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19 Mar 10 Branded File Extensions (Custom MIME types)

This is a feature exclusive to Gossimer, and is available ONLY with our Linux Hosting Packages. Using this feature, you can have your own branded extensions for web pages on your site, and assign them to any file types. For instance, you can choose to name your Excel files with the extension .data, or your image files .picture and so on!

Assigning branded file extensions

1. Login to your Control Panel and search for the domain name for which you have purchased this hosting package. Click here to read how >>

2. In the search results view, click on the domain name. This will take you to the order details view.

3. Click on Manage Web Hosting Service in the lower toolbar.

4. In the Website Management interface pop-up that follows, go to Manage Website -> Web Server Manager -> Branded File Extensions -> Add Branded Extension.

5. Here, in the File Extension field, specify your custom file extension e.g. .brand, .mine or any other extension you wish to have for a particular Content Type.

6. Choose the appropriate content type for which you wish to apply that extension. You can either choose one from the existing types or add your own content type.

7. Once you have specified these details, click on Add Branded Extension.

 

Modifying branded file extensions

1. Perform steps 1-3 mentioned in the above process.

2. In the Website Management interface pop-up that follows, go to Manage Website -> Web Server Manager -> Branded File Extensions -> List Branded Extensions.

3. Click on the File Extension link to go to the Branded Extension Details page for that specific extension.

4. Modify the File Extension and/or Content Type for this extension, and click on Modify Branded Extension.

Disabling branded file extensions

1. Perform steps 1-2 mentioned in the above (modifying branded file extensions) process.

2. Select the checkbox adjacent to one or more file extensions which you wish to disable.

3. Click on Delete button and confirm the action by clicking on OK.

 

IMPORTANT  

In order to complete the action, the Web Server needs to be restarted. Random restarts affect other services running on the Server. In order to avoid this, the Server has been scheduled to restart at intervals of 20 minutes. Hence, each one of the above mentioned actions might take upto 20 minutes to be effective.

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17 Mar 10 PHP API Kit and Integration Guide

Follow the instructions below to begin integration with the API using PHP -

Make sure you have read the General API Integration Instructions first. If you have already integrated the PHP API Kit at your end, read the Change Log first to know what has changed since.

Reference:

General API Integration Instructions >>
Change Log >>

IMPORTANT   

The PHP API Kit is not compatible with version PHP5. You need to use version PHP4 in order to integrate the API Kit at your end.

 

 

Step 1. Download the API Kit
Click the link below to download the relevant API kits (updated on 6th March, 2008).

PHP_CoreKIT_v3_10.zip
PHP_DomainsKIT_v3_10.zip
PHP_HostingKIT_v3_10.zip
PHP_OtherProductsKIT_v3_10.zip

Step 2. Download the API Documentation
The complete documentation of all classes and methods available in the API can be found in the Docs below. The Docs below are javadocs, but the function names and explanations remain the same for all the platforms and the documentation is self explanatory. We recommend you download the docs and read through them completely once before you integrate your application (updated on 6th March, 2008).

Core_Docs_v3_10.zip
Domains_Docs_v3_10.zip (updated on 1st April, 2008)
Hosting_Docs_v3_10.zip
OtherProducts_Docs_v3_10.zip

 

IMPORTANT  

Since “list” is a keyword in the PHP language, the “list()” methods in the various classes (in the PHP Kit) has been renamed to “listOrder().” However, the documentation still mentions the method name as “list” since the documentation is JAVA specific.

 

 

 

Instructions to pass parameters to functions using the PHP Kit

Since PHP uses typeless variables you will have to ignore the datatypes presented in the docs. But for assigning values to variable of types other than strings and integers special care will have to be taken. Below is the list of datatypes presented in the API Doc and their usage in PHP.

