enter the details of the charge. An example would be "Administration Time".
Send Receipt by Email to Customer: If checked a receipt of the charge will be emailed to the client.
Accrual Requires Approval by Customer: If you post a charge to a client’s account (plan) you can require approval, which requires their confirmation. When this field is checked the receipt will be emailed to the client with a link to confirm their receipt of the charge. Once they confirm the charge will be applied to the client account totals. Prior to their approval the charge will be listed as "Pending" but will not apply to the client account totals.
Management
How do I view a client’s referral statistics?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Click on the "Referral Statistics" link from the left menu.
Management
What is domain mapping for and how do I modify it?
Domain mapping is similar to redirection. Every domain has a "VirtualHost", which has a line with a path to the "DocumentRoot".
Domain mapping changes the "DocumentRoot". For example:
"domain.com" would normally map to:
/usr/local/domain.com/public
You're going to change that to:
/usr/local/domaintwo.com/public
Traffic for the domain will now be heading off to the new "DocumentRoot", which leads to another domain name.
To update mapping for a domain or sub domain follow these steps:
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Now you''''re on the domains page.
Under the "Active Domains" table locate the domain in question. Under the "Functions" column click on "Domain Mapping".
Select a domain and directory you would like to map the domain to and save the settings.
Management
How do I manage MySQL databases for a domain name?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Click on "Database Management" in the left menu.
** We recommend using the "Database Management" utility within the CLIENT HMS. **
Please visit this topic to learn how to login.
Management
Can I restart (reboot) a server in my network from HMSPANEL?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "Servers" in the left menu.
Locate the server you want to work with and click "Reboot Server" under the "Actions" column.
Enter your HMS admin user password to confirm.
Keep in mind using this feature from HMSPANEL for your main server, which your HMS runs on, does not make too much sense. If you reboot your main server from the HMS the page will not come back up since the server HMSPANEL is running on is now being rebooted.
This feature is more useful for secondary servers in your network. All of them except the primary server, also known as the "Master Server".
Management
How do I modify a domains .htaccess file?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Now you're on the domains page.
Under the "Active Domains" table locate the domain in question. Under the "Functions" column click on "Edit Htaccess".
Select the directory within the domain that you wish to modify the .htaccess file for. Once you do that the .htaccess file will load.
This is what we consider a "raw" edit of the file. Your clients actually have a .htaccess creation utility so they don't have to manually add code and/or manually edit the file.
When you load the .htaccess file within a directory any rules your client added will be displayed. Do not modify their code, simply add to the file at the bottom if custom code is necessary.
If you have to remove or modify existing client added code then login to the client account as described in this topic and delete the .htaccess rules from the CLIENT HMS.
Management
How do I create an email address for a domain name?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Click on "Email Management" in the left menu.
** We recommend using the "Email Management" utility within the CLIENT HMS. **
Please visit this topic to learn how to login.
Management
How do I allocate a zone template or custom name server to a client plan?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Click on "Zone Allocation" from the left menu.
Select the zone file (custom name server) you would like to allocate to this client's plan.
You can learn about zone templates in this topic.
Management
How does the domain registration module work and how do I use it?
First please read this topic to learn how to enable domain registration.
If domain registration is enabled clients can orders domains using two methods. They are as follows:
Front End Website: If enabled on the front end of your website when your client selects the plan they wish to purchase they will be asked if they want to register a domain, or not. They are not forced into registering a domain name.
The client can search for domain names and add any number of domains to their cart along with a unique number of years to register each domain.
Once the client proceeds with the order after the domain(s) are added they will be asked to make a payment. Domain registration only works with credit card or Paypal billing methods since the HMS requires a real-time payment response before it actually registers the domain(s) for the client.
Once their order goes through and a successful payment is returned in real-time to the HMS the domains will be registered and placed in the clients account.
From the CLIENT HMSPANEL the client can modify their registrant contact information, their name servers and they can also renew their domain. From the ADMIN HMSPANEL the admin can only view the details but not modify any properties. If you need to make changes for a client them please login to their CLIENT HMSPANEL and make the changes from there.
If a client attempts to order domains during the signup process and they do not select credit card or Paypal as the payment method then they will be notified that the domain registration(s) will not go through.
Order from CLIENT HMSPANEL: Any active clients that login to their CLIENT HMSPANEL can register domain(s) from there as well. It works in the same fashion as on the front end of your website. Orders will only be taken if the client is using credit card or Paypal as their payment method.
Management
How does the HMS handle DNS?
HMSPANEL supports a true DNS environment.
Your "master" HMSPANEL server will be your "ns1" server. All of the master zone files for all of the name servers will be written to the "ns1" server.
Then you have the ability to mark any other server in your network as the "ns2" server. All of the slave zone files will be written to this "ns2" server.
The HMS supports the use of multiple name servers. You can have 100 different name servers setup. No matter how many name servers you have setup the "ns1" & "ns2" servers will handle all of them.
From the "Domain Management" section in the client HMS you can also modify DNS records. Add/Edit/Remove: "A", "MX", "CNAME", "SPF" for a particular domain.
Management
How do I delete an existing cron job?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" drop down and click on the "Crons" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Active Cron Jobs" table locate the cron you want to delete and check the box under the "Select" column.
Click on "Delete" under the "Active Cron Jobs" table.
Management
A customer is complaining that he cannot modify any files when logged in through FTP. He claims he was able to before. What can I do to fix this?
That's because the account "root" last modified the files for the account while logged into the server.
SSH into the server and run this command:
chown -R plan_1:plan_1 /usr/local/apache/sites/planx/domain_name/htdocs/* (Where "domain_name" is the domain name affected and the value of "x" is the plan number or also known as the HMSPANEL username).
Explanation:
"plan_x" is part of the group "plan_x", so you only need to chown with the "plan_x" username (Where the value of "x" is the plan number or also known as the HMSPANEL username).
Example: If you were to install an application for a customer from the server and logged in as "root", all files and directories would be owned by "root".
Keep in mind, /awstats & /stats are always owned by "root", just to prevent clients from removing those directories.
But if you wanted to set those back, you woudl do the following:
(Where "domain_name" is the domain name affected and the value of "x" is the plan number or also known as the HMSPANEL username).
chown -R (recursive) USER:GROUP path to directory or filename
If you just wanted "root" to own a directory but the files within to be owned by the ftp user, then you would do the following:
chown USER:GROUP path to directory or filename
So /htdocs is ALWAYS owned by "root", but the files within are owned by the ftp user so you don't need the -R flag for recursive. If "root" didn't own /htdocs, a client could delete it and take down Apache because during Apache restart, it wouldn't be able to locate that directory the VirtualHost for that domain.
So when a client claims "I can't overwrite or upload files to my directory." it's usually ownership permissions (chown).
Is the Front-End website included with my HMSPANEL CS license?
Applies to HMSPANEL CS only Yes, absolutely. The front-end and ordering system is included with HMSPANEL CS. HMSPANEL (without the billing module) will also include a font-end with a quick customer log-in box but with no order pages.
The front-end is already included during the install process and ready for your use. The front-end template is simply a website coded in in .php. This design is available to you and you can fully utilize it if you want to. The beauty of this front-end is that you can either keep the default design or you can upload your own web design instead.
The front-end templates files are located under the "htdocs" folder of your licensed domain or licensed IP. An example path to your front-end files would be: /usr/local/apache/planx/domain_name/htdocs (where the "domain_name" would be replaced with the domain name in question and the value of "x" is the plan number or also known as the HMSPANEL plan number). Connect via FTP using the connection parameters listed under the domain's control panel. Once you connect via FTP, click on your domain and then click on htdocs. You will see the index.php; network.php, etc.. you can delete these none-dynamic .php pages and upload your new website content or modify the current one.
Please note: Do not delete anything under the "/templates" folder as these are required for all dynamic content. If you click through the current font-end website template pages there are comments that have been added that better explain how everything is controlled.
If you need any assistance with the template customization process or hit any blocking points please contact us via our support ticketing system.
Management
When will I need my license key?
You will be required to use your license key during the installer questions of HMSPANEL. The very last installer question will prompt you “Enter License Key:”. Be sure to have the license key noted after you obtain it from the customer area. Copy & paste your license key from there and enter that under the “Enter License Key:” installer question.
Your license key can also be updated fetched by connecting to your server via SSH and editing the config.inc.php. This file is located under /usr/local/apache/sites/client1/your_domain.com/htdocs where “your_domain.com” will be the main domain supplied during the installer questions. The license key field will be located at the very end of the file and will look something like this: “$license='HMSPANEL-XXXXXXXXXXXX';” Update your license key there and save the changes.
Please note: Be careful that no extra characters or blank spaces are entered when copying and pasting the license key as this will result in your license not activating.
Management
Obtaining your License Key
Each installation of HMSPANEL is controlled and monitored by our licensing system. After a successful sign-up of a paid or demo license, you should have received a confirmation Email with a direct link to the customer area.
If you did not receive a order confirmation Email please visit http://license.hmspanel.com/license/customers/ and login with the username and password you used during your account registration. Your username will be the Email address you used during sign-up. After you login please make sure that your user profile is updated with an updated Email address as this will be the primary address that you will be reached at for new renewal notices and other important notifications.
Login to the customer area http://license.hmspanel.com/license/customers/ and click on “Customer Area > Licenses” click on the “licenses” link on the far right of the field that belongs to your license type.
Management
Importing MySQL database backups stored in the BACKUPS folder.
To be able to import MySQL databases automatically created by HMSPANEL you will need to login to the server via terminal access and run the following command: mysql -uUSERNAME -p DATABASE_NAME< FILENAME.sql
If you don't have access to the server please contact your server administrator or hosting provider.
Management
How do I view IP assignments on my server?
Login to your administration area >> locate your server under the "Servers" page >> Click "Manage Server & View Statistics" >> Click on "Edit Server" >> Go to the "NAME SERVER TEMPLATES SECTION" >> Click on "IP Assignment".
Management
Changing the default system currency?
Applies to HMSPANEL CS Location: Dashboard > System Settings
Login to your HMSPANEL administration panel >> Click on "Settings" >> Go to the "DEFAULT SYSTEM CURRENCY" > Change it do the desired currency, and click on "Save Settings" at the very bottom of the screen.
Management
How to use the .htaccess management interface
Please take note that when you use this htaccess feature, it will overwrite the existing htaccess file in the directory you are working in.
An example of this would be the following. If you install WordPress in your domains root directory, which is /htdocs, and setup permalinks in WordPress an htaccess file will be created in your /htdocs directory by WordPress.
Now if you used the htaccess feature on this page and setup error handlers under your /htdocs directory, your WordPress htaccess file would be wiped out.
On the other hand, if you setup multiple rules using this htaccess feature, the original rules you created under that directory will remain in tact.
The only htaccess files that are overwritten are those not created by this htaccess page.
Please also take note that any htaccess file above a set of directories will apply to that directory and all subdirectories.
If you create an htaccess file under the root of your domain, which is /htdocs, then those rules will apply to every subdirectory under /htdocs.
Error Handlers (401, 403, 404, 500): You can enter local file names or the full URL that you want to redirect to.
Examples:
- Local File: 404.html OR /error_documents/404.html.
- Remote Site: http://google.com OR http://yoursite.com/yourpage.html.
If you are using a local file make sure that the file actually exists. If not, you can cause the redirect to end up in an infinite loop, which will eventually cause your web site to crash as thousands of processes will start to come in immediately or as fast as the loop moves. IP Address Banning: Enter any number of IP addresses to block from accessing your web site via HTTP. Sort the IP addresses by line. File and Directory Redirection: Here you can select a specific file to redirect. Select the file and enter the URL you want to set the redirect to.
Hotlink Protection: Setup hotlink protection for your web site or directory so outsiders cannot hotlink your web site content.
- Allowed Domains: Enter the domains that should override the hotlink protection. Listed domains will be able to hotlink your data.
- Allow Blank Referrers: In most cases, you will want to enable this feature. If you do not, individuals behind firewall's or proxy servers will not be identified and will be excluded from the hotlink protection.
- Image URL for Redirection: When individuals hotlink your image content on their web site and hotlink protection is setup, they will generally get a broken image shown on their site, typically the "red x". You can set a URL to an image within your domain to show on their end instead of showing the broken image.
Protected File Types: List the files you want to protect from hotlinking. This hotlink protection is good for images only. Sort each type with one space.
Directory Browsing: Disable directory browsing will not allow users to view the contents of your folders via HTTP. This will save you time from having to create an index file for each and every directory & sub directory within your web site.
Management
Using the FTP management interface
Username: Enter your desired FTP username.
Domain Master: This must remain checked. This FTP account will only be able to access this particular domain via FTP.
If you would like to create a limited FTP account, please use the feature below.
First, please uncheck the Domain Master field above under Create Domain Master FTP Account.
Username: Enter your desired FTP username.
Directory to Create: Enter a directory name, which will be created under /htdocs, your public HTML directory for this particular domain.
This FTP account will only be able to access the directory you create via FTP and no other directory within this domain, or any other.
Management
Using the File manager interace
Please note that the D stands for a directory and the F stands for files. Any directory you click will take you into that directory to browse. Any file you click will prompt you to download the file.
Rename: Rename a directory or file accordingly. Extract: This feature is only available for archived files such as .tar.gz files. Simply click Extract and the archive will be extracted in the current directory. Refresh Directory Listing: This will refresh the currently directory listing.
Create New Folder: This will create a new folder within the directory you are currently browsing.
Delete: This will delete all selected files and folders.
Set Permissions: This will set file permissions on all selected files and folders. Archive Selected Files & Folders (tar.gz): This will create an archive of all selected files and folders. The tar.gz file will be available in the directory you are currently browsing when creating the archive.
Upload File: This will upload a file to the current directory.
Management
How to use the DNS management interface
Using the DNS Management feature will allow you to modify a domains zone file, which contains all of the DNS records for the particular domain.
Please note, once you add two records and save the zone file, two new fields will appear for you to add more records.
This feature is useful if you want to point subdomains to an alternate server or if you want subdomains to forward to your existing domain's IP address without actually creating the directory. If you want to simply point sub.domain.com to domain.com then you would not have to add the subdomain via the Domain Management page as you would not need the public directories for the subdomain available via FTP, you would simply add the record using DNS Management.
Record: We recommend leaving all existing records in tact unless you know exactly what you are doing. When adding a new record simply enter the record name you would like to create or use * as a wildcard. Record Type: Please select the record type. At this time, HMSPANEL only supports the creation of A records.
IP Address: Please add the IP address you want to point the record to. You can use IP addresses currently available on the server or you can point the records to IP addresses on another server under another network.
Management
How to use the zone allocation interface
Location: Dashboard > Account Maintenance > View Active Accounts > HMS Domain Account > Domain & Plan Control > Zone File Allocation
Zone Allocation gives you the ability to allocate zone templates (name servers) to client plans.
If you created a zone template, or multiple zone templates via the Edit Server settings page and did not set them as Visible to All (if it happens to be a private name server for a client), then you would simply allocate the zone template to a specific client plan and it will only be available for their use.
