Newest KB Articles

Enabling Windows Detailed Error Messages

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:29:18 GMT

Enabling Windows Detailed Error Messages

Occasionally, you may find that in-order to debug a generic error on a webpage detailed errors must be enabled. Here is how to enable detailed error messages for your website using a web.config file:

If there isn’t already a web.config file created in the root of the website you will need to create one. To create a web.config file open notepad or any text editor on your local computer and save the file as web.config. Right-click the web.config file and click edit and put in the following snippet of code below in the file and click save.

web.config Code

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<configuration>
    <system.webServer>
        <httpErrors errorMode="Detailed" />
    </system.webServer>
</configuration>

Once the web.config is modified, FTP upload the file in the root of your website or in the directory the error is being rendered from. Refresh (ctrl F5) the page giving the generic 500 error and detailed error messages will be displayed.

Note: Detailed error messages are normally used for debugging purposes and for security reasons it is not advised to leave this setting enabled.

Plan Change Compatibilities

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 03:32:55 GMT

Plan Change Compatibilities

As scripting languages and programs evolve, the methods to perform certain actions or procedures changes as well. Some lines of code or methods to connect to a database may no longer be supported on our newer plans. This is because the company that develops the technology stops patching security holes in favor of adding additional support and security to the most recent versions.

In order to upgrade your hosting account you will need to update the code on your site to the new standards and upgrade any older databases. With any upgrade we offer upgrade support and would be glad to have one of our developers review your code to ensure that the site will migrate. For prices please feel free to contact us using the information in KB 1682.

ColdFusion Upgrades

The latest version of ColdFusion is ColdFusion 10. While ColdFusion 9 is still supported by Adobe older versions are no longer being patched. With ColdFusion each version can be drastically different and in many cases older scripts are no longer supported by the new versions. We highly recommend having our developers perform a code review to ensure the code of your site will perform as intended on the new plans.

MySQL

The newest version of MySQL is MySQL 5. Older plans may have MySQL 4 databases that will need to be updated to MySQL 5 databases to meet the new plans requirements.

To upgrade your MySQL database please refer to KB 927.

MSSQL

The newest version of Microsoft's MSSQL is MSSQL 2008. MSSQL 2005 and 2000 are still supported on some of our older plan types however they are no longer supported by Microsoft. As such we recommend upgrading any 2000 or 2005 databases to the newer format.

To upgrade your MySQL database please refer to KB 1365.

Access

Access is another Microsoft product. Access was designed to be used as a stand alone database however, while it is not the most secure type of database, there is some functionality built in to connect to a website. Access has been discontinued in favor or MSSQL. As such if you would like to upgrade your hosting account you will need to convert your Access Database to a MSSQL database.

To convert your Access database to an MSSQL database please refer to KB 98.

FrontPage

Microsoft no longer supports FrontPage. As such our newer servers do not support FrontPage extensions. In order to change your plan we recommend that you disable FrontPage extensions before submitting the plan change to expedite the process.

To disable FrontPage extensions in the WebControlCenter follow the instructions below:

Log in at www.webcontrolcenter.com/customer.aspx
Next navigate to Site > Site Features Admin
From there you will see the option to disable FrontPage Extensions

Server 2008 Requirements

Our newer servers run on the Server 2008 operating platform. This allows us several advantages over the older systems including IIS7 and allowing each customer to have their own allocation of the server resources or App Pool. As the Server 2008 plans are some of our newer plans they no longer support the following:

MSSQL 2000
MSSQL 2005
MySQL 4
FrontPage

IP Change

With any type of plan change you will most likely change the IP address of your hosing account because you will be moving to a new server. If you are utilizing any outside DNS server instead of our name servers you will need to update the DNS records as soon as the plan change has been completed. You will receive an email with the new IP address in the confirmation email sent after the plan change is complete.

If you are using our name servers then we will automatically make the necessary updates for you.