Java Data

Types Assigning values in PHP

String “firstname@secondname.com”
int 123
HashMap (Datatype for storing name-value pair) array(“domain.com”=>”1″)
Array and Vector (Datatype for storing more than one value) array(“ns1.domain.com”,”ns2.domain.com”)
boolean (Datatype for storing true or false) true / false

Example:

  • For Calling a Function which takes a String datatype and an integer datatype as its paramters

    public int function1(java.lang.String userName, int parentid)
    $result = $obj->function1(“firstname@secondname.com”,1);

     

  • For Calling a Function which takes a HashMap, a String Array and an integer Array as its parameters

    public java.util.HashMap function2(java.util.HashMap domainHash, java.lang.String[] orderby, int[] resellerId)

    and domainHash is accepting the domainname and the number of years as name value pair

    $result = $obj->function2(array(“domain1.com”=>1,”domain2.com”=>2),array(“column1″,”column2″),array(22,33))
     

  • For Calling a Function which takes a Vector and a boolean as its parameters

    public java.lang.String function3(java.util.Vector nameServers, boolean add)
    $result = $obj->function3(array(“ns1.domain.com”,”ns2.domain.com”),true)

 

Step 3. Extract the files from the API Kit archive
You should get the following directory & files structure

examples/ – Pre-written examples. You can directly run these examples to test API functionality
lib/ – The PHP class files, library files and wsdl files that you need to run your application
 

Step 4. Run the examples
You can run the pre-written examples provided in the “examples” folder. Note the following steps to do so -

1. Upload the “examples” and “lib” folders to your web server where you run your PHP scripts. Make sure that both these folders are uploaded to the same parent folder.

2. You must have PHP 4 installed on the server

3. You must have a Demo account ready the first time. Read the General instructions if you have not yet setup your demo account. Reference: General API Integration Instructions >>

IMPORTANT   

The Demo server duplicates all functionality of the live server, however all Domain Names will appear as available on the Demo Server. It does not query the live registry and therefore names which are not available on the live registry will still appear as available on the Demo Server. At times connectivity to the DEMO Registry may be down resulting in errors.

 

4. Make the appropriate changes to “constants.php” in the “examples” folder, by putting in the values for your “SERVICE_USERNAME”, “SERVICE_PASSWORD”, “SERVICE_PARENTID”. The remaining settings have already been made for you in this file. You may only need to change the path for the “lib” folder if you have uploaded the lib folder elsewhere

5. The URL to which the call is made is maintained in the “config.php” file inside the “lib” folder. By default all calls are made to the demo server URL using HTTP. You can make changes to this file and redirect your calls to the appropriate server

IMPORTANT   

If you are using HTTPS calls you MUST have the extension for CURL installed and enabled in your PHP installation.

 

6. Another important parameter maintained in the “config.php” file is the variable $DEBUG. If this variable is set to “true”, then for each call you will see the entire XML Request and Response in the output. You should keep it to “true” during testing, but set it to false on the live environment.

7. Every Example file has a set of functions which you can run.

8. Once you have modified the appropriate example file, access it over your webserver by putting in your URL such as http://yourserver/examples/html and choose the required function from the links given in the left frame.

IMPORTANT   

In registering/managing any domain name on the demo server always use ns1.onlyfordemo.net and ns2.onlyfordemo.net as your nameservers. ANY OTHER Nameserver will result in an INVALID NAMESERVER error.

 

Step 5. Understanding Errors
Make sure you have read the General API Integration Instructions to obtain links to the error format and possible error documents. Reference:
General API Integration Instructions >>
 

Step 6. Writing your own code
After running each example above, if you simply refer to the corresponding .php file in the examples folder you will easily be able to figure out the code snippet you need to write in order to make a similar call.

Making an API call to perform any action is a matter of three steps:

(i) Include the appropriate PHP Class file as below

include($LIB_DIR.”Order.class.php”);

(ii) Obtain a pointer to the required Class. This is done by using the code below

$serviceObj = new Order($LIB_DIR . “wsdl/Order.wsdl”);

(iii) Call the required method on this object. A complete reference of all methods is available in the Docs folder. This can be achieved by using the code below

$AssociativeArray = $serviceObj->setCustomerLock($SERVICE_USERNAME, $SERVICE_PASSWORD, $SERVICE_ROLE, $SERVICE_LANGPREF, $SERVICE_PARENTID, $orderId);

IMPORTANT   

You will notice above that EVERY method in the docs takes the same first 5 parameters as below

String SERVICE_USERNAME, String SERVICE_PASSWORD, String SERVICE_ROLE, String SERVICE_LANGPREF, int SERVICE_PARENTID