If you would like to un-allocate a zone template, you must do that from the servers Edit Server page and not this location. Locate the server this client plan is setup on, edit the server and finally edit the zone template and click Remove.
Management
Editing the HMSPANEL system settings page
Location: Dashboard > System Settings
Site Name: Your licensed domain. Cannot be modified. Site URL: Your licensed URL. Cannot be modified.
System Email Address: All system related emails, to and from, will be sent to this email address or be sent from this email address.
Enable: Check this field to enable real-time dedicated server or virtual private server billing. This will charge the user the full monthly amount during signup. Without this setting enabled, orders will come in and sit under pending until you proceed to set them up.
Please keep in mind that shared hosting is separate from dedicated and virtual private servers. To setup real-time shared billing as well as auto account provisioning/setup, please view your Edit Server page under a specific server.
TLD List: Enter the TLD's you wish to support. Users can only add domains if the TLD is listed.
Plan Prefix Name: This plan prefix name will be the prefix for all plans under Plan Management.
So, shared plan number 1 is labeled as S.1 by HMSPANEL, the plan will appear throughout the system as PREFIX.S.1.
The same applies to all other plans.
Page Titles are just that, the page titles for your front-end web site, client control panel and administration area.
Success Page Messages are simply messages that appear on order success pages for specific payment methods. You can either use this feature or you can manually modify the HTML templates.
Invoice Settings are pretty straight forward.
Invoice Address: Enter the address you want to appear on client invoices. Be sure to use HTML.
Example:
123 Main Street<br> New York, NY 10001<br><br> Phone: 123-123-1234 Paypal/Check/Wire Transfer/Credit Card: This is the day of the month that invoices will be sent out. Generally this should be left on 1. This feature only applies to regular monthly billing accounts and not users that signed up for 3, 6, 9 or 12 month prepaid plan options.
Invoice Due: The number of days before an invoice is considered
Release Letters contain access information for a client's plan. When you send a client a Release Letter, you can opt to have a carbon copy sent to the administration email address.
When HMSPANEL is installed there is one user account with one plan. The next client that's added would be number 2. To make your business appear a bit more established, you can update the client number that HMSPANEL will use next.
Terms & Conditions: Enter your terms & conditions in this field. Once data is entered into this field the terms & conditions will appear on the front-end web site billing page. Hear About Us: Pretty straight forward feature. See sample data for example. Custom Field 1/2/3/4: See sample data for examples. These fields are just to collect more information from a client during signup.
Default Payment Method 1/2/3/4: The 4 options are default on the front-end billing page as payment methods a user can select. If you select Credit Card, please be sure to specify your gateway on the Gateway Settings page using the navigation on the left. If you select Paypal, you must also specify your Paypal email address on the Gateway Settings page using the navigation on the left. Custom Payment Method 1/2/3/4/5: See sample data for examples.
Management
Editing and understanding the server settings page
Location: Dashboard > Servers > Server Settings for server name
API Check: When checked this feature is enabled. This will check to make sure the API is connecting prior to adding any control panel related features such as domains, databases, etc. We recommend leaving this feature unchecked, which is disabled.
Auto Shared Setup: When this feature is set to YES, users that signup for a shared hosting plan and return a successful payment to HMSPANEL, will have their shared web hosting account provisioned and setup in real-time. Only one server can have this feature enabled at a time.
Since this feature requires a successful payment to be returned, it will only work with real-time billing methods such as credit card and Paypal.
Remove Server from Pool: When this feature is set to YES, the server will not be available in the drop down menu when setting up plans and selecting a server to set that plan up on. This feature is useful when a server is in use and you will not be adding any other clients to the server.
Internal Server Name: This is for internal purposes only. Enter any server name you desire. We would generally have this match your servers actual hostname in /etc/hosts as well as the Hostname value below under API INFORMATION.
Cost for Expenses (BETA): Enter your cost on the specific server.
Hostname: This would generally be your servers actual hostname under /etc/hosts. However, this hostname value has nothing to do with your servers actual hostname, it's what HMSPANEL considers the servers hostname. Again, it is a good idea if this does match your servers actual hostname under /etc/hosts just for organizational purposes.
API URL: The URL to the server's HMSPANEL API. This will always be:
http://domain/sys/admin_api.php
When you access that page via HTTP, you should see this message: "Error: Unable to authenticate." If you do, that is correct. The API cannot be authenticated via HTTP.
API Username: The API username. This value must match the username value in the api configuration file under:
/domain/htdocs/sys/api_config.inc.php
API Password: The API password. Make this complex! This value must match the password value in the api configuration file under:
/domain/htdocs/sys/api_config.inc.php
Apache Restart Command: The command HMSPANEL will use to restart Apache for this specific server. There is generally no reason to modify this value. NameVirtualHost File: This value will specify that all of your IP addresses are name-based. Your shared IP address and all of the IP addresses in your IP Pool will all be written to this file. There is generally no reason to modify this value.
VirtualHost Configuration Files: Directory when domains VirtualHost configuration files are stored. There is generally no reason to modify this value.
Path to 'update' File: This is the path and/or command that HMSPANEL will use when updating Sendmail when new email addresses, aliases, forwarders, etc., are created. There is generally no reason to modify this value. Path to 'virusertable' File: The file in which email addresses, forwarders, etc., are stored. There is generally no reason to modify this value. Path to 'local-host-names' File: The file in which domains are written, which will allow incoming mail to be delivered accordingly. When domains are added, they are written to this file. There is generally no reason to modify this value. Display Mail Servers: This is the value that appears within the Client Control Panel on the Email Management page. It lets users know what POP & SMTP servers to use for mail. You need to use HTML in this field for line breaks. Example:
Incoming: mail.{domain}<br> Outgoing: mail.{domain} - Requires Authentication. Same username & password as incoming.
In most cases, this value will be identical for all servers within your HMSPANEL network.
root Username: This is the root user for MySQL, which is root. There is generally no reason to modify this value. root Password: This is the root MySQL user password. It is important that this value be correct. When users add MySQL databases, HMSPANEL executes the creation of databases, users, privileges, etc., as the MySQL root user and a correct password is required.
Change Password: This feature will change your MySQL root user password.
Please note that if you update your MySQL root user password using this feature you must update the root Password value above manually and save the settings accordingly.
Please also note that if you update your MySQL root user password for your HMSPANEL master/main/primary server and the HMSPANEL configuration file is using the root MySQL user to connect to the HMSPANEL database, you must modify the root password in the following file:
/domain/htdocs/config.inc.php
phpMyAdmin URL: This is the URL to phpMyAdmin on this server. There is generally no reason to modify this value as HMSPANEL will install phpMyAdmin on master and secondary servers under the root of your API domain.
Path to 'vsftpd.chroot_list' File: The file in which vsftpd users are stored. This is required for successfully connections to vsftpd by users. There is generally no reason to modify this value.
Restart Command: The command to restart the vsftpd daemon. There is generally no reason to modify this value.
Write Zone Files To: The directory in which HMSPANEL will write zone files for domains. There is generally no reason to modify this value. IP Assignment: This simply lets you know what domains are setup on which IPs assigned to a server. This list is generally useful when you need to provide your upstream with an IP Justification. Add New Zone: This will add a new zone template to your server. A zone template is basically a name server. You can have any number of name servers setup on a server. This gives you the ability to provide your users with multiple name server options and/or their own custom name servers.
Zone Name: The name of the zone file you're adding. This will be the name users see in the drop down menu when adding domains. This would generally be in the following format:
ns1.name.com,ns2.name.com
Template: This is the zone file template HMSPANEL will use. When adding new zone files the best way to enter the correct template would be to Edit and copy the template from an existing Active Zone Template. Once you copy and paste the template you must replace the 4 values that reflect the domain for the other name servers to reflect the domain for the new name servers. They will be under line 5, 6, 16 & 17.
Visible to All Clients: This will grant all users setup on a server access to the zone file template (name server). This will generally be checked for the primary zone file template setup on the server. If this particular server was used for shared clients and you were setting up a custom name server for 1 specific client, then you would not check this feature, you would use the Zone Allocation feature instead. In most cases, dedicated and/or virtual private server users would always have this option checked as they are the only clients/users on a server.
Allocated To:Allocated To will either show ALL or NONE. If you do not set a template Visible to All Clients, it will show NONE until you allocate the zone template to a specific client(s). Then it will show the client names as opposed to NONE or ALL.
Active Zone Templates: All active zone templates added to a specific server.
Bind IP Addresses: Please note that this feature is in BETA and we recommend binding IPs to your machine manually via console. Please search our Wiki for instructions on how to do so. Usually IPs are bound to a machine during installing of the OS.
You can run the ifconfig -a command via console to see if your IPs are bound to the machine.
Shared IP: The shared IP address for a specific server. This IP address will be allocated to all user accounts setup on a specific server.
NS1 IP: You only specify the IP address to your NS1 server if this specific server is acting and defined as your NS2 server. IP Pool: This is all of the IPs setup/bound to your server. Having IPs in your pool will allow you to allocate specific IPs to user accounts. Once you allocate an IP to a user account, it will be removed from the pool and you will not be able to allocate the IP to any other user account.
IP addresses must be sorted by line with no line break on the last line. Back space your cursor back to the end of the last IP address listed.
Path to Create Directories: This is the location user accounts will be created on the server. This value is generally:
/usr/local/apache/sites/plan{id}
In most cases, this value will remain the name.
Please note that this value cannot be changed once the server is in use and a client(s) is setup on the server. This must be set prior to the server becoming active. With that being said, you should not update this value on your master server since HMSPANEL is running under an active user account.
Directories to Create: The directories that are created when domains are added. There is generally no reason to modify this value.
VirtualHost Template: This is the VirtualHost template HMSPANEL will use when adding domains. There is generally no reason to modify this value unless you want to add specific directives to all VirtualHosts that are created for all domains.
Example:
You want to set PHP register_globals to off for all domains added. You would add the following directly above the closing of the VirtualHost.
php_flag register_globals off FTP Username Prefix: The prefix that will be added to all FTP usernames created. There is generally no reason to modify this value.
Webalizer Enabled: Enable Webalizer statistics for all domains added. Directory to Create Stats: The directory in which Webalizer statistics will reside for a domain. There is generally no reason to modify this value. Access Log to Rename: The access.log file Webalizer will use when processing logs. There is generally no reason to modify this value. Error Log to Rotate: The error.log file Webalizer will use when processing logs. There is generally no reason to modify this value.
AWStats Enabled: Enable AWStats statistics for all domains added.
Template: The template AWStats will use for domain configuration files. There is generally no reason to modify this value.
Path: The path in which AWStats domain configuration files are stored. There is generally no reason to modify this value.
Please do note use this feature and please make sure that all options are on auto approve, auto create.
This option will be removed in a future release of HMSPANEL.
Exclude: This will exclude log files from storage space used for shared hosting accounts. This option should generally be enabled as log files are rotated and deleted daily by HMSPANEL.
Management
How to use the server statistics page
Location: Dashboard > Servers > Server Specifications for server name
Forward to Address: Specify the email address you want all of the root user's mail to forward to. We recommend you forward all root user email as it does contain important information about your server including the Log Watch, which will alert you of break-in attempts, etc., which is common with most, if not all public IP space.
This will provide you with the ability to block specific networks and IP ranges from attempting to access your server.
Launch Backup: This feature is still in BETA and not 100% functional. You might be better off making manual backups for now via console.
This feature will backup files and directories you specify.
The downfall to this feature is the 2GB archive limit.
Toggle On/Off: When this field is checked, Extended Server Status will be accessible.
Enabling this feature will put a constant load on your server and we do not recommend enabling this feature unless you are looking for a specific problem caused by some process.
Additionally, if you do enable this feature to target a problem, be sure to disable it after you are completed.
These features are pretty straight-forward.
You can stop, start & restart all services running on your server.
Management
Viewing and understanding the main servers page
Location: Dashboard > Servers
Manage Server & View Statistics: Access server, edit server, view server statistics and all other server related functions.
Check HMS API: This will check the HMSPANEL API for the server. You are looking for a successful response here. If you do not receive one, control panel functions for the server will not work.
Make Default: The default server is the server HMSPANEL will use to setup shared hosting accounts when Auto Shared Setup is enabled. If 10 servers have Auto Shared Setup enabled, HMSPANEL will use the Default server to setup accounts.
Make NS1: Specify which of the servers in your network will act as the NS1 name server. Generally this will be enabled when HMSPANEL is installed and your primary/master server will be your NS1.
Make NS2: Specify which of the servers in your network will act as the NS2 name server. Even if your NS1 & NS2 are on the same machine, do not label your NS1 server as NS2. Enable an NS2 server when you're using a true NS2 setup and only then. Restart Apache: Will restart Apache on the server.
Duplicate Server: This feature is useful when adding another server to your network. It will duplicate the existing server and keep most, if not all of the settings. This way when you modify the newly duplicated server, you will only need to modify a few values. Delete Server: This will delete the server from your network. Use this feature with caution.
Used By: If multiple accounts are setup on a server then the server will act as a shared server and Used By will show Shared {Number}, where number is the number of user accounts setup on the server. If one account is setup on a server then the server will act as a dedicated server and Used By will show the clients name only. Please note that virtual private servers act as dedicated servers within HMSPANEL.
The rest of the information shown such as statistics snapshot, server ID and server name is pretty straight-forward.
Management
Allocating Dedicated IPs to a customer account
Location: Dashboard > Account Maintenance > View Active Accounts > Client Account Name > Domain & Plan Control > IP Allocation
IP Allocation is a pretty straight-forward feature. First, the additional IPs need to be added to the server itself. Please contact your server administrator if you are unsure on how to do this.
1) Login to the admin panel 2) Click on "Account" tab 3) Select "Active accounts" icon 4) Click account link "Account Name" 5) Go down to the "All Current Plans" section at the bottom 6) To the right of the plan description you will see "Active Domains: [Domain & Plan Control]" link (click on that) 7) Click on "IP Allocation" from the left navigation menu 8) Under IP address field click on the IP you wish to associate to the account 9) You can select multiple IPs by holding down the SHIFT key on your keyboard and selecting all the IPs that you want to associate to this particular account 10) Click on "Allocate IP Addresses" button
You can allocate any additional IP addresses by selecting them 1-by-1 or as many as you'd like at once and click Allocate IP Addresses. Once you allocate IP addresses to a client's plan, they will be removed from the pool and not available to allocate to any other client plan.
This account will now see the additional IPs from the IP drop down when adding new domains.
Management
Selecting payment gateways
Location: Dashboard > System Settings > Gateway Settings (HMSPANEL CS version only)
Select a third-party gateway that you are currently using.
Paypal Details: If you select Paypal third-party gateway option, that is the regular version of sending someone funds via Paypal to their email address and not the Paypal merchant account. If you want to use the Paypal merchant account, which is called Paypal Website Payments Pro, then you must use the primary gateway feature above but you also must have that Paypal merchant account setup.
If you select Paypal third-party, please enter your Paypal email address that you want to receive payments to. Also check the field to the left to enable this payment option within the client control panel area.
Paypal will return payments to HMSPANEL but you must set the post-back URL. To do so please follow these steps. The Paypal post-back URL is known as the Instant Payment Notification and/or IPN.