How to Upgrade Your ASP.NET 1.1 or ASP.NET 2.0 Plan to a Newer Plan

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 23:22:09 GMT

Upgrade Your ASP.NET 1.1 or 2.0 Plan to a Newer Plan

The older ASP.NET plans are considered legacy scripting languages and as such we recommend upgrading your hosting account and the code of your site.

In order to change your plan, you will need to submit a "Change Plan Request" in the WebControlCenter. Before submitting the Change Plan Request there are a few requirement and things you should know about.

Upgrade Requirements

Before you start the process of upgrading your hosting account there are a few things you should be aware of.

We cannot guarantee that the code of your site will function on the new server. It is your responsibility to correct any coding issues caused by the upgrade. If you have any concerns about your site not working we do offer a service to review the code of your site. If you are interested in having us perform a Code Review for you please let one of our agents know. Please see KB 1682 for our Contact Us information.

During the process of upgrading your hosting account the IP address associated with your hosting account will change. You will receive the new IP address after the upgrade has completed via email.

If you are using a shared SSL the shared SSL will change as you migrate to a different web server with its own Shared SSL. Once the upgrade has completed you will be able to log into the WebContolCenter and navigate to Site > Site Overview to see the new shared SSL.

As Microsoft no longer supports FrontPage extensions, our newer plans/servers no longer support their use.

If your site utilizes and MSSQL 2000 or 2005 database it will need to be upgraded to a MSSQL 2008 database as the new plans do not support the older databases.
- For information on how to upgrade your MSSQL database please see KB 1365.

If your site utilizes a MySQL 4 database it will need to be upgraded to MySQL 5 as the new plans do not support the older databases.
- For information on how to upgrade your MySQL 4 database please see KB 927.

If you are planning on upgrading to a ColdFusion 10 plan and you are utilizing an Access datasource, you will need to upgrade that database to an MSSQL database
- For information on how to upgrade your Access database please see KB 98.

If you are not using our name servers you will need to update the DNS records manually once the upgrade has completed.
- If you are using our name servers we will automatically update the DNS for you.

Any FTP passwords will need to be updated once the upgrade has completed

Once the upgrade has completed you will need to review your site to ensure that everything is functioning correctly. If there is an issue please notify us immediately.

If you upgrade your hosting account and your site does not function as intended you can request to have one of our agents manually downgrade your hosting account back to the original scripting language. Keep in mind that after the downgrade you will once again change your IP address and it will not be the original IP address you started with.

Submitting the Change Plan Request

First log into the WebControlCenter at http://www.webcontrlcenter.com/customer.aspx with your Customer ID and password. If you have multiple domains under your account, you'll have an additional step to select your domain--make sure you select the exact domain you wish to move to the new plan.

If you need login help, please click here.

Navigate to Customer > Support Requests > Change Plan Request.

From the drop down menu, select the plan you wish to change to.

Plans Affected by the Price Change

If you are upgrading your plan in order to avoid the pricing change on ASP.NET 1.1 and ASP.NET 2.0 plans, there are a number of plans that are not affected by the pricing change. We recommend the following plans as they support .NET framework versions: 2.0, 3.5, 4.0, and SQL 2008 or MySQL 5 databases only:

ASP/ASP.NET Value - Server 2008
ASP/ASP.NET Intermediate - Server 2008
ASP/ASP.NET Advanced - Server 2008
ASP/ASP.NET Advanced - Server 2008

Please Note: Framework version can be configured in the WebControlCenter under IIS Manager > App Pool Manager.

Once you have made your selections click Next and follow the rest of the required steps. You will be contacted via the email address you provide when the plan change is complete.

SmarterMail Mailbox Migration Tool

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 20:53:03 GMT

SmarterMail Mailbox Migration Tool

Individual users can use the mailbox migration tool within the SmarterMail interface to import existing email and collaboration data from most third-party mail servers or between our mail servers.

SmarterMail Navigation

The first step is to log into SmarterMail.

Once logged into SmarterMail click the Settings icon.

Navigate to My Settings > Advanced Settings > Mailbox Migration.