 

In the examples these parameters have been put into a single constants file from which they are accessed by including the constants file. These parameters are common no matter which method you call. These parameters mean the following:

String SERVICE_USERNAME: Your Username
String 
SERVICE_PASSWORD: Your Password
String 
SERVICE_ROLE: This will always be a string "reseller"
String 
SERVICE_LANGPREF: The 2 letter code of the language in which you wish to receive errors and descriptions - "en" for English
int 
SERVICE_PARENTID: The ID of your parent which you can get from your profile section

IMPORTANT   

Remember, when passing numerical data in hashtables, please ensure that the number is passed as a String.


Step 7. Change the information to Live information when you are ready

Once you have followed the steps above and got the test examples to work successfully, you can duplicate the same code in your live application and replace the Demo Server and Reseller account information with your live username and password. The URL that you make your calls to also needs to change to the LIVE Server URL. You will make this change in the “config.php” file in the “lib” folder

Once again note, if you are using the HTTPS URL you MUST have the extension for CURL installed and enabled in your PHP installation.

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16 Mar 10 How do I Password-protect my Website Statistics?

Gossimer provides you the ability to password protect your Web traffic statistics to ensure that only authorized people have access to this data.

Enabling Password Protection 

     

  1. Login to your Control Panel and search for the domain name for which you have purchased this hosting package. Click here to read how >>
     
  2. In the search results view, click on the domain name. This will take you to the order details view.
     
  3. Click on Manage Web Hosting Service in the lower toolbar.
     
  4. In the Website Management interface pop-up that follows, go to Manage Website -> Web Statistics Manager -> Password Protect.
     
  5. In the Enable Password Protection dropdown, set the option to Yes.
     
  6. Provide the Username and Password, and click on Submit.
  7.  

     

This would ensure that every request for access to the Web Statistics report would be prompted for the Username/Password.

IMPORTANT  

In case of Windows hosting, Password Protection can be enabled by setting the Protect Webstats option to Yes in the Modify Web Stats Options page, which can be accessed through the Manage Website -> Web Statistics Manager -> Settings menu. The Primary FTP user login/password needs to be used for accessing the web statistics.

 

Modifying access details for Web Statistics:

      

  1. Perform steps 1-4 mentioned in the above process.
     
  2. Modify the Username and/or Password, and click on Submit.
  3.  

     

The new username/password now needs to be used while accessing Web Statistics.

IMPORTANT  

In case of Windows hosting, password for accessing web statistics can be modified by changing the password of the Primary FTP user. The username cannot be modified since it is not possible to modify the username of the Primary FTP user.

 

Disabling Password Protection

     

  1. Perform steps 1-4 mentioned in the above (enabling password protection) process.
     
  2. In the Enable Password Protection dropdown, set the option to No.
     
  3. Click on Submit button.
  4.  

     

IMPORTANT  

In case of Windows hosting, Password Protection can be disabled by setting the Protect Webstats option to No in the Modify Web Stats Options page, which can be accessed through the Manage Website -> Web Statistics Manager -> Settings menu.

 

IMPORTANT  

In order to complete the action in case of Linux Hosting, the Web Server needs to be restarted. Random restarts affect other services running on the Server. In order to avoid this, the Server has been scheduled to restart at intervals of 20 minutes. Hence, each one of the above mentioned actions might take upto 20 minutes for completion.

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16 Mar 10 Renewing your Digital Certificate

Depending upon the Web Server software type you selected at the time of Enrolling for a Digital Certificate, thawte determines if your Digital Certificate is re-signable or non-re-signable on their system. This means that certain platforms will require a new CSR upon Renewal while others enable the existing CSR to be re-signed, in which case the new certificate, once issued, will only work on the private key file that was used to create the CSR originally submitted to thawte. Click here to find a list of Web Server Software platforms which support a re-signable CSR on Renewal >>

thawte Digital Certificates have a lifespan of 1 or 2 years, depending upon the validity period you chose at the time of purchase. You can Renew your Digital Certificate within 90 days prior to its Expiry and within 30 days post Expiry. However, thawte will issue the Digital Certificate only 32 days before your current Certificate expires. This allows you to request your Renewal Certificate timorously and prevents any warnings for your website users which would have been displayed if your existing Certificate would have Expired.