Login to Paypal.
Go to Profile > More Options.
Click on Instant Payment Notification Preferences under Selling Preferences.
Click Choose IPN Settings.
Click Receive IPN messages (Enabled).
For the Notification URL, please enter http://licensed_domain/sys/paypal_postback.php. Of course replace licensed_domain with your actual domain.
You must make sure that Default Payment Method Paypal is ticked on the System Settings page, which you can access via the left navigation. That will make the Paypal payment option appear on the signup page.
Management
Domain management control page
Location: Dashboard > Account Maintenance > View Active Accounts > HMS Domain Account > Domain & Plan Control > Domain Management
Update Name Server: If you have multiple zone templates (name server templates) added to your server, you have to option to update a domains name servers using this feature.
Edit Zone File: Will display a domains raw zone file for modification. Please note that any manual changes made using this feature will not be reflected within the Client Control Panel. Edit .htaccess: Will display a domains raw htaccess file. You have the ability to select any directory within a domain as well. Please note that any manual changes made using this feature will not be reflected within the Client Control Panel. Edit Virtual Host Conf Custom Config: This will allow you to add directives to a domains VirtualHost file. There are a few options, which you can select or you can add your own custom code.
Management
System user administration
Location: Dashboard > User Administration
Adding an administrator is simple. Simply click Add Administrator from the left navigation and enter the necessary credentials.
You will need to have an understanding of the User Level feature when adding & editing users as well as editing the page levels below.
Levels simply grant administration users access to all pages or a specific level set of pages.
Administrators need to be at the same level, or greater, as the Individual Page Levels to be able to access those pages.
Example:
If you wanted to add an administration user that did not have access to any billing related pages then you would add an administrator at level 9. You would then use the Global Level Change and set all pages to level 9. Finally you would go through all of the Individual Page Levels and set all billing related pages to level 10. The level 9 user you added would not be able to access the billing related pages set to level 10 and would only be able to access pages set to level 9 and below.
Management
Adding plan extras
Location: Dashboard > Plan Maintenance > Edit Extras
Name: This would be the short name of the extra you are adding. An example would be:
IP Addresses Memory
Description: This would be the question you are asking the user in regards to adding the extra. An example would be:
Would you like to add additional IP addresses to your hosting account? Would you like to add additional memory to your dedicated server?
Type:
Text Field: This allows the user to enter a number in a field to specify the quantity of the extra they want.
Check Box: This allows the user to check the options they would like.
Drop Down: This allows the user to select the options they would like via a drop down menu.
Please note when you add a category, it is hidden by default. You must click Show Category if you would like the category to appear on the front-end ordering process.
Management
Adding and modifying hosting plans
Location: Dashboard > Plan Maintenance
Plan Name: The plan name. You can use any value you want in this field. Locked Plan: If there are clients that have purchased this plan, the plan goes into a locked state. Any and all changes made to a locked plan will apply to all client's that have purchased this plan. If this field is blank, the plan is not in a locked state.
Price: The monthly price of the plan. This will be the monthly recurring amount. Setup Fee: Any setup fee associated with the plan. This will be a one-time fee applied only during sign up. Reseller Plan: If checked, this feature is enabled. It will give your existing clients the ability to create and control Sub Accounts. Rank (List Order): The order in which the plans will appear on the front-end corresponding page as well as the order they appear in the administration area list.
Template: In order to use this feature, you must create a Plan Template from the Plan Maintenance page. Plan Templates serve 2 purposes, one being plan sorting on the front-end if you are using the dynamic pages and plan organization within your administration area.
Example:
You want to have 3 pages of shared hosting plans. Shared Basic, Shared Premium & Shared Super. Each shared plan category has 3 individual plan packages. You would create the 9 shared plans accordingly and assign them to the correct plan templates.
On the front-end, you would link to those 3 template pages accordingly instead of linking to the shared.php page and each page will contain 3 shared plans.
Another example would be from an administrative stand point. You can sort plans by template from the Plan Maintenance page, so you can view plans in an organized view. Status: Plans set to Active are just that and plans set to Hidden will not appear on the front-end for purchase.
Disable Purchase: If checked, this feature is enabled. This will deny a user from purchasing the plan from the front-end.
Shared Plans
Bandwidth: Enter the amount in GB.
Disk Space: (MB) Enter the amount in MB.
Bandwidth Overage Cost: In the first field you would enter the amount. In the second field, you would enter how that value should be displayed to your clients. An example would be:
Field 1: .50 Field 2: .50/GB, or you could use: .50 PER GB
Storage Overage Cost: In the first field you would enter the amount. In the second field, you would enter how that value should be displayed to your clients. An example would be:
Field 1: .05 Field 2: .05/GB, or you could use: .05 PER GB
Dedicated Plans
Bandwidth: In the first field, enter the amount in either GB or MB. Simply enter the numeric value. In the second field, you would enter how that value should be displayed to your clients. An example would be:
Field 1: 50 Field 2: 50Mbps, or you could use: 50Mbit Burstable Server Details: In this field you would enter the server specifications. This field supports HTML line breaks. An example would be:
Intel Quad-Core 2.66GHz XEON<br>6GB Memory<br>5 IP Addresses<br>Much More!
Billing Type: Enter if this plan is being offered on a per GB or Mbit basis.
Bandwidth Overage Cost: In the first field you would enter the amount. In the second field, you would enter how that value should be displayed to your clients. An example would be:
Field 1: 10.00 Field 2: $10/Mbps, or you could use: $10.00/Mbit
Pre-Paid Discounts is a straight-forward feature.
Specify a numeric value in any of the fields and that numeric percentage will be discounted from the total amount when a user signs up and pays in advance for said time period.
Please keep in mind that plans sold as pre-paid are not pro-rated and will not be billed on the 1st of the month like all other plans. Pre-Paid plans are paid on the renewal date after the pre-paid amount of time is up.
Shared Plan Soft-Limits is a straight-forward feature.
Enter the amount of domains, email accounts, FTP accounts, MySQL databases and cron jobs that a plan should be set to. Or, check the unlimited field to set the value to unlimited.
You also have the ability to enable PHP, CGI as well as Webalizer & AWStats statistics.
We recommend leaving PHP & CGI enabled for all plans.
Add/Modify Plan: Use this option when you are adding a new plan or editing an existing plan.
Save as New: Use this option when you want to duplicate an existing plan. Keep in mind that all extras associated with an existing plan will be copied to the new plan you save.
Save as New/Hide This One: This option is identical to the Save as New except it will set the existing plan to Hidden status.
Management
Additional character support on the front-end
Admins have the ability to add custom character support on the front-end. The admin will have to edit the file located in /htdocs/characters.inc.php for the licensed domain or IP address.
By default the below characters are added and allowed:
$ALLOWED_CHARACTERS='ÖÄÅöäå';
Just simply add the desired characher at the end of the line (before the end quotation mark) and save the file.
Management
An account is shown under "Pending" status when the customer logs in. How to I activate it?
From the admin panel go to Location: Dashboard > Account Maintenance
Click on the "Active Accounts" icon >> Click right on the account name in question or having the issue.
You will see that under "All Current Plans" it shows that the plan has not been setup yet.
Click the link that says >> "Click here to setup this plan"
Under the plan setup drop down select "Yes"
From the drop down server select your server and then click on "Update Plan" button from the bottom of the page.
This should activate the account.
Management
CLIENT PANEL
Client panel articles.
How do I manage cron jobs for a domain name?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Click on "Cron Job Management" in the left menu.
** We recommend using the "Cron Job Management" utility within the CLIENT HMS. **
In order to setup your cron jobs you will need the full path to PHP. Here is an example: /usr/bin/php -q /usr/local/path_to_file
Management
How do I add domains & sub domains in the control panel?
Login to your administration section.
Click on "View Active Clients" in the left menu.
Locate the client you wish to work with and click "View Client".
Under the "Plan Functions" table click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Now you're on the domains page.
In order to add a domain or sub domain please follow the following instructions.
Locate the "Add Domain" table.
Enter Domain: Enter the domain name or sub domain you want to add. If you're adding a sub domain please be sure to check the "Subdomain" checkbox.
Select IP Address: Select the IP address you would like to use.
Select Name Server: Select the name server you want to use and add this domain to. HMSPANEL supports multiple & custom name servers (DNS). Please see our detailed topics related to name servers (DNS).
Click "Submit New Domain".
Management
How do I setup an email address for a domain name?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" dropdown and click on the "Email" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Add Email Address" table enter the following data:
Enter Email Address: Enter the email address name only such as "webmaster".
If you want to setup a catch-all email account then leave the email address field blank and simply check the "Catch all" box.
Select Username: Enter a username you would like to assign to this email address. Alphanumeric, underscores and dots accepted only, no other special characters.
Click on "Submit Email Address".
The email address will appear under the "Active Emails" table.
Please note some details about a catch-all email account. Catch all email accounts are always added to the "bottom" of a configuration file, which means that any email accounts that are setup under the same domain with a catch all email address will "catch" their mail first and the rest of the non-existent addresses will be sent to the catch all email account.
Management
How do I add a MySQL database to a domain name?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" dropdown and click on the "Database" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Add Database" table enter the "Database Name" and then click on "Submit Database".
Your new database will appear under the "Active Databases" table.
Management
How do I edit the configuration files on my dedicated server such as the httpd.conf, vsftpd.conf & more?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Locate the plan in question and under the "Functions" table click on the "Server Management" icon.
Remember this icon will only be available if the specific plan is a dedicated server.
Under the "Server Functions" table click the "Edit Config Files" link.
From here you can edit the php.ini file, httpd.conf file, mime.types file, vsftpd.conf file & the sendmail.cf file.
We highly recommend only the most experienced users use this feature.
Management
How do I change the password for my email address username?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" dropdown and click on the "Email" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Locate the email address you want to work with under the "Active Emails" table.
After you locate the email address check the box under the "Select" column.
Click on the "Change Pass" link at the bottom of the table and change the password accordingly.
Management
How do I access the main FTP account for a specific plan?
The main FTP account, also known as the master FTP account is created when the client plan is setup and released. The master FTP account allows you to FTP in to your "root" client directory, which will display all of the domains under the client plan account.
The master FTP username & password are listed on the FTP management page for each domain at the top of the list so you can select any domain name you want from the dropdown menu under #2 below.
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" dropdown and click on the "FTP" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Active FTP Users" table you should see at least one FTP account listed. The very first one in the list is the master FTP account.
Remember, the master FTP account is listed on every domain FTP management page.
Management
How do I backup my website?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with and click on the "Domains" icon.
Under the "Active Domains" look under the "Functions" column and locate the "Backup Site" link. The backup is made into a zip file and in the root of your FTP account under the "BACKUPS" folder.
Management
What version of PHP & MySQL are installed on the server my account is on?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
On the HMS DASHBOARD look under the "System" table. You will see the version numbers listed there.
Management
How do I add a domain name or sub domain name in the client HMS?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with and click on the "Domains" icon.
Under the "Add Domain" table enter a domain name or sub domain name such as "domainname.com", or "subdomain.domainname.com".
Select the IP address you want to setup the domain or sub domain on.
Select the name servers you want to use for the domain or sub domain. Please be sure to point your domain name to the name servers.
Click on "Submit New Domain".
Management
What is the system path to my domain names?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
On the HMS DASHBOARD look under the "System" table. You will see the path listed there.
Management
Where can I view my referral statistics?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Click on "Referral Statistics" from the header navigation.
On this page you can view all of your referral statistics for clients you have referred.
Management
I want to use your referral program. How do I find the linking code I should use so I can send you traffic?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Click on "Referral Statistics" from the header navigation.
On this page under the "Promote Us" table you can find the linking code you should use to send traffic to our website.
Management
How do I add a forwarding email address to a domain?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" drop down and click on the "Email" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Add Forwarder" table enter the following data:
Enter Email Address: Enter the email address name only such as "webmaster".
If you want to setup a catch-all email account then leave the email address field blank and simply check the "Catch all" box.
Enter Forwarding Address: Enter the email address you would like this account to be forwarded to in this field.
Click on "Submit Forwarder".
The forwarding email address will appear under the "Active Emails" table.
Please note some details about a catch-all email account. Catch all email accounts are always added to the "bottom" of a configuration file, which means that any email accounts that are setup under the same domain with a catch all email address will "catch" their mail first and the rest of the non-existent addresses will be sent to the catch all email account.
Management
How can I modify my personal information?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Click on "Personal Information" from the header navigation.
On this page you can modify all of your personal information.
Management
How can I modify my credit card information?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Click on "Personal Information" from the header navigation.
Click on "View / Modify CC Details" from the left menu.
On this page you can modify your credit card information.
Management
Where can I view all of the payments I have made?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Click on "View Payments" from the header navigation.
On this page you can view all of the payments posted to your client account.
Management
Where can I view all of the invoices posted to my client account?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Click on "View Invoices" from the header navigation.
On this page you can view all of the invoices posted to your client account.
These invoices are all of the invoices associated with your account. Every plan under your account has invoices posted to it independently. This is a list of all invoices for all plans.
Management
Where do I view the Webalizer or AWStats statistics for my domain or sub domain?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with and click on the "Domains" icon.
Under the "Active Domains" look under the "Functions" column and locate the links to Webalizer & AWStats. The username & password to access the pages are also listed.
Management
What is domain mapping for and how do I modify it?
Domain mapping is similar to redirection. Every domain has a "VirtualHost", which has a line with a path to the "DocumentRoot".
Domain mapping changes the "DocumentRoot". For example:
"domain.com" would normally map to:
/usr/local/domain.com/public
You're going to change that to:
/usr/local/domaintwo.com/public
Traffic for the domain will now be heading off to the new "DocumentRoot", which leads to another domain name.
To update mapping for a domain or sub domain follow these steps:
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with and click on the "Domains" icon.
Under the "Active Domains" look under the "Functions" column and locate the "Domain Mapping" link and click it.
Select a domain and directory you would like to map the domain to and save the settings.
Management
How do I create an FTP user account for a specific domain name?
A domain FTP account will allow the user to login to a specific domain name and not the client root folder. The user will only have permissions to access data within that domain and cannot "back" out of the domain folder.
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" dropdown and click on the "FTP" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Create Domain FTP Account" table type in the FTP username you would like in the "FTP Username" field.
Click on the "Submit FTP User" button.
The FTP account you created will be listed under the "Active FTP Users" table and "(Domain Master)" will be next to the ftp username.
Management
Where do I view my bandwidth traffic graphs (in *bit/s) for my dedicated server?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Locate the plan in question and under the "Functions" table click on the "Server Management" icon.
Remember this icon will only be available if the specific plan is a dedicated server.
Under the "Server Functions" table click the "Server Usage Statistics" link.
There are two graphs available on this page. The first graph is the 5-minute average, which is updated every 5 minutes and the second graph is the 30-day average, which updates every 2 hours.
Management
What is the path to perl?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
On the HMS DASHBOARD look under the "System" table. You will see the path listed there.
Management
How do I access phpMyAdmin for a database?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" dropdown and click on the "Database" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Locate the database you want to work with and click "phpMyAdmin" under the "Functions" column.