Mailbox Migration Tool

The mailbox migration tool will open in a new window.

Select the Account Type, or choose Other. If you are migrating from one of our servers to another choose other.

Select the items you would like to migrate.

In the next step you will setup a connection to download your mail. We recommended selecting IMAP without SSL. Always test the connection before submitting the request.

When you test the connection it will look like the following:

Ensure that everything that you would like to transfer is selected and click start.

Once the backup has been completed you will see the following:

Reset the SmarterMail Server Administrator Username and Password

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:05:21 GMT

On occasion, you may need to reset the system administrator password. This is useful in the event that the primary server administrator has lost the password.

Follow these steps to reset the primary administrator login and password:

Stop the SmarterMail service.
Navigate to the SmarterMail directory. By default, this will be C:\Program Files (x86)\SmarterTools\SmarterMail.
Open the Service subdirectory.
Make a backup copy of the file MailConfig.xml.
Open the MailConfig.xml file in Notepad.
Find the section that looks like this:

<sysadminusername> ... </sysadminusername>

<sysadminpassword> ... </sysadminpassword>

Delete those lines and save the file.
Start the SmarterMail service.

You should now be able to log in to SmarterMail using the default username and password:

Email: admin
Password: admin

For more information, refer to the SmarterMail Online Help.

Adding an Email Address in SmarterMail

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 21:26:21 GMT

Adding an Email Address in SmarterMail

This KnowlegeBase Article will walk you through the steps to add a new user or email address in SmarterMail. For this Knowledge Base Article we will assume that you have administrative access as that is required in order to setup new email addresses. If you are not an administrator please contact your account administrator or use our Contact Us Knowledge Base article so we can assist you.

SmarterMail Navigation

In order to add a new email address you will first need to log into your SmarterMail account. There are several ways to do this however the easiest way is to type mail.domain.com (where domain.com is your domain name) into your web browser. Enter the administrative email address and the password associated with it and click "Login."

Once logged in navigate to Settings (looks like to gears) on the grey bar to the left.

In the settings menu navigate to Domain Settings > Users. If you do not see Domain settings please see your account administrator or feel free to Contact Us.

From the main screen click New in the upper left.

Fill out the required fields as seen in the screenshot below. Also an explanation of what each field means can be found in the next section.

Field Descriptions

Username: This will become the first half of the email address once it has been saved

Password/Confirm Password: The password should be something that the user can easily remember but not something other can guess. The password must also contain the following minimum requirements:

8 characters long
1 letter (a, B, c)
1 numbers (1, 2, 3)
1 special character (@, !, %, ^)

Display Name: This is the name the message will appear to have come from when a message is sent from the Web-mail interface.

Reply-To Email Address: Most likely this will be the same email address that you are setting up, however if you want the message to go to a different email address when some clicks reply to your message, please enter it here.

Time Zone: This field will ensure the time stamps for when you receive a message are in the correct time zone for your location.

Mailbox Size Limit: While your hosting account has an allocated amount of space you can also place individual limits on mailbox sizes.

Please Note: we do not recommend that you enter 0 for unlimited space because that would allow you to have more mail in your mailboxes than is allocated to your hosting account which could lead to additional charges for going over that allocation. Instead we recommend assigning mailbox size limits that collectively, over your entire domain, equal the total allocated space that your hosting account comes with. In the event that a mailbox does reach it's limit an email is sent to the user and the primary administrative email address.

Settings Check boxes: These settings are optional settings to control things like providing administrative access to the new user or limiting their ability to change their own password.

Updating Domain Administrative Email Address

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:25:38 GMT

Updating Domain Administrative Email Contact

Your domain Administrative Email Contact is used to send information regarding your domain name such as expiration notices and transfer requests. It's important that this email address is kept up to date at all times.

Steps to update your domain administrative email address

Go to https://www.webcontrolcenter.com/customer.aspx. If you do not recall your login information, click here for guidance on resetting your password or Contact Us for assistance.