IMPORTANT

  • Upon Expiry, the Digital Certificate will be Suspended by Gossimer System. Once Expired, the Digital Certificate will become invalid and a warning message about the Expired Digital Certificate will be displayed to your website visitors. If the Digital Certificate is not Renewed within 30 days post Expiry, it will be Deleted by Gossimer System.
     
  • Once a Digital Certificate is Renewed, Additional License(s) associated with such a Certificate, if any, will no longer be valid. You need to purchase fresh Additional License(s) for the Renewed Digital Certificate. Click here to read about Additional Licenses in detail >>
     
  • If Privacy Protection is enabled for the Domain Name, it needs to be disabled before Renewing the Digital Certificate. Privacy Protection may be enabled again once the Certificate has been Renewed. Click here to read how to enable/disable Privacy Protection >>

 

Follow the below mentioned process to Renew your Digital Certificate:

  1. Login into your Control Panel, search for the Digital Certificate and click the domain name to go to the Order Details view. Click here to find instructions to accomplish this >>
     
  2. Click the Renew Service button.
     
  3. Select whether you wish to renew your Digital Certificate for 1 or 2 years in the dropdown. If your Digital Certificate is re-signable, then you will not be prompted to submit a new CSR. However, if thawte determines that your Web Server software would not support re-signed certificates, you would be prompted to mention a new CSR.
     

    IMPORTANT

    During the Digital Certificate Enrollment process for a SSL123 Certificate, you need to choose either the Corporate Contact or the Technical Contact as the Authorizing Contact for your Digital Certificate.

  4. Click here for more details >>

    During the Enrollment process for a SSL123 Certificate, if you had chosen the Corporate Contact as the Authorizing Contact and had matched a pre-determined email address (email alias) with the domain name for which you were requesting the Certificate, then you will be required to provide the Corporate Contact Email Address while Renewing the Certificate.

     

  5. Click the Confirm Renew button to proceed to pay for your Invoice.
  6.  

Once you have Renewed your Digital Certificate successfully, you would be issued your new certificate. You can check the status of your Digital Certificate by clicking the Check Certificate Status button in the Order Details view of the Digital Certificate Order. Once the certificate is issued, you can retrieve the same from the above interface itself and install this renewed certificate on your web server.

Reference:

Click here to find instructions on how to check the status of your Digital Certificate and retrieve your Renewed Digital Certificate >>
Click here to find instructions on how to install your Digital Certificate >>

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15 Mar 10 Collaboration Data Objects (CDO)

 

Originally known as Active Messaging, the Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) library allows users to send mails through ASP Scripts.

Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) is Microsoft’s technology for building messaging or collaboration applications or adding these capabilities to existing applications. Part of the Microsoft Exchange Server product, CDO has evolved from what Microsoft formerly called Object Linking and Embedding Messaging and, more recently, Active Messaging.

You can use the sample script provided by Gossimer and tweak it a bit to your requirements, to accept feedback from your website visitors and get the results emailed to you.

You would need to change the Email address in the field objCDOSYSMail.From to any Email address on the domain name on which you are incorporating the script. For example, if your Domain Name is abc.com, then you would define the From Email address as some-name@abc.com. This Email address need not be existing on the Mail Server of abc.com, however, the domain name in the objCDOSYSMail.From has to be yours. You may use an Email address such as Do_Not_reply@abc.com.

The Email address in the objCDOSYSMail.To field needs to be changed to your Email address, where you wish to receive Emails submitted through the form.

Sample Script 

<%
set objCDOSYSMail = Server.CreateObject(“CDO.Message”)
set objCDOSYSCon = Server.CreateObject(“CDO.Configuration”)
‘Out going SMTP server
objCDOSYSCon.Fields(“http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpserverport”)= 25
objCDOSYSCon.Fields(“http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpconnectiontimeout”)= 60
objCDOSYSCon.Fields.Update
‘Update the CDOSYS Configuration
Set objCDOSYSMail.Configuration = objCDOSYSCon
objCDOSYSMail.From = “some-name@abc.com”
objCDOSYSMail.To = “xyz@abc.com”
objCDOSYSMail.Subject = “Test mail”
objCDOSYSMail.TextBody = “Test Mail”
objCDOSYSMail.Send
Set objCDOSYSMail = Nothing
Set objCDOSYSCon = Nothing
If Err <> 0 Then
Err_Msg = Err_Msg & “<li>Your request was not sent due to the following error: “& Err.Description & “</li>”
End if
%>