You will be prompted to enter a username & password. Please use the databases username & password to access phpMyAdmin.
Management
Where do I view charges that were posted to a specific plan?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Locate the plan in question and under the "Functions" table click on the "Charges" icon.
The charges listed on this page are related to the specific plan only and not all of the charges (invoices) posted to your entire account.
For example you might have 2 plans each with 5 charges, which means you would have 10 invoices on your "View Invoices" page.
Charges are plan specific and invoices are overall account specific.
Management
Where do I view general statistics for my dedicated server such as total number of domains, bandwidth used & more?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Locate the plan in question and under the "Functions" table click on the "Server Management" icon.
Remember this icon will only be available if the specific plan is a dedicated server.
Under the "Server Functions" table click the "General Server Statistics" link.
Under the "Statistics" table you can find those details.
Management
How do I enable an email address auto responder?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" drop down and click on the "Email" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Locate the email address you want to work with under the "Active Emails" table.
Please note that you cannot setup an auto responder for forwarding email addresses. The auto responder option will not be available.
After you locate the email address you want to work with click on "Enable AR".
Enter the auto responder message in the field provided and click on "Submit".
To disable an email address auto responder locate the active auto responder email address under the "Active Emails" table and click on "Disable AR".
Management
How do I add a cron job to a domain?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" dropdown and click on the "Crons" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Add Cron Job" table select the schedule and enter the cron path.
Click "Submit Cron Job".
** We recommend using the "Cron Job Management" utility within the CLIENT HMS. **
In order to setup your cron jobs you will need the full path to PHP. Here is an example: /usr/bin/php -q /usr/local/path_to_file
Management
How do I add a password-protected directory to a domain name?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" dropdown and click on the "Protection" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Add Protected Directory" table please specify the following:
Directory Name to Create: Create a directory name such as "members".
Username to Create: Type in a username you would like to create such as "member1".
Password to Create: Type in a password you would like to set such as "apple123".
Click on "Submit Protected Directory".
If you would like to add multiple username & password combinations to a single directory then simply type in the same directory name in the "Directory Name to Create" field.
Management
Can do I forward files or directories for a domain using an .htaccess rule?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" dropdown and click on the "Htaccess" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Create Rule" table please specify the following values:
Select Directory: Select the directory you want to forward or select the directory that contains the file you want to forward.
Select Rule: Select "File and Directory Redirection" and click on "Proceed to Create Rule".
Under the "Redirect" table select a file or directory you want to redirect from the "Redirect From" row.
Now enter the URL you want to redirect the file or directory to in the "Redirect to URL" field.
Click on "Save Settings" You will be redirected to the main htaccess management page.
The rule you just created will appear under the "Existing Rules" table.
Management
How do I change my payment method?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Click on "Personal Information" from the header navigation.
On this page you can modify your payment method.
Management
Where can I find the hard drive information for my dedicated server?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Locate the plan in question and under the "Functions" table click on the "Server Management" icon.
Remember this icon will only be available if the specific plan is a dedicated server.
Under the "Server Functions" table click the "General Server Statistics" link.
Under the "Disks" table you can find those details.
Management
How do I change the root user password on my dedicated server?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Locate the plan in question and under the "Functions" table click on the "Server Management" icon.
Remember this icon will only be available if the specific plan is a dedicated server.
Under the "Server Functions" table click the "Change Passwords" link.
This page allows you to change the "root" password only.
Management
How do I install b2evolution on a domain?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" dropdown and click on the "Software" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
At this point you should make sure you have a MySQL database created and ready to be used.
Under the "Install Software" table click on "Install" next to the b2evolution package.
Fill out the following values under the "Install" table:
Directory to Install: Enter the directory name you want to install the software under such as "b2evolution".
Database to Use: Select the database you would like to use for the installation.
Admin Username: Enter the admin username you would like created to access the admin section of the script.
Admin Password: Enter a password you want to set for the admin user.
Click on "Install Software".
The software should take about 20-seconds to install at which point the necessary information to access the script will be presented on the screen.
The main software install page for the specific domain will have the software installed under the "Installed Software" table.
Management
How can I make a manual payment?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Click on "Manual Payment" from the header navigation.
On this page you can make a manual payment.
Management
How do I download my raw access.log file for a domain name or sub domain name?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with and click on the "Domains" icon.
Under the "Active Domains" look under the "Functions" column and locate the "Download access.log" link and click it. You will be prompted to download the file.
Access logs are deleted every 24-hours.
Additionally you can download the error.log file via FTP.
Management
How can I quickly find out what my account is using in terms of limitation resources?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
On the HMS DASHBOARD look under the "Plan Usage" table.
All of your plan limitation resources will be listed as well as your bandwidth usage and disk space usage.
Management
Where do I view my dedicated servers health such as Apache processes, CPU usage, load average & server uptime?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Locate the plan in question and under the "Functions" table click on the "Server Management" icon.
Remember this icon will only be available if the specific plan is a dedicated server.
Under the "Server Functions" table click the "General Server Statistics" link.
Under the "Health" table you can find those details.
Management
How do I restart services on my dedicated server or reboot my dedicated server?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Locate the plan in question and under the "Functions" table click on the "Server Management" icon.
Remember this icon will only be available if the specific plan is a dedicated server.
Under the "Restart Services" table you can restart MySQL, VSFTPD, Apache, SendMail, and reboot the server.
Management
What is the "In Use" checkbox for on the database management page for a domain?
If you mark a database "In Use" the database will not be available to use when using the software install features. It also is good record keeping for your own purposes.
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" drop down and click on the "Database" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Active Databases" table locate the database you wish to work with and click the check box under the "In Use" column.
Management
How can I view my full usage statistics for a plan such as bandwidth, disk space & more?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Locate the plan in question and under the "Functions" table click on the "Usage" icon.
On this page you can view all of your domain statistics such as disk space usage per site, bandwidth usage per site, FTP usage per site, MySQL disk usage per site, and mail usage per site.
You can sort the date range by month and if you click on a domain name you can view a daily breakdown of the usage.
Management
How do I delete a domain or sub domain from my client plan account?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with and click on the "Domains" icon.
Under the "Active Domains" look under the "Functions" column and locate the "Delete" link. You will be asked to confirm prior to deletion of a domain.
When a domain or sub domain is deleted the folder is not deleted from your FTP account. You can remove that folder via FTP.
Management
How do I create an FTP user account for a specific directory within a domain?
A directory FTP account will create a username that takes a user into a specific sub directory of a domain name. The FTP user account will only have access to work within that sub directory and create new directories within. The FTP user will not be able to "back" out of the sub directory.
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" drop down and click on the "FTP" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Create Directory FTP Account" table type in the FTP username you would like in the "FTP Username" field.
Now type in a sub directory you would like created under the "Directory to Create" field. An example would be "friends_folder".
Click on the "Submit FTP User" button.
The FTP account you created will be listed under the "Active FTP Users" table and the directory that the FTP is locked to will be listed under the "Locked to Directory" column.
Management
How does the HMS handle DNS?
HMSPANEL supports a true DNS environment.
Your "master" HMSPANEL server will be your "ns1" server. All of the master zone files for all of the name servers will be written to the "ns1" server.
Then you have the ability to mark any other server in your network as the "ns2" server. All of the slave zone files will be written to this "ns2" server.
The HMS supports the use of multiple name servers. You can have 100 different name servers setup. No matter how many name servers you have setup the "ns1" & "ns2" servers will handle all of them.
From the "Domain Management" section in the client HMS you can also modify DNS records. Add/Edit/Remove: "A", "MX", "CNAME", "SPF" for a particular domain.
Management
How do I delete an existing cron job?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" drop down and click on the "Crons" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Active Cron Jobs" table locate the cron you want to delete and check the box under the "Select" column.
Click on "Delete" under the "Active Cron Jobs" table.
Management
Can I manage the DNS for a domain name?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" drop down and click on the "DNS" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
The "Modify Zone File" table will allow you to modify your zone file.
This feature is useful if you want to host a sub domain on another network (hosting company). The main domain is setup under the HMS and since the sub domain will point to another server you would add the sub domain record here and put in that other IP address.
If you add a sub domain to the domain you're managing the DNS for you will see that record appear here as well.
From the "Domain Management" section in the client HMS you can also modify DNS records. Add/Edit/Remove: "A", "MX", "CNAME", "SPF" for a particular domain.
Management
How do I install Gallery on a domain?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" drop down and click on the "Software" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Install Software" table click on "Install" next to the Gallery package.
Fill out the following values under the "Install" table:
Directory to Install: Enter the directory name you want to install the software under such as "gallery".
Click on "Install Software".
The software should take about 20-seconds to install at which point the necessary information to access the script will be presented on the screen.
The main software install page for the specific domain will have the software installed under the "Installed Software" table.
Management
How do I setup error handlers for a domain name such as 404, 500, etc.?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" drop down and click on the "Htaccess" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Create Rule" table please specify the following values:
Select Directory: Select the directory you want to setup the rule for. "/" indicates the domain root directory.
If you setup a rule for the root directory such as forwarding 404 traffic to http://www.yahoo.com and then setup another 404 rule for a sub directory within the root of the domain the root htaccess file will override all subdirectory .htaccess files.
Select Rule: Select "Error Handlers (401, 403, 404, 500)" and click on "Proceed to Create Rule".
Under the URL''''s you want to direct the traffic to in the provided fields. More information about the fields can be read in the tool tips.
Click on "Save Settings" You will be redirected to the main .htaccess management page.
The rule you just created will appear under the "Existing Rules" table.
Management
How do I upgrade my existing plan?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Locate the plan in question and under the "Functions" table click on the "Edit Plan" icon.
On this page if available you will be presented with options to add to your plan. Once you select some options your plan will become locked and you will not be able to add any more options until the administrator sets up the existing requested upgrades.
Management
How do I download my raw error.log file for a domain or sub domain?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with and click on the "Domains" icon.
Under the "Active Domains" look under the "Functions" column and locate the "Download error.log" link and click it. You will be prompted to download the file.
Error logs are deleted every 24-hours.
Additionally you can download the error.log file via FTP.
Management
How do I install WordPress on a domain?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" dropdown and click on the "Software" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
At this point you should make sure you have a MySQL database created and ready to be used.
Under the "Install Software" table click on "Install" next to the WordPress package.
Fill out the following values under the "Install" table:
Directory to Install: Enter the directory name you want to install the software under such as "wordpress".
Database to Use: Select the database you would like to use for the installation.
Admin Username: Enter the admin username you would like created to access the admin section of the script.
Admin Password: Enter a password you want to set for the admin user.
Click on "Install Software".
The software should take about 20-seconds to install at which point the necessary information to access the script will be presented on the screen.
The main software install page for the specific domain will have the software installed under the "Installed Software" table.
Management
How do I install Drupal on a domain?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" dropdown and click on the "Software" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
At this point you should make sure you have a MySQL database created and ready to be used.
Under the "Install Software" table click on "Install" next to the Drupal package.
Fill out the following values under the "Install" table:
Directory to Install: Enter the directory name you want to install the software under such as "drupal".
Database to Use: Select the database you would like to use for the installation.
Click on "Install Software".
The software should take about 20-seconds to install at which point the necessary information to access the script will be presented on the screen.
The main software install page for the specific domain will have the software installed under the "Installed Software" table.
Management
How can I find out of PHP & CGI are enabled on my account?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
On the HMS DASHBOARD look under the "Plan Usage" table.
You can see if PHP & CGI are enabled within this table.
Management
How do I block IP addresses and domains from accessing my website?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" dropdown and click on the "Htaccess" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Create Rule" table please specify the following values:
Select Directory: Select the directory you want to setup the rule for. "/" indicates the domain root directory.
If you setup a rule for the root directory such as blocking the IP address "123.123.123.123" and then setup another rule for a sub directory within the root of the domain the root htaccess file will override all subdirectory .htaccess files.
Select Rule: Select "IP Address Banning" and click on "Proceed to Create Rule".
Enter the IP addresses or domain names you want to block from your website. Please enter one value per line.
Click on "Save Settings" You will be redirected to the main .htaccess management page.
The rule you just created will appear under the "Existing Rules" table.
Management
How do I install phpAdsNew on a domain?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" dropdown and click on the "Software" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
At this point you should make sure you have a MySQL database created and ready to be used.
Under the "Install Software" table click on "Install" next to the phpAdsNew package.
Fill out the following values under the "Install" table:
Directory to Install: Enter the directory name you want to install the software under such as "phpadsnew".
Database to Use: Select the database you would like to use for the installation.
Admin Username: Enter the admin username you would like created to access the admin section of the script.
Admin Password: Enter a password you want to set for the admin user.
Click on "Install Software".
The software should take about 20-seconds to install at which point the necessary information to access the script will be presented on the screen.
The main software install page for the specific domain will have the software installed under the "Installed Software" table.
Management
How do I change the password or delete a mysql database?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" drop down and click on the "Database" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Locate the database you want to work with and check the box under the "Select" column.
After you check the database(s) click either "Delete" or "Change Pass" under the "Active Databases" table.
Management
How do I install osCommerce on a domain?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" drop down and click on the "Software" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
At this point you should make sure you have a MySQL database created and ready to be used.
Under the "Install Software" table click on "Install" next to the osCommerce package.
Fill out the following values under the "Install" table:
Directory to Install: Enter the directory name you want to install the software under such as "osCommerce".
Database to Use: Select the database you would like to use for the installation.
Click on "Install Software".
The software should take about 20-seconds to install at which point the necessary information to access the script will be presented on the screen.
The main software install page for the specific domain will have the software installed under the "Installed Software" table.
Management
Where can I view the OS information for my dedicated server?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Locate the plan in question and under the "Functions" table click on the "Server Management" icon.
Remember this icon will only be available if the specific plan is a dedicated server.
Under the "Server Functions" table click the "General Server Statistics" link.
Under the "Details" table you can find those details.
Management
How do I backup a mysql database?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" drop down and click on the "Database" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Locate the database you want to work with and click "Backup" under the "Functions" column.
A message will be displayed letting you know where the database backup was written to.
Management
Where can I find the memory usage for my dedicated server?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Locate the plan in question and under the "Functions" table click on the "Server Management" icon.
Remember this icon will only be available if the specific plan is a dedicated server.
Under the "Server Functions" table click the "General Server Statistics" link.
Under the "Memory" table you can find those details.
Management
How do I deny users from viewing the files within a directory that does not have an index file?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" dropdown and click on the "Htaccess" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Create Rule" table please specify the following values:
Select Directory: Select the directory you want to setup the rule for. "/" indicates the domain root directory.
If you setup a disable directory browsing rule for the root directory and then setup another rule for a sub directory within the root of the domain the root .htaccess file will override all subdirectory .htaccess files.
Select Rule: Select "Directory Browsing" and click on "Proceed to Create Rule".
To disable directory browsing for the directory you selected then check the box under the "Disable Directory Browsing" row.
Click on "Save Settings".
The rule you just created will appear under the "Existing Rules" table.
Management
How do I change the IP address my domain name or sub domain name is setup on?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with and click on the "Domains" icon.