Navigate to the Domain Registration Admin Page

Obtain your Domain’s Registry Key and Navigate to Domain Management

Verify Your Domain Admin Email Contact is One that You
Can Access

Using the Web App Gallery

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 03:31:07 GMT

Using the Web App Gallery

The WebControlCenter has a built in feature that allows you to automatically install applications like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, DotNetNuke (DNN), and others. This is all accessible through the Web App Gallery. The Web App Gallery is only available on certain plans. See KB 1486 to see which plans support the Web App Gallery.

Web App Gallery

To access the Web App Gallery you will first need to log into the WebControlCenter. Once logged in navigate to Resources > Web Application > Gallery.

From the Web App Gallery section you will see the following tabs:

Below is a description of each tab:

Blogs: Blogging software allows an individual or group of users to record opinions, information, etc. on a regular basis.
CMS: Also known as a Content Management System. Allows for the creation of a website through a server application.
Galleries: Allows for the creation of an online photo portfolio.
Tools: Includes several useful programs to help facilitate the management of a website.
Wiki: Used to create an information site used for social publishing by both employees and visitors alike.
Forums: Setup a bulletin board to allow customers to post questions or keep in touch with family and friends.

All of the programs will walk you through the installation and setup. Keep in mind that if a database is needed the wizard may direct you away from the Web App Gallery to setup the database. As soon as the database is setup you will need to navigate back the Web App Gallery to setup your desired program.

Please Note: If there is already a database on your account there may be additional charges for setting up a second one. For more information please contact us using the information in KB 1682.

Update Database Connection Strings

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 03:56:31 GMT

Update Database Connection Strings

There are many different ways to update a database connection. The method used to connect to your database will vary based on the type of programming language, type of database and security settings. All connection strings will have certain variables that will need to be updated whenever you change your database server, username or password.

Variables

Each database connection string will have the same following variables that will need to be adjusted in the event of a change:

Whatever method you are using to connect to your database the connection string will still have the same following variables:

Database Server Name
Database Name
Username
Password

While your connection string may not look exactly like this, a typical connection string will look similar to one of the following:

MySQL:

"Provider=MySQLProv;Data Source=Your_MySQL_Database;User Id=Your_Username; Password=Your_Password;"

MSSQL:

"Data Source=Your_Server_Name;Initial Catalog= Your_Database_Name;UserId=Your_Username;Password=Your_Password;"

OR

"Server=Your_Server_Name;Database=Your_Database_Name;UserID=Your_Username;Password=Your_Password;Trusted_Connection=False"

Connection String VS. Datasource

A datasource is a database connection that is defined inside the WebControlCenter or Plesk rather than lines of programming code inside something like your web.config file or in lines of your code. Once a datasource is defined instead of having the connection coded directly, you will refer to the datasource instead.

Use the appropriate instructions below to setup a datasource:

WebControlCenter Datasource Setup
Plesk Datasource Setup

WebControlCenter Datasource Setup

First you will need to log into the WebControlCenter by going to the WebControlCenter Login Page.

Next navigate to Database > Datasource Admin.

Select the type of database you use on your site from the drop down menu.

Enter the name you would like to use for your datasource.

Select the database you would like your datasource to connect to.

Select the username that you would like to use to connect to your database.

Click Save

Once the datasource has been created you will need to click test it to get the datasource that you will need to add to your code.

Once the datasource has been saved the WebControlCenter will pull your password on file and setup your connection string for you like the example below:

Please Note: In certain circumstances, like with ColdFusion, you will not need to specify the password as that information will be stored on the server itself.

Plesk Datasource Setup

First you will need to log into Plesk by going to domain.com/plesk (where domain.com is your domain) or going to the Plesk Login Page.

Once logged in navigate to the Websites & Domains tab.

Next open Advanced Operations.

Find ODBC Data Sources in the Lower Left Corner of Advanced Operations.

Click Add New ODBC DSN.

Enter a name and description (optional) for your datasource. Then select the type of database that you will be connecting to from the drop down menu.

Click OK.