 

 

 

IMPORTANT 

The body of the mail should not have bare linefeeds (n). If a bare linefeed is detected, the SMTP service of Microsoft IIS6 (the Web Server running on Gossimer’s Windows servers) will stop delivering any mail and the mails will get struck in the SMTP queue. This is because Microsoft IIS6 strictly follows Internet e-mail standards; and these standards forbid the presence of bare linefeed characters in e-mail messages. Click here for more details >>

For example,

objCDOSYSMail.TextBody = “Thank you for contacting us. We shall get back to you shortly.nKind regardsnabc.com

In the above case, bare linefeeds (n) are being used.

Instead of n, you need to use rn (carriage-return, line-feed). Hence, the correct usage would be -

objCDOSYSMail.TextBody = “Thank you for contacting us. We shall get back to you shortly.rnKind regardsrnabc.com

 

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15 Mar 10 What is Managed DNS? Which types of Resource Records does Gossimer allow?

The Domain Name System [DNS] is a distributed database, arranged hierarchically, containing records for domain names. The DNS system’s main aim is to match a domain name to an IP Address. In order to fulfill this role, the DNS Server contains Records [called Resource Records] in a Zone File, which contains the domain name and IP address mappings for computers contained within that Zone. All Resource Records have a TTL [Time To Live], specifying the number of seconds other DNS servers and applications are allowed to cache the record.

Most Web Hosting companies do not provide you with an interface to manage your own DNS Records and/or the ability to select multiple providers for various Services like Web Hosting, Mail Hosting, etc..

Gossimer gives you complete control over the following Resource Records by using our Managed DNS Service:

I. Address Record [A Record]

The A Record is the most basic and the most important DNS record type. They are used to translate human friendly domain names such as “www.domain.com” into IP-addresses such as 1.2.3.4 (machine friendly numbers).

When you wish to host your domain name, you will be provided with an IP address that needs to be set as an A Record for that particular domain name.


II. Mail Exchanger
[MX] Record

A MX Record identifies the mail server(s) responsible for a domain name. When sending an e-mail to user@xyz.com, your mail server must first look up the MX Record for xyz.com to see which mail server actually handles mail for xyz.com (this could be mail.xyz.com – or someone else’s mail server like mail.isp.com). Then it looks up the A Record for the mail server to connect to its IP-address.

A MX Record has a Preference number indicating the order in which the mail server should be used (only relevant when multiple MX Records are defined for the same domain name). Mail servers will attempt to deliver mail to the server with the lowest preference number first, and if unsuccessful continue with the next lowest and so on.


III. Canonical Name
[Alias / CNAME] Record

CNAME Records are domain name aliases. Often computers on the Internet have multiple functions such as Web Server, FTP Server, Chat Server, etc. To mask this, CNAME Records can be used, to give a single computer multiple names (aliases).

Sometimes companies register their multiple domain names for their brand-names but still wish to maintain a single website. In such cases, a  CNAME Record maybe used to forward traffic to their actual website. For example, www.abc.in could be CNAMEd to www.abc.com.

The most popular use of the CNAME Record type, is to provide access to a Web Server using both the standard www.domain.com and domain.com (without the www). This is usually done by adding a CNAME-record for the www name pointing to the short name [while creating an A Record for the short name (without www)].

CNAME Records can also be used when a computer or service needs to be renamed, to temporarily allow access through both the old and new name.


IV. Authoritative Name Server
[NS] Record

NS Records identify DNS servers responsible (authoritative) for a Zone. A Zone should contain one NS Record for each of its own DNS servers (primary and secondaries). This mostly is used for Zone Transfer purposes (notify). These NS Records have the same name as the Zone in which they are located.

But the most important function of the NS Record is Delegation. Delegation means that part of a domain is delegated to other DNS servers.