Under the "Active Domains" look under the "Functions" column and locate the "Change IP" link and click it.
Select the new IP address from the drop down menu and click on "Update IP". Please allow for DNS propagation when updating your IP address.
Management
How do I change the password or delete an FTP user account?
A directory FTP account will create a username that takes a user into a specific sub directory of a domain name. The FTP user account will only have access to work within that sub directory and create new directories within. The FTP user will not be able to "back" out of the sub directory.
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" drop down and click on the "FTP" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Create Directory FTP Account" table type in the FTP username you would like in the "FTP Username" field.
Now type in a sub directory you would like created under the "Directory to Create" field. An example would be "friends_folder".
Click on the "Submit FTP User" button.
The FTP account you created will be listed under the "Active FTP Users" table and the directory that the FTP is locked to will be listed under the "Locked to Directory" column.
Management
How do I setup hotlink protection on my website?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" drop down and click on the "Htaccess" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Create Rule" table please specify the following values:
Select Directory: Select the directory you want to setup the rule for. "/" indicates the domain root directory.
If you setup a hotlink protection rule for the root directory and then setup another rule for a sub directory within the root of the domain the root .htaccess file will override all subdirectory .htaccess files.
In other words if your root domain directory "domain.com/htdocs" has hotlink protection setup it will apply to all of the subdirectories within "domain.com/htdocs".
Select Rule: Select "Hotlink Protection" and click on "Proceed to Create Rule".
Allowed Domains: Enter the domain names you want to allow hot-linking from. Typically this would be any domain name you own. One per line, please.
Allow Blank Referrers: Check this box to allow blank referrers. Please read the tool tip for more detailed information. It is highly recommended that you allow blank referrers, which means you should check this box.
Image URL for Redirection: If you want another image to load instead of the picture the user is trying to hotlink enter the URL of the image in this field. Make sure the URL to this image is not behind hotlink protection.
Protected File Types: Enter the type of files you want to protect such as "JPG jpg GIF gif PNG png TIF tif", & more.
Click on "Save Settings".
The rule you just created will appear under the "Existing Rules" table.
Management
How do I delete a username & password combination from a protected directory?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" dropdown and click on the "Protection" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Under the "Active Protected Directories" table locate the protected directory you want to work with under the "URL" column.
Select the username & password combinations you want to delete. The directory is only deleted if all the username & password combinations are deleted.
Click on "Delete" under the "Active Protected Directories" table.
Management
How can I check the status of services such as HTTP, POP, etc., running on my dedicated server?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Locate the plan in question and under the "Functions" table click on the "Server Management" icon.
Remember this icon will only be available if the specific plan is a dedicated server.
Under the "Server Functions" table click the "General Server Statistics" link.
Under the "Services" table you can find those details.
Management
How do I setup server & service monitoring on my dedicated server?
Login to your CLIENT HMS.
Locate the plan in question and under the "Functions" table click on the "Server Management" icon.
Remember this icon will only be available if the specific plan is a dedicated server.
Under the "Server Functions" table click the "Server Monitoring" link.
On this page you can setup service & service monitoring. Please read the tool tips on the page for the necessary information.
Management
Is there any way to make automated daily backups of MySQL databases?
Login to your CLIENT HMS account.
Locate the plan you want to work with, select a domain from the "Select Domain" dropdown and click on the "Database" icon under the "Select Control Panel Function" table.
Locate the database you want to work with and click "Enable Daily Backup" under the "Functions" column.
A backup of the database will be made once every 24-hours.
To disable daily backups follow the same procedure and click on "Disable Daily Backup" instead.
Management
Importing MySQL database backups stored in the BACKUPS folder.
To be able to import MySQL databases automatically created by HMSPANEL you will need to login to the server via terminal access and run the following command: mysql -uUSERNAME -p DATABASE_NAME< FILENAME.sql
If you don't have access to the server please contact your server administrator or hosting provider.
Management
How can I change my default currency?
Login to your HMSPANEL account >> click on "Personal" >> Go to the very bottom of the page, change the currency to the desired one and click on "Save Information"
Management
How to use the SSL certificate management interface
In order to setup the SSL certificate you must create a CSR within the SSL management section of HMSPANEL.
Once completed you must submit that CSR to the provider you are purchasing the SSL certificate from. You can download the csr using the link that appears shortly after submitting the CSR information. Once downloaded, open the file and copy the entire contents of the file and submit that to your provider. Sometimes Notepad will format the file to dos and the contents will become corrupt. Please use WordPad instead.
Once all of that is completed they will send you a .zip file containing your certificate, which is a .crt file.
In some cases a chain file will be sent with your certificate. Both files must be uploaded using the upload feature below.
Once the necessary files are uploaded you will see a link to activate the SSL certificate. Simply click that link and your SSL will be activated.
Please note that only one CSR can be generated per domain and only one CRT can be setup per domain.
Be sure you select the proper domain name under the Common Name field. If you do not select the www then you will not be able to use https://www.domain.com, only https://domain.com will work. The same applies with the www. If you select the www then https://www.domain.com will work but https://domain.com will not work.
If you purchase an SSL certificate with the wildcard option, then all variations/subdomains of the domain will work via https.
Management
How to use the software installer interface
If you would like to install the software package under your domains root directory, which would be /htdocs, then please do not enter a name for Directory to Install, simply leave this field blank.
Select Software: Select a software package to being your installation. If you do not see a MySQL database available in the drop down menu, please create one under Database Management using the left navigation.
You can delete a software installation, the directory it was installed under as well as the MySQL database by using the Delete feature.
Please note that the software files will not be removed for software installations under your domains root directory, which is /htdocs. Software installations under a domains root directory will require manual deletion of the files via FTP.
Management
How to use the directory password protection interface
Directory to Create or Protect: Enter the directory name you want to create and protect. You can create sub directories as well.
Example:
directory1/directory2/directory3
No trailing slash is required.
Username: Enter the username you would like to create.
Password: Enter the password you would like to create.
If you would like to add multiple username & passwords combinations to one single directory, simply enter the same directory name with a new username & password. You can have any number of username & password combinations for any single directory.
Management
How to use the .htaccess management interface
Please take note that when you use this htaccess feature, it will overwrite the existing htaccess file in the directory you are working in.
An example of this would be the following. If you install WordPress in your domains root directory, which is /htdocs, and setup permalinks in WordPress an htaccess file will be created in your /htdocs directory by WordPress.
Now if you used the htaccess feature on this page and setup error handlers under your /htdocs directory, your WordPress htaccess file would be wiped out.
On the other hand, if you setup multiple rules using this htaccess feature, the original rules you created under that directory will remain in tact.
The only htaccess files that are overwritten are those not created by this htaccess page.
Please also take note that any htaccess file above a set of directories will apply to that directory and all subdirectories.
If you create an htaccess file under the root of your domain, which is /htdocs, then those rules will apply to every subdirectory under /htdocs.
Error Handlers (401, 403, 404, 500): You can enter local file names or the full URL that you want to redirect to.
Examples:
- Local File: 404.html OR /error_documents/404.html.
- Remote Site: http://google.com OR http://yoursite.com/yourpage.html.
If you are using a local file make sure that the file actually exists. If not, you can cause the redirect to end up in an infinite loop, which will eventually cause your web site to crash as thousands of processes will start to come in immediately or as fast as the loop moves. IP Address Banning: Enter any number of IP addresses to block from accessing your web site via HTTP. Sort the IP addresses by line. File and Directory Redirection: Here you can select a specific file to redirect. Select the file and enter the URL you want to set the redirect to.
Hotlink Protection: Setup hotlink protection for your web site or directory so outsiders cannot hotlink your web site content.
- Allowed Domains: Enter the domains that should override the hotlink protection. Listed domains will be able to hotlink your data.
- Allow Blank Referrers: In most cases, you will want to enable this feature. If you do not, individuals behind firewall's or proxy servers will not be identified and will be excluded from the hotlink protection.
- Image URL for Redirection: When individuals hotlink your image content on their web site and hotlink protection is setup, they will generally get a broken image shown on their site, typically the "red x". You can set a URL to an image within your domain to show on their end instead of showing the broken image.
Protected File Types: List the files you want to protect from hotlinking. This hotlink protection is good for images only. Sort each type with one space.
Directory Browsing: Disable directory browsing will not allow users to view the contents of your folders via HTTP. This will save you time from having to create an index file for each and every directory & sub directory within your web site.
Management
Using the FTP management interface
Username: Enter your desired FTP username.
Domain Master: This must remain checked. This FTP account will only be able to access this particular domain via FTP.
If you would like to create a limited FTP account, please use the feature below.
First, please uncheck the Domain Master field above under Create Domain Master FTP Account.
Username: Enter your desired FTP username.
Directory to Create: Enter a directory name, which will be created under /htdocs, your public HTML directory for this particular domain.
This FTP account will only be able to access the directory you create via FTP and no other directory within this domain, or any other.
Management
Using the File manager interace
Please note that the D stands for a directory and the F stands for files. Any directory you click will take you into that directory to browse. Any file you click will prompt you to download the file.
Rename: Rename a directory or file accordingly. Extract: This feature is only available for archived files such as .tar.gz files. Simply click Extract and the archive will be extracted in the current directory. Refresh Directory Listing: This will refresh the currently directory listing.
Create New Folder: This will create a new folder within the directory you are currently browsing.
Delete: This will delete all selected files and folders.
Set Permissions: This will set file permissions on all selected files and folders. Archive Selected Files & Folders (tar.gz): This will create an archive of all selected files and folders. The tar.gz file will be available in the directory you are currently browsing when creating the archive.
Upload File: This will upload a file to the current directory.
Management
How to use the e-mail management interface
Email Address: Please enter the email address you would like to create.
- Catch All: If you select this option, all email to your domain will be sent to this one account. If you already have multiple email accounts or forwarders created, they will still work as normal. All other email to your domain will be sent to this account.
Username: Please enter the username you would like to create for this email address.
Email Address: Please enter the email address you would like to create to forward.
- Catch All: If you select this option, all email to your domain will be forwarded to the address you specify. If you already have multiple email accounts or forwarders created, they will still work as normal. All other email to your domain will be forwarded to the address you specify.
Forwarding Address: You can enter any external email address in this field, or multiple. Sort multiple addresses with a comma and no spacing.
Enable Autoresponder: This feature is only available for accounts associated with a username. This feature is not available for forwarding accounts you created. To enable the autoresponder, simply enter a subject & message you will like senders to automatically receive.
Enable Forward: This feature is only available for accounts associated with a username. This feature is not available for forwarding accounts you created. This forwarding feature differs from the forwarding addresses you can setup above. This particular feature will forward a copy of all incoming messages to the email address you specify. The original email will still be sent to the user account listed.
Spam Filters: Please launch the spam filter to setup rules.
- White List: Enter any email address or domain name. Please note that your whitelist will override all other rules. Please sort entries by line.
Example:
email@domain.com domain.com
- Black List: Enter any email address or domain name. Please sort entries by line.
Example:
email@domain.com domain.com
- Banned Words: Enter any words you would like to filter and delete. Please sort entries by line.
Example:
Viagra Swiss Vulgarity Porn
- No Attachments: Check this box to filter and delete all incoming mail with attachments.
Management
How to use the e-mail management interface
Enter Domain: Enter a domain name you would like to add. Only domain.com would be required, where domain is your domain. If you are adding a subdomain, then please add subdomain.domain.com and click the Subdomain checkbox.
Select IP Address: Select the IP address you would like to setup the domain on.
Select Name Server: Select the name server you want to setup the domain on.
Control Panel: Access the control panel functions for the domain. Email management, database management & more.
Edit IP: Edit the IP address that the domain is setup on.
Mapping: This feature allows you to map a domain name to another directory within a selected domain name. This feature differs over an htaccess forward. When you use htaccess forwarding the user is forwarded to the URL specified. When you forward using mapping, the URL in the address bar does not change. Delete Site: This will delete your web site from the web. All of your control panel related features will be removed. Please note that the domain folder will still be available via FTP. You must remove that folder manually.
Access Log: Download the domains current access.log file. Please note that log files are rotated and deleted every 24-hours.
Error Log: Download the domains current error.log file. Please note that log files are rotated and deleted every 24-hours.
Backup Site: This will make a backup of your current domain's root directory, which is /htdocs. The backup archive will be available in your /BACKUPS folder.
Test Site: This feature will allow you to test a web site before you switch your domains name servers. AWStats & Webalizer: View your domain's statistics using AWStats or Webalizer. If you are using Internet Explorer you will manually have to enter your username and password. If you are using Firefox, you should be prompted and be granted access without entering the username and password.
Management
How to use the DNS management interface
Using the DNS Management feature will allow you to modify a domains zone file, which contains all of the DNS records for the particular domain.
Please note, once you add two records and save the zone file, two new fields will appear for you to add more records.
This feature is useful if you want to point subdomains to an alternate server or if you want subdomains to forward to your existing domain's IP address without actually creating the directory. If you want to simply point sub.domain.com to domain.com then you would not have to add the subdomain via the Domain Management page as you would not need the public directories for the subdomain available via FTP, you would simply add the record using DNS Management.
Record: We recommend leaving all existing records in tact unless you know exactly what you are doing. When adding a new record simply enter the record name you would like to create or use * as a wildcard. Record Type: Please select the record type. At this time, HMSPANEL only supports the creation of A records.
IP Address: Please add the IP address you want to point the record to. You can use IP addresses currently available on the server or you can point the records to IP addresses on another server under another network.
Management
How to use the MySQL database management interface
Database Name: Enter the name of the database you would like to create.
A database username & password will automatically be created for you.
This Add User MySQL section is your way to setup user to database permissions. It will also give you the ability to grant a single MySQL user access to multiple databases so when using phpMyAdmin and logging in with that particular username, you will have access to all of your databases.
You first want to start by creating a new MySQL user or selecting an existing.
Create New User: Enter a MySQL username you would like to create. If you would like to work with an existing user, read below.
or Select Existing User: Select an existing MySQL username to work with.
Select Database: Select the MySQL database you would like to set user permissions for.
Select Privileges: Select a specific set of privileges or select all privileges.
Example:
You have 5 databases & users setup but you want to access all 5 databases with one user via phpMyAdmin.
Create a new user or select an existing user. You will also use this same user for the next 4 databases.
Select the first database you want to set permissions for.
Select all privileges.
Repeat the steps above using the same user but selecting the other 4 databases.
In Use: When you check a database as in use, the database will not be available as an option in the drop down to use when using any of the software installers. It is always a good idea to check databases that are being used as in use so you do not accidentally install a software package and use one of your databases that another application is using.
phpMyAdmin: Access to phpMyAdmin.
Backup: This will backup your MySQL database in real time. Backups are stored in your root directory under /BACKUPS.
Disable Daily Backup or Enable Daily Backup: By default, when you create a database daily backups are automatically enabled. Backups are stored in your root directory under /BACKUPS. To disable daily backups, simple click disable. To enable daily backups again, simply click enable.
Management
How to use the cron management interface
Duration: Select the duration to execute the cron job. You can select multiple values in each field by holding down your CTL key and clicking the values with your mouse.
If you had to set your cron for every 5-minutes, you would not need to select 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. Simply select every and 5 and that will specify every 5-minutes.
Path: Enter the full path to the file you need to execute. The field is pre filled with the full path up to your domain names public directory, which is /htdocs. Simply fill in the rest of the path.
Management
MISCELLANEOUS
Miscellaneous articles.
List of Basic LINUX Commands
ls - Lists files/folders within a directory. ll - Lists files/folders within a directory and shows the full details such as owners, modified date, permissions, etc.
df - Shows the servers hard drive information and partitions if necessary. Also shows the mount point, used disk space and available disk space. df -h - Same as above except shows the numbers in GB/MB.
cd - Changes directory. Example: cd /usr/local/apache/sites/ cd .. - Takes you back one directory. So if you used the command above and were in /sites and then ran (cd ..) you would be taken back to /apache.
touch filename - This will create a file, not a directory. Example: touch hello.php mkdir directoryname - This will create a directory, not a file. Example: mkdir images
free - Shows memory usage details for the server. top - Shows running processes as well as CPU usage, memory usage, concurrent connections and more. Running this command is a resource hog so only use when necessary.
/etc/init.d/httpd start/stop/restart - This will start, stop or restart the Apache web server. This same command can be used for other services on the server. Simply change the (httpd) to any other service name such as:
vsftpd mysqld dovecot sendmail
** CAUTION WITH THIS NEXT SET OF COMMANDS! **
rm filename - Will remove a file. When this command is issued you will be asked to confirm. This can be used for files or directories. (y = yes, n = no) rm -rf filename - Does what the command above does except no confirm. The (-rf) forces the deletion. You will not be asked to confirm. This can be used for files or directories.
** CAUTION WITH THIS NEXT SET OF COMMANDS! **
mv filename - This will rename a file or directory name. Example 1: mv filename.php newfilename.php Example 2: mv directoryname/ newdirectory name mv filename /to/new/location - This will move a file or directory to a new location.
Management
Does HMSPANEL offer any hosting services?
A: No. HMSPANEL does not offer web hosting services but we deal with many large web hosting companies in all markets. Please contact us to discuss your needs and we will guide you in the right direction or we will be happy to provide you with some general advice.
Management
Where is the Apache configuration file?
HMSPANEL uses the standard Apache configuration file, located i:
/etc/httpd/httpd.conf
This file controls some server wide variables, however this file may be overwritten during an update so if you edit it make sire to keep a backup copy for your reference.
Each domain is controlled through a virtual host file located in
/etc/httpd/conf.d/mydomain.com.conf
In general it is best not to edit the httpd.conf file because it may be overwritten in an HMSPANEL upgrade.
Management
I have received a new license key, where do I go to update it?
You have to edit the config.inc.php file and update the key.
Step 1: SSH to your server as root. Step 2: Edit config.inc.php by going to /usr/local/apache/sites/your_domain/htdocs/config.inc.php. Step 3: Enter your new key and save the changes.
Your key will automatically activate once you visit your admin panel.
Management
I need to reset the password for the administration panel. How can I do this?
The password cannot be easily reset. The database has to be modified directly.
Please submit a ticket to our technical department to receive specific instructions.
The process of creating your own name server records with GoDaddy is actually a very simple process and this article explains it in very close detail, step-by-step.
You basically want to login to your GoDaddy account and click on "Manage Domains" and then click on yourdomain.com. We are going to use the IP addresses 1.1.1.1 and 2.2.2.2 for this example.
1) Go here: https://dcc.godaddy.com/default.aspx 2) Enter your goddady login information. 3) Click on yourdomain.com. 4) Go to the very bottom left of the screen and you will see a "Host Summary" section. 5) Click on the "add" link there. 6) Enter "ns1" (or whichever name you want to use) for the first name server and enter the IP 1.1.1.1 in the "Host IP 1" section. 7) Click "ok" and repeat the step for your second name server "ns2" (or whichever name you want to use) and Click on "ok" again. 8) Now you have to point your domain to your own name servers by going to the very top of your screen and clicking on the "nameserver" icon. 9) Within in the pop-up window select the option that says: "I host my domains with another provider." 10) Then enter ns1.yourdomain.com under the first field and ns2.yourdomain.com under the second field. 11) Click "ok" and you are done. The changes have been entered in the GoDaddy DNS database. 12) Please allow up to 72 hours for domain propagation to take place across the internet.
IP Address Requirements for HMSPANEL
To have one IP address is the very minimum for HMSPANEL to function. For full DNS control and ns1 and ns2 support you will need at least two public (2) IP addresses. An external DNS service will have to be used if you only use one IP address (not recommended).
Management
How to change my domain's nameservers?
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at GoDaddy.com?
To Set the Nameservers for Your Domain
Log in to your Account Manager. In the My Products section, select Manage Domains. Select the domain you wish to modify DNS for. Click the Nameserver Tab and select Custom Nameservers. Enter the nameservers you want the domain to use and save the changes.
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at eNom?
This is for a Domain Name Reseller at eNom.
Once you are logged in to your eNom account, click on registered domains. Click on the domain you wish to modify DNS for. Now select the option DNS Server Settings. Enter the primary and secondary name servers in the boxes. Click the save changes button when finished.
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at 1&1 Internet Inc.?
Once you login to 1&1 Control Panel click "Select Domains" from Settings section. Now select your domain from the list. Click the arrow next to DNS and select Edit DNS Settings. Now choose My Name Server from the drop down. Enter the primary and secondary name servers and click OK.
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at Register.com?
Log into Account Manager Click on the domain name for which the changes are to be made. Under the heading DNS SERVERS enter the primary and secondary name servers. Save when finished.
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at Tucows.com?
Nameserver changes are done through the Manage Interface. Once you've logged in select "Manage Name Servers" Add the new nameserver in the "Adding New Name Servers" section. Once the new nameservers are added then Save Configuration
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at 123-reg.co.uk?
Log into the 123-reg.co.uk control panel. Select the domain and click on the "Modify Domain" button. Click on the "Change Nameservers" section. Enter the primary and secondary name servers in the boxes. Once done save your changes.
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at 000domains.com?
Log into your account Click on the "My Services" Tab Click on the "Manage Services" button, next to the domain using DNS Management Scroll Down the page and under the "Other Services" heading, next to DNS Management, click the "Manage" link. Enter your DNS Records. Click on the "Update" button.
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at Dotster.com?
Login to your account. Select your domain name. Select Update Nameservers. Enter the primary and secondary name servers in the boxes
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at OpenSRS (OpenSRS is part of Tucows)?
Nameserver changes are done through the Manage Interface. Once you've logged in select "Manage Name Servers" Add the new nameserver in the "Adding New Name Servers" section. Once the new nameservers are added then Save Configuration
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at NameCheap.com?
login to your NameCheap account Click on Manage Domains Click on domain you want to change the settings for. Select Transfer DNS To Webhost (or Domain Name Server Setup) Fill in the information required and click on Save Changes.
Although this list does not contain all domain registrars it does contains the instructions for some of the most popular domain registrars on the internet.
Management
How do I setup my own nameservers with eNom?
The process of creating your own name server records with eNom is actually a very simple process and this article explains it in very close detail, step-by-step.
You basically want to login to your eNom account and from the main screen click on the "Domains" button. The menu will then expand which will give you the option to create your name servers. We are going to use the IP addresses 1.1.1.1 and 2.2.2.2 for this example.
1) Go here: https://www.enom.com/Login.asp 2) Enter your eNom login information. 3) From the left of your main screen click on the "Domains" button. 4) Once the menu expands click on the "Advanced Tools". 5) A third menu will expand which will then give you the "Register a Name Server" option 6) Click on "Register a Name Server" and you will see a section named: "Register a NameServer Name" 7) Enter your full name server like this: ns1.yourdomain.com, thenenter your IP address like:1.1.1.1 8) Click on "Submit". 9) Do the same for your second name server like this: ns2.yourdomain.com, thenenter your IP address like:2.2.2.2 10) Click on "Submit". 11) Then you need to change the name server settings for your domain and point it to your newly created name servers 12) From the left of your main screen click on the "Domains" button. 13) Once the menu expands click on the "My Domains". 14) Search for your registered domain 15) Click on the domain you wish to modify DNS for. 16) Now select the option DNS Server Settings. 17) Enter the primary and secondary name servers in the boxes: ns1.yourdomain.com andns2.yourdomain.com 18)Click the save changes button when finished.
IP Address Requirements for HMSPANEL
To have one IP address is the very minimum for HMSPANEL to function. For full DNS control and ns1 and ns2 support you will need at least two public (2) IP addresses. An external DNS service will have to be used if you only use one IP address (not recommended).
Management
GUIDES / INSTALLATIONS
Getting started guides and installation help.
Getting Started Guide
Getting Started with HMSPANEL
We're going to provide you with a quick walk through that we recommend you take, step-by-step. This will take about thirty minutes of your time but it's well worth the time. After this quick walk through, you will see how robust and flexible HMSPANEL is. HMSPANEL isn't like your traditional control panel that controls one server and one server only. HMSPANEL controls multiple servers, should you have them, clients, billing and more.
HMSPANEL User Scenarios
HMSPANEL can be used by hosting companies selling shared web hosting plans, dedicated servers and VPS solutions.
HMSPANEL can be used by individual users that are not involved in hosting to control their single server. Such users will simply not make use of the front-end ordering process or any of the billing related features.
HMSPANEL can be used by everyone that wants to manage their hosting environment, plain & simple.
General HMSPANEL Layers
HMSPANEL works in a few layers and the most simple way to describe this is as follows.
Clients: Click on "Clients" from the header navigation and then click on "View Active Clients". That page is a list of all your active clients. There is one client in the system already, which is the client account that controls the domain or IP you're running HMSPANEL on.
Plans: Click on "Plans" from the header navigation. Those are the plans that will be sold on the front end. Either shared, dedicated or you can list VPS plans under dedicated as well. Once a plan is purchased, it is attached to a client account. Click on "Clients" from the header navigation again, then "View Active Clients", then click "HMS Domain Account". You'll notice that the client "HMS Domain Account" purchased the shared hosting house plan.
Servers: You already were on the servers page prior and you currently have one server. Plans that clients purchase are attached to a server. A dedicated hosting client would purchase a dedicated hostingplan and that plan would be setup on a server of your choosing.
Note about "Servers". You do not define a server as a dedicated server or shared server. If you setup more than one client plan on any one server, HMSPANEL knows it's a shared server. If a server only has one single client plan setup on it, HMSPANEL knows it's a dedicated server. VPS servers added to the "Servers" page will also be treated as dedicated servers, which they should be. If you happen to have a VPS server that you want to setup multiple accounts on, you could. It would then be known by HMSPANEL as a shared server, which it should be. So ultimately, if you have a single dedicated server and you install a VPS solution on it, you can use one virtual environment to setup & install HMSPANEL on, then add all the other virtual environments to your "Servers" page and sell VPS solutions. So instead of taking your main dedicated server that you were going to sell shared hosting on, you can break up that dedicated server to sell both shared hosting and VPS solutions.
HMSPANEL Main Account
The HMSPANEL main account is the client account that is setup by default, which is "HMS Domain Account". The same way your regular clients will purchase a plan and be setup as an active client and have a client control panel, you will have the same to manage your domain or IP address that you setup HMSPANEL on. In order to understand and use this account, please proceed with the following steps.
Viewing Client
Click on "Clients" from the header navigation. Then click on "View Active Clients". Now click on "HMS Domain Account".
From an administration stand point, this is the main management page for a specific client or the view client page for a specific client. The name "HMS Domain Account" is nothing more than a first name & last name. It is important to understand the layout of this page. The navigation items on the left are for the overall client account. The table labeled"Client Actions & Details" are also functions related to the overall client account. The table below labeled"HMS Domain Account Has 1 Plan", is the actual plan that the client purchased and that is attached to a server. These functions are specifically related to the plan.
If a client has multiple plans they will all be listed in that format. One single client doesn't need multiple accounts. Instead, once a overall client account is created, plans can then be purchased and added to the same account. They could be shared plans, dedicated servers or VPS solutions. Any one client can have any number of plans all controlled from one centralized location. Keep in mind we're still in the administrative view and not what the client sees. We will get to that soon.
Since there is no billing involved on the "HMS Domain Account", as clearly you do not want to bill yourself as you would a regular client, the shared hosting house plan was added to this account. Any plans listed on the "Plans" page that have a $0.00 selling price do not have any billing routines enabled. No invoices will be generated.
Client Control Panel
Make sure you're still on the view client page for the "HMS Domain Account". If you're not, or not sure, just follow the steps from above. Click on "Clients" from the header navigation. Then click on "View Active Clients". Now click on "HMS Domain Account". One you're on that page, right click on "Client Control Panel" on the right/top of the "Client Actions & Details" table and open that in a new window, or tab. Make sure you switch to that new window or tab.
You are now at the client control panel, which is where you'll see all of the general features you're familiar with in a standard control panel. This is what your clients will see. The reason you're using this is simply to control your "HMS Domain Account" domain or IP. If you click on the "Domains" icon, you'll notice one domain added, which is the domain or IP address you're running HMSPANEL on. Click on "Control Panel" for that domain or IP and you'll see all of the general control panel features you're used to seeing.
It is important that you do not add any other domains to your "HMS Domain Account" unless they are subdomains of your main domain. If you need to host personal domains or other business domains, it's recommended that you add another internal client account.
Adding Account Manually
Client accounts are either added manually via the administration area or they are created when ordered on the front-end if you're a hosting company. The front-end ordering process will be explained as you read on further. To manually add a client, proceed with the following steps.
Click on "Clients" in the header navigation.
Click on "Add Client" from the left navigation.
Enter the email address, password, client first name & last name. Click on "Add Client".
Once you add the client you are taken to the view client page for that new client. Currently, the client is listed as a pending client. Now you want to attach a plan to this account.
From the left navigation, click on "Add Plan". If you are not a hosting company and you are just adding a separate account to manage more domains then you'll want to add a free plan, or the default "House Plan". Hosting companies could either add the "House Plan" or any other free plan, or if they are adding a legit client from a phone order they would select the plan the client is going to purchase. Naturally, you'll have to create all of your shared & dedicated server plans first.
Locate the plan you want to add a click "Add Plan". Keep in mind, if you add a plan from the "Plans" page and that plan is set to "Hidden", you will not see the plan listed on this page. You have to go to the "Plans" page from the header navigation, edit the plan you want to add and set it to "Active", go back through this process to add the plan and then go back and set the plan to "Hidden" again.
Once you add the plan you are taken back to the view client page for the client you added. This client account and plan are still listed as pending, or a new order. The next step is to setup the plan.
Plan Setup
The following steps apply to both client accounts added manually following the steps above, or new orders placed on the front-end for hosting companies.
Click on "Clients" from the header navigation.
Click on "View Pending Clients".
You should see the client you added either manually following the steps above, or a new order that was placed. Click on the client account that you'd like to setup.
In our case we used a first name of "Test" and last name of "Test" when we manually added the client above. Under the "Test Test Has 1 Plan", is the plan you added manually or the plan that was ordered. Click the "Click here" text to setup the plan.
On the right side under the "Setup & Status" table the "Plan NUM Setup?" dropdown you should put on "Yes". The "Plan NUM Status" dropdown will change on it's own once you initiate the setup. Now for the "Server" dropdown, select the server you want to setup this client plan on.
In most cases, since this is your first time using HMSPANEL, you'll only have one server available. Of course go ahead and select that only sever available.
Once you select the server, click on "Update Plan 2".
Once you do that you are again redirected back to the view client page for this specific client. A few things happened at this point that you should know about.
The client account and client plan were both set to active and are no longer pending.
The main directory for the plan was created, which will be /usr/local/apache/sites/clientNUM.
If this was a real client, or you added a plan to the account that had a value and wasn't free for internal purposes, an invoice for the pro-rated amount was generated, posted to the account and emailed to the client.
The master FTP account that gives a client access to all his/her domains under a plan was created.
Once the plan is setup, you will need to bill the account and release it to the client. If you're not a hosting company, and the account you added was for your internal purposes, you can skip the billing and release section.
Plan Billing & Release
Once you've completed the steps above to setup the plan, you want to release it to your client but you want to receive payment first. Proceed with the following steps to do so.
Click on "Clients" from the header navigation.
Click on "View Active Clients".
Locate the name of the client you just setup and click on the clients name.
From the left navigation, click on the "Bill Client" link. That is only for clients that used credit card as their billing method. Once you click that and confirm, the transaction will be processed and a response will be returned and posted to HMSPANEL. If the client selected check or any other non real-time payment method, once you receive that payment from them you can use the "Add Payment" link from the left navigation and manually add the payment.
Once the payment is posted you can then release the plan to the client. Under the plan on the view client page you will see a "Release Plan" link. Click that link and click on "Send Release Letter". All of the necessary data is filled out already. If you have any notes for the client you can enter them prior to sending the release letter.
HMSPANEL General Settings
HMSPANEL has settings that you will want to setup. Most of these settings are for hosting companies selling hosting that are using the front-end ordering process templates along with the billing module. Some might apply to non hosting companies so please continue to read through. You can determine if these settings apply to you, or not.
General settings can be accessed by clicking on "Settings" in the header navigation. Mostly everything is filled out already from the install process, or generic information is used. You should not modify the top two values, which are the "Site Name" & "Site URL" settings. Any changes in those two values can cause HMSPANEL to stop functioning.
Gateway settings for merchant account linking can be access by clicking on "Settings" from the header navigation, and then "Gateway Settings" from the left navigation.
In terms of general settings to get things started, there isn't much more you need to do except work on the front-end ordering process.
Front-End Customization
HMSPANEL has a robust ordering process that is 100% customizable. Since our online demo is using the default front-end templates, we'll use that as an example throughout this topic.
Non hosting companies don't need to use the front-end templates, but they cannot be deleted. What you can do is simply go to /usr/local/apache/sites/client1/your_domain.com/htdocs and rename the index.php file to index.php.orig and upload your own index.php file.
As you can see on your front-end templates, located at http://your_domain.com, which should look like http://demohms.com/, those pages have a general description on how to modify the templates.
The following is a description of the front-end pages.
Non-Dynamic PHP Pages
index.php
The above page is located under /usr/local/apache/sites/client1/your_domain.com/htdocs. This page is not dynamic, no HTML needs to be copied into your page. All other non-dynamic pages, not controlled by HMSPANEL, should be stored in the same directory /your_domain.com/htdocs. For example, a support page, about us page and all other general pages.
The following code needs to be placed above the <head> in all non-dynamic pages. The pages must be PHP pages. The following code is necessary to be in all PHP pages on the front-end. It's for affiliate referral tracking and session control.
Be sure to remove the space from that code you copy in between the < ?php on the first line. There should be no space between the < and ?.
And the following code needs to be placed within the title tags. This code controls the page titles you specify in the administration area under the general settings. You do not have to use this code if you want to manually enter your page titles.
Be sure to remove the space from that code you copy in between the < ?=getSetting. There should be no space between the < and ?.
Dynamic PHP Pages
The dynamic pages are the pages controlled by HMSPANEL. This will be demonstrated with the demohms.com URL. The following pages, which appear on the front-end as PHP pages:
Are actually controlled by HTML template pages. You do not modify the /usr/local/apache/sites/client1/your_domain.com/htdocs/shared.php file. Instead you would modify the HTML templates, located under:
It is very important that you keep the structure and tags in tact on these pages. The details are as follows.
*.html Pages (All)
The following code must be above the opening of the head tag on each and every page.
The following code must be below the closing of the body tag on each and every page.
The following code must remain as the page title code if you want to control the page titles from the administration area under general settings. If you want to manually control your page titles, you do not have to use this code.
shared.html & dedicated.html Pages
If you plan to use the default dynamic layout for your shared & dedicated hosting plans then you have to be sure the following code is wrapped around the table with the code to dynamically generate the plans.
If that code is not wrapped around the dynamic table the plans will not be generated correctly. Even if you plan to hard-code your plans and not use the dynamic layout and you're just going to link directly to the plans themselves, you should still wrap that code around the table you hard-code.
shared_order.html & dedicated_order.html
The following code must be placed directly above the closing of your head tag.
The following code must be placed directly below the opening of your body tag.
Be sure to remove the space from that code you copy in between the < script on the first line. There should be no space between the < and script.
The above code must remain in tact. In addition, you can fully customize the page and all of the variables can be moved around as well.
billing.html Page
The following code must be placed directly below the opening of your body tag.
Be sure to remove the space from that code you copy in between the < script on the first line. There should be no space between the < and script.
All Other Pages
All other pages such as cc.html, check.html, paypal.html, thanks.html, wire.html, etc., only have the global variables mentioned a few steps above that applied to all pages.
Please note that all pages are fully customizable. All of the page variables can be moved around, have styles applied to them. You have full control over the pages.
Having trouble reading this article? view it as a full page here.
Management
Reseller Module Guide
Reseller Module
The following is a description on how to make use of the HMSPANEL Reseller Module. The Reseller Module is primarily for your clients that are selling hosting services. Your clients that purchase a shared hosting plan or dedicated server can use the Reseller Module.
Remember, the Referral Program differs from the Reseller Plan (Module). A referral is when clients send traffic and refer sales to you and get paid per sale or a monthly percentage. See 1, 2 & 3. The reseller module is solely for your clients that are selling their own hosting services.
From the HMSPANEL administration area, under plans in the header navigation, the plan that is being sold must have the Reseller Plan feature activated. Edit any plan and check that feature.
When a plan has the Reseller Plan feature activated, your clients will see a Sub Accounts icon within their client control panel on the Dashbord (main page).
The Reseller Module/Plan, Sub Accounts are the same. In order for clients to use the reseller module, the following needs to be done.
In order for us to explain this clearly, we're going to use the scenario that your client is selling hosting services. Resellers do not have any integrated shopping cart options. If your clients want to sell hosting, they will need to purchase their own billing software, use Paypal or any other payment service. That is your clients responsibility.
First, your client would need to manually setup their clients domain. So if they sold resold hosting off their shared hosting plan, they would have to add their clients domains to their shared hosting plan from the client control panel just as they would normally add domains for their own purposes.
Once they add their clients domains they would click on Sub Accounts from the dashboard.
They would then enter a username & password for their clients to login and select their clients domains from the list. Any number of domains can be selected.
Then Submit New Sub Account would be clicked and the sub account is activated.
At this point they would provide their clients with the same URL they use to login to their client control panel & provide them with the username & password to login. Sub accounts would then have access to the same client control panel with only their domains listed. None of the billing related or plan related features are available to sub accounts (your clients, clients). They only have access to actual Control Panel features from Email Management through General SSL. Sub accounts do have access to usage statistics and statistical analysis programs such as Webalizer & AWStats.
Sub account clients (your clients, clients), will have to contact their hosting provider (your clients) to add & remove domains. Everything else they manage & control on their own. Email accounts, MySQL databases, FTP accounts, phpMyAdmin access, file manager, protected directories & all other Control Panel features.
Your clients have the ability to update the logo in the header of the client control panel to that of their hosting company. When Sub Account users login, they will see your clients logo, and not the logo for your hosting company. If you want Sub Accounts (your clients, clients) users to see your logo, this feature can be removed from the page.
Management
We are interested in your 30-Day trial license. Would you be able to install HMSPANEL for us?
Yes, absolutely! We are available to install our products for all demo users at no cost. In order to proceed you will need to submit an installation request form.
I have signed up for a free demo trial of HMSPANEL. Do I need to upload a license key to my server?
No. During installation you will be prompted for the license key which you will have to enter in order to proceed.
Log in to your customer area and go to the "My Packages" section >> "Licenses" and you should see your license key listed there.
The license key will look like the following example: HMSPANEL-xxxxxxxxxxxx
Please note: Make sure to include the entire string including the word "HMSPANEL".
Management
I have received a new license key, where do I go to update it?
You have to edit the config.inc.php file and update the key.
Step 1: SSH to your server as root. Step 2: Edit config.inc.php by going to /usr/local/apache/sites/your_domain/htdocs/config.inc.php. Step 3: Enter your new key and save the changes.
Your key will automatically activate once you visit your admin panel.
Management
How do I setup my own nameservers with GoDaddy?
The process of creating your own name server records with GoDaddy is actually a very simple process and this article explains it in very close detail, step-by-step.
You basically want to login to your GoDaddy account and click on "Manage Domains" and then click on yourdomain.com. We are going to use the IP addresses 1.1.1.1 and 2.2.2.2 for this example.
1) Go here: https://dcc.godaddy.com/default.aspx 2) Enter your goddady login information. 3) Click on yourdomain.com. 4) Go to the very bottom left of the screen and you will see a "Host Summary" section. 5) Click on the "add" link there. 6) Enter "ns1" (or whichever name you want to use) for the first name server and enter the IP 1.1.1.1 in the "Host IP 1" section. 7) Click "ok" and repeat the step for your second name server "ns2" (or whichever name you want to use) and Click on "ok" again. 8) Now you have to point your domain to your own name servers by going to the very top of your screen and clicking on the "nameserver" icon. 9) Within in the pop-up window select the option that says: "I host my domains with another provider." 10) Then enter ns1.yourdomain.com under the first field and ns2.yourdomain.com under the second field. 11) Click "ok" and you are done. The changes have been entered in the GoDaddy DNS database. 12) Please allow up to 72 hours for domain propagation to take place across the internet.
IP Address Requirements for HMSPANEL
To have one IP address is the very minimum for HMSPANEL to function. For full DNS control and ns1 and ns2 support you will need at least two public (2) IP addresses. An external DNS service will have to be used if you only use one IP address (not recommended).
Management
How to change my domain's nameservers?
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at GoDaddy.com?
To Set the Nameservers for Your Domain
Log in to your Account Manager. In the My Products section, select Manage Domains. Select the domain you wish to modify DNS for. Click the Nameserver Tab and select Custom Nameservers. Enter the nameservers you want the domain to use and save the changes.
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at eNom?
This is for a Domain Name Reseller at eNom.
Once you are logged in to your eNom account, click on registered domains. Click on the domain you wish to modify DNS for. Now select the option DNS Server Settings. Enter the primary and secondary name servers in the boxes. Click the save changes button when finished.
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at 1&1 Internet Inc.?
Once you login to 1&1 Control Panel click "Select Domains" from Settings section. Now select your domain from the list. Click the arrow next to DNS and select Edit DNS Settings. Now choose My Name Server from the drop down. Enter the primary and secondary name servers and click OK.
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at Register.com?
Log into Account Manager Click on the domain name for which the changes are to be made. Under the heading DNS SERVERS enter the primary and secondary name servers. Save when finished.
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at Tucows.com?
Nameserver changes are done through the Manage Interface. Once you've logged in select "Manage Name Servers" Add the new nameserver in the "Adding New Name Servers" section. Once the new nameservers are added then Save Configuration
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at 123-reg.co.uk?
Log into the 123-reg.co.uk control panel. Select the domain and click on the "Modify Domain" button. Click on the "Change Nameservers" section. Enter the primary and secondary name servers in the boxes. Once done save your changes.
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at 000domains.com?
Log into your account Click on the "My Services" Tab Click on the "Manage Services" button, next to the domain using DNS Management Scroll Down the page and under the "Other Services" heading, next to DNS Management, click the "Manage" link. Enter your DNS Records. Click on the "Update" button.
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at Dotster.com?
Login to your account. Select your domain name. Select Update Nameservers. Enter the primary and secondary name servers in the boxes
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at OpenSRS (OpenSRS is part of Tucows)?
Nameserver changes are done through the Manage Interface. Once you've logged in select "Manage Name Servers" Add the new nameserver in the "Adding New Name Servers" section. Once the new nameservers are added then Save Configuration
How to set-up Domain Nameservers (DNS) at NameCheap.com?
login to your NameCheap account Click on Manage Domains Click on domain you want to change the settings for. Select Transfer DNS To Webhost (or Domain Name Server Setup) Fill in the information required and click on Save Changes.
Although this list does not contain all domain registrars it does contains the instructions for some of the most popular domain registrars on the internet.
Management
How do I setup my own nameservers with eNom?
The process of creating your own name server records with eNom is actually a very simple process and this article explains it in very close detail, step-by-step.
You basically want to login to your eNom account and from the main screen click on the "Domains" button. The menu will then expand which will give you the option to create your name servers. We are going to use the IP addresses 1.1.1.1 and 2.2.2.2 for this example.
1) Go here: https://www.enom.com/Login.asp 2) Enter your eNom login information. 3) From the left of your main screen click on the "Domains" button. 4) Once the menu expands click on the "Advanced Tools". 5) A third menu will expand which will then give you the "Register a Name Server" option 6) Click on "Register a Name Server" and you will see a section named: "Register a NameServer Name" 7) Enter your full name server like this: ns1.yourdomain.com, thenenter your IP address like:1.1.1.1 8) Click on "Submit". 9) Do the same for your second name server like this: ns2.yourdomain.com, thenenter your IP address like:2.2.2.2 10) Click on "Submit". 11) Then you need to change the name server settings for your domain and point it to your newly created name servers 12) From the left of your main screen click on the "Domains" button. 13) Once the menu expands click on the "My Domains". 14) Search for your registered domain 15) Click on the domain you wish to modify DNS for. 16) Now select the option DNS Server Settings. 17) Enter the primary and secondary name servers in the boxes: ns1.yourdomain.com andns2.yourdomain.com 18)Click the save changes button when finished.
IP Address Requirements for HMSPANEL
To have one IP address is the very minimum for HMSPANEL to function. For full DNS control and ns1 and ns2 support you will need at least two public (2) IP addresses. An external DNS service will have to be used if you only use one IP address (not recommended).
Management
Is the Front-End website included with my HMSPANEL CS license?
Applies to HMSPANEL CS only Yes, absolutely. The front-end and ordering system is included with HMSPANEL CS. HMSPANEL (without the billing module) will also include a font-end with a quick customer log-in box but with no order pages.
The front-end is already included during the install process and ready for your use. The front-end template is simply a website coded in in .php. This design is available to you and you can fully utilize it if you want to. The beauty of this front-end is that you can either keep the default design or you can upload your own web design instead.
The front-end templates files are located under the "htdocs" folder of your licensed domain or licensed IP. An example path to your front-end files would be: /usr/local/apache/planx/domain_name/htdocs (where the "domain_name" would be replaced with the domain name in question and the value of "x" is the plan number or also known as the HMSPANEL plan number). Connect via FTP using the connection parameters listed under the domain's control panel. Once you connect via FTP, click on your domain and then click on htdocs. You will see the index.php; network.php, etc.. you can delete these none-dynamic .php pages and upload your new website content or modify the current one.
Please note: Do not delete anything under the "/templates" folder as these are required for all dynamic content. If you click through the current font-end website template pages there are comments that have been added that better explain how everything is controlled.
If you need any assistance with the template customization process or hit any blocking points please contact us via our support ticketing system.
Management
We would like to modify the front-end template pages to integrate our design, can you provide us with instructions on how to do this?
The HMSPANEL Front-End pages are very easy to integrate any design/template with. Everything is customizable throughout the entire ordering process.
Below we will divide each customizable page into a separate section to keep everything clean and easy to follow.
This is a non-dynamic page, however, the PHP code above the opening of the head must remain in tact for affiliate/referral tracking and the code for the title tag must remain in tact if you want to dynamically generate page titles as specified in the administration area under settings. Like all other pages on the front-end, this page is 100% customizable.
If you are a hosting company you can use this template for your hosting company front-end or you can integrate your own design into the front-end. If you're not a hosting company and you're only using the HMS to manage your server then you can completely ignore the front-end. This file can be replaced.
Everything throughout these pages are examples. It is recommended that you update the menu items, page content, remove this text, etc., to reflect that of your hosting business.
This page is an example of a hard-coded plan layout page. You create the plans layout and link out directly to each plan. If you added or updated a plan in the administration area, you would have to manually edit this page to reflect those changes.
Check out the dynamic shared hosting page. That is the page is dynamically controlled by the HMS and the plans are generated dynamically. Any additions or modifications made in the administration area will be dynamically updated on this page.
The “Starter” & “Silver” plans link out as examples.
The starter plan is a shared plan example with a setup fee, extras & options available and monthly discounts available.
The silver plan is a shared plan example with no setup fee, no extras & options available and no monthly discounts available.
This is the dynamically generated shared hosting plan page. All additions and modifications made to shared hosting plans in the administration area will be dynamically generated on this page. Unlike the hard-coded page you will not have to make any modifications to the page.
While this page can be customized and the table the plans are generated in can be customized, the format in which they are generated must remain the same. That's why you have the option to use a hard-coded page instead of the dynamic page.
The starter plan is a shared plan example with a setup fee, extras & options available and monthly discounts available.
The silver plan is a shared plan example with no setup fee, no extras & options available and no monthly discounts available.
This page is an example of a hard-coded plan layout page. You create the plans layout and link out directly to each plan. If you added or updated a plan in the administration area, you would have to manually edit this page to reflect those changes.
Check out the dynamic dedicated hosting page. That is the page is dynamically controlled by the HMS and the plans are generated dynamically. Any additions or modifications made in the administration area will be dynamically updated on this page.
The “Starter” & “Silver” plans link out as examples.
The starter dedicated server plan is an example with no setup fee, a dedicated server sold on a per Mbit (Mbps) basis with extras & options available.
The silver dedicated server plan is an example with no setup fee, a dedicated server sold on a per GB basis with extras & options available as well as monthly prepaid discounts.
This is the dynamically generated dedicated hosting plan page. All additions and modifications made to dedicated hosting plans in the administration area will be dynamically generated on this page. Unlike the hard-coded page you will not have to make any modifications to the page.
While this page can be customized and the table the plans are generated in can be customized, the format in which they are generated must remain the same. That's why you have the option to use a hard-coded page instead of the dynamic page.
The starter dedicated server plan is an example with no setup fee, a dedicated server sold on a per Mbit (Mbps) basis with extras & options available.
The silver dedicated server plan is an example with no setup fee, a dedicated server sold on a per GB basis with extras & options available as well as monthly prepaid discounts.
Management
What is the difference between the license.key.php file and the HMSPANEL License key that I received after sign-up?
The HMSPANEL license number will look something like this: HMSPANEL-XXXXXXXXXXXX. This is the license key string that will need to be entered during the installation process. This is also the key that will control which domain or IP address that will be licensed to use HMSPANEL.
The license.key.php file controls how many secondary servers you are allowed to add and control through your master administration panel. When you sign-up for a demo license or a single server license this key will already be packaged and setup for you during the installation process. At a later stage, when you purchase an upgraded license (ex. Up to 05 Server License) you will then be issued a separate license.key.php file. This file will be made available to you in your customer area for download. You will have to then upload this file to the htdocs directory for your HMSPANEL licensed domain or licensed IP address. This will be the licensed domain or IP address that you supplied during the installation process.
If you have any questions or are still confused about this process please contact us so that we can better assist you.
HMSPANEL Software Corporation
Management
When will I need my license key?
You will be required to use your license key during the installer questions of HMSPANEL. The very last installer question will prompt you “Enter License Key:”. Be sure to have the license key noted after you obtain it from the customer area. Copy & paste your license key from there and enter that under the “Enter License Key:” installer question.
Your license key can also be updated fetched by connecting to your server via SSH and editing the config.inc.php. This file is located under /usr/local/apache/sites/client1/your_domain.com/htdocs where “your_domain.com” will be the main domain supplied during the installer questions. The license key field will be located at the very end of the file and will look something like this: “$license='HMSPANEL-XXXXXXXXXXXX';” Update your license key there and save the changes.
Please note: Be careful that no extra characters or blank spaces are entered when copying and pasting the license key as this will result in your license not activating.
Management
Obtaining your License Key
Each installation of HMSPANEL is controlled and monitored by our licensing system. After a successful sign-up of a paid or demo license, you should have received a confirmation Email with a direct link to the customer area.
If you did not receive a order confirmation Email please visit http://license.hmspanel.com/license/customers/ and login with the username and password you used during your account registration. Your username will be the Email address you used during sign-up. After you login please make sure that your user profile is updated with an updated Email address as this will be the primary address that you will be reached at for new renewal notices and other important notifications.
Login to the customer area http://license.hmspanel.com/license/customers/ and click on “Customer Area > Licenses” click on the “licenses” link on the far right of the field that belongs to your license type.
Management
BILLING / CUSTOMER AREA
Help with billing and customer area.
Can I pay by personal check? Where do I send payment?
Yes, you may pay by personal check, provided it is from a U.S. issuing bank. If you elect to pay by check we cannot activate your account until funds have cleared. If the check is returned for non sufficient funds, a $35 returned check fee will be charged.
If you already have an account with us, we may suspend your account if the funds have not reached us by the due date on your account, so please allow 5-7 business days for checks to reach us.
Please make checks payable to vPro Systems, LLC and send them to:
vPro Systems, LLC P.O. BOX 592014 San Antonio, TX 78259
Be sure to note your invoice number or domain name on the check so we can credit the correct account.
Management
What do I do if I have problems making a license payment?
If you are experiencing any issues making a license payment or have billing-related questions, please feel free to submit a support ticket to the billing department at http://support.hmspanel.com and we will be glad to help resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
Management
Billing and Cancellation Policy
BILLING POLICY
The following are our billing procedures for notifications, payments, suspension, and termination of licenses (This policy applies to monthly and yearly license holders.)
10 days prior to due date - E-Mail reminder to billing contact that a new invoice has been generated and will be due in 10 days
On Due Date - Your credit card, if on file, will be charged the invoice amount and a payment confirmation will be sent by e-mail to the billing contact. If the card fails, an e-mail reminder will be sent ONCE to the billing contact that the transaction failed and your card information on file needs to be updated. If no credit card on file, or payment method is check, then you will need to manually pay the invoice.
5 days after invoice due date - An e-mail reminder will be sent advising you the payment is 5 days past due
10 days after invoice due date - A second e-mail reminder will be sent advising you payment has not been received and is now 10 days past due.
15 days past invoice due date - A final reminder will be sent by e-mail advising you your license is about to be suspended if not paid in full by midnight Central Time of this day.
16 days past invoice due date - YOUR LICENSE IS SUSPENDED.Your license may be terminated after this point at our discretion.
30 days past invoice due date - If payment has still not been received, your license WILL BE TERMINATED.
It is extremely important that you keep an up-to-date e-mail address (es) on file with us in the billing system so you receive the above notifications. As a policy we do not call to remind you of a past due payment or an license that is about to be suspended or terminated. If we do call, it is as courtesy and ONLY if time permits.
LICENSE SUSPENSION
As indicated above, if we have not received payment by 15 days after the invoice due date, your license will be put into a suspended status. This means that HMSPANEL will come to a halt and will no longer be usable.
Once your license is suspended you have up to 15 days after suspension to contact us to reactivate your license.
As a reminder, we DO NOT call to notify you of an license suspension. You will receive an e-mail one day prior to suspension notifying you the license is going into a suspended status.
To make payment, you can still log into your HMSPANEL user license area at http://license.hmspanel.com. When payment is received (along with the late fee), your license will be reactivated.
VERIFYING PROFILE AND CREDIT CARD INFORMATION IS CURRENT
It is important that you maintain up-to-date contact and billing information so your license stays current and you avoid interruption of service.
I have purchased a leased license. Do I have to update my license key every time I renew?
No. If you keep your license current and don't make any licensing type changes you won't have to update the license key. Our licensing system will take care of the rest.
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What is the difference between the license.key.php file and the HMSPANEL License key that I received after sign-up?
The HMSPANEL license number will look something like this: HMSPANEL-XXXXXXXXXXXX. This is the license key string that will need to be entered during the installation process. This is also the key that will control which domain or IP address that will be licensed to use HMSPANEL.
The license.key.php file controls how many secondary servers you are allowed to add and control through your master administration panel. When you sign-up for a demo license or a single server license this key will already be packaged and setup for you during the installation process. At a later stage, when you purchase an upgraded license (ex. Up to 05 Server License) you will then be issued a separate license.key.php file. This file will be made available to you in your customer area for download. You will have to then upload this file to the htdocs directory for your HMSPANEL licensed domain or licensed IP address. This will be the licensed domain or IP address that you supplied during the installation process.
If you have any questions or are still confused about this process please contact us so that we can better assist you.
What exactly is HMSPANEL? In a few paragraphs can you describe the software?
A: We can't do it in a few paragraphs but we'll do the best we can.
HMSPANEL is a control panel for any flavor of linux.
HMSPANEL starts off by being installed on a dedicated server or virtual private server with any flavor of linux such as RHEL, Fedora, CentOS, Whitebox & more.
HMSPANEL handles all installations for 30-day trial users to cut back on support requests. License holders have the option of installing the software themselves or having us take care of it, free of charge.
Once HMSPANEL is installed users will have access to their administration area where they can manage their server itself and setup all necessary parameters. Additionally if the user is a hosting company and wants to make use of the optional billing system they would setup all of those parameters as well.
At this point the system has one main "user", which then has access to the client section where they can make use of their control panel and manage their domains, email addresses and much more.
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When is HMSPANEL updated with new features?
A: We are constantly working on new features for HMSPANEL. You want to stay on the cutting edge of technology and that is our goal for you. We guarantee new features every 45 days.
Our updates are always 100% seamless. The upgrade package will be available in the license holders client section and will consist of new file(s) only. You would simply upload those files, and HMSPANEL would be upgraded.
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Will the HMSPANEL development team listen to my suggestions and possibly implement a feature into the next updated release of HMSPANEL?
A: We value user feedback to make sure HMSPANEL is a fluid system. As your needs evolve, so does HMSPANEL.
In most cases, all of the updates we make to HMSPANEL will reflect the entire system and be included in the next updated release of the system.
Feel free to submit a ticket under our Bug Reporting & New Features category and we will do our best to include it in our next release.
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Is there any installation fee for HMSPANEL?
A: The installation of HMSPANEL is free of charge.
License holders will also have the ability to install HMSPANEL without our assistance. We provide both manual instructions as well as an install script.
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Do you offer technical support for HMSPANEL?
A: Yes. We do. Support comes standard with any HMSPANEL license. We are known for our excellent and responsive support. Our support team is friendly, enthusiastic and responsive. Below are some of the great support solutions offered by the HMSPANEL team.
Our technical support department is available Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM CST.
We offer technical support via email and telephone.
We are not available after business hours for general assistance.
There is, however, a developer on-call and available 24 hours per day in the event of an emergency. All HMSPANEL owners will receive the necessary contact information to our emergency support department.
Even if your emergency falls on a major holiday, we will be available for technical support. Once you have purchased your license, we will provide you with an emergency contact number.
HMSPANEL // Support
Free Support
Covers all licenses.
Standard support tickets are free and will be responded in the order received
Forums
Knowledge Base
Custom job - $75 per hour
Software Upgrades
Software upgrades access renewal are required for owned license holders: (Service 12 month extension)
Monthly and yearly license holders receive software upgrades as long as their license is kept current
Hi-Priority Incidents
Per incident support - $100 per incident (Premium support ticket)
Custom job - $75 per hour
Monthly support - calculated in the form of a quote and depends on the environment complexity
Hi-Priority Incidents
An "Incident" (or support ticket) is an unexpected support case that requires our support engineers to access customer servers. Some incidents may require significant working time to resolve. Such tasks may consume more than one support ticket or be classified as "custom job" (see below). Before performing such tasks HMSPANEL provides estimates and confirms them with the customer. Support tickets submitted during HMSPANEL business hours (Monday - Friday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM US CST) will receive an initial response within 4 hours.
Unused support tickets are not refundable.
Custom Job
A Custom job is a scheduled/planned activity on deploying/configuring any software components in customer environment. For example, patching OS, installing a linux package, upgrading PHP, or updating HMSPANEL components are custom jobs.
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Do you sell the full source code to HMSPANEL?
A: Unfortunately, that is not an option. We will not consider any dollar amount at this time. Thank you for your understanding.
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Does HMSPANEL offer any hosting services?
A: No. HMSPANEL does not offer web hosting services but we deal with many large web hosting companies in all markets. Please contact us to discuss your needs and we will guide you in the right direction or we will be happy to provide you with some general advice.
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I run a large web hosting business and resell to other providers. Can I become a partner of HMSPANEL?
A: Yes absolutely. You must be a dedicated server or VPS provider or reseller to qualify as an HMSPANEL partner. A web hosts will not be able to qualify for internal pricing unless they are actively selling dedicated servers.
We prefer to individually communicate with future partners and get to know more about their company. Before we start discussing the options available to you we would like to get more background information pertaining to your operations as a web host.
We are interested in reselling HMSPANEL. Do you offer internal pricing discounts for larger web hosts?
HMSPANEL Internal Pricing
You must be a dedicated server or VPS provider or reseller. A web hosts will not be able to qualify for internal pricing unless they are actively selling dedicated servers. HMSPANEL licenses can also be sold individually but there are restrictions. Please contact us for more details.