You can also delegate sub-domains of your own domain name (such as subdomain.yourname.com) to other DNS servers. An NS Record identifies the name of a DNS server, not the IP Address. Because of this, it is important that an A Record for the referenced DNS server exists, otherwise there may not be any way to find that DNS server and communicate with it.

If a NS Record delegates a sub-domain (subdomain.yourname.com) to a DNS Server with a name in that sub-domain (ns1.subdomain.yourname.com), an A Record for that server (ns1.subdomain.yourname.com) must exist in the Parent Zone (yourname.com). This A Record is referred to as a Glue Record, because it doesn’t really belong in the Parent Zone, but is necessary to locate the DNS Server for the delegated sub-domain.


V. Text [TXT] Record

A Text Record provides the ability to associate some text with a domain or a subdomain. This text is meant to strictly provide information and has no functionality as such. A TXT Record can store upto 255 characters of free form text. This record is generally used to convey information about the zone. Multiple TXT records are permitted but their order is not necessarily retained.

For example, you may add a TXT Record for yourname.com with the value as “This is my mail server”. Here if anybody was checking ALL or TXT records of yourname.com, they would notice the above text appearing in the TXT record.

TXT Record is also used to implement the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys specifications.
 

Sender Policy Framework (SPF)

Sender Policy Framework is an extension to the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). SPF allows software to identify and reject forged addresses in the SMTP MAIL FROM (Return-Path), a typical nuisance in e-mail spam.

SPF allows the owner of a domain to specify their mail sending policy, e.g. which mail servers they use to send mail from their domain. The technology requires two sides to work in tandem -

i. the domain owner publishes this information in an TXT Record in the domain’s DNS zone, and when someone else’s mail server receives a message claiming to come from that domain, then

ii. the receiving server can check whether the message complies with the domain’s stated policy. If, for example, the message comes from an unknown server, it can be considered a fake.

Click here to find more information on SPF and how you may use it to authenticate mails being sent from your domain name >>

DomainKeys

DomainKeys is an e-mail authentication system (developed at Yahoo!) designed to verify the authenticity of the E-mail sender and the message integrity (i.e,. the message was not altered during transit). The DomainKeys specification has adopted aspects of Identified Internet Mail to create an enhanced protocol called DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM).

Click here to find more information about DomainKeys and how you can prove and protect an Email Sender’s identity >>
 

VI. Start of Authority [SOA] Parameters

Each Zone contains one SOA Record, which holds the following parameters for the Zone -

Name of Primary DNS Server - The domain name of the Primary DNS Server for the Zone. The Zone should contain a matching NS Record.

Mailbox of the Responsible Person – The email address of the person responsible for maintenance of the Zone.

Serial Number - Used by Secondary DNS Servers to check if the Zone has changed. If the Serial Number is higher than what the Secondary Server has, a Zone Transfer will be initiated. This number is automatically increased by our Servers when changes to the Zone or its Records are made.

Refresh Interval - How often Secondary DNS Servers should check if changes are made to the zone.

Retry Interval - How often Secondary DNS Server should retry checking, if changes are made – if the first refresh fails.

Expire Interval - How long the Zone will be valid after a refresh. Secondary Servers will discard the Zone if no refresh could be made within this interval.

Minimum (Default) TTL - Used as the default TTL for new records created within the zone. Also used by other DNS Server to cache negative responses (such as record does not exist, etc.).

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13 Mar 10 Copying/Moving Files or Directories

Files/directories can be easily copied/moved from one directory to another within your website or to an altogether different server via the File Manager:

Copying Files/Directories

1. Select one or more files/directories you wish to copy and click Copy.

2. You may either choose to copy Files/directories to another directory within your website or to a different web server altogether -
 

a. Copying files/directories to another directory within your website: Here you have two options, you may either Copy all the files/directories to a single destination or individually select different destination folder for each file/directory -

  • Copying individual files/directories to different destination directories 

    i. Click filemanager01 Copying/Moving Files or Directories next to Target directory to locate the destination directory
    ii. Double-click the directory to which the files/directories need to be copied and click Choose.

    You may also choose to rename the file by providing a new name in the Target name field.
     

  • Copying all files/directories to a single destination directory i. Click filemanager01 Copying/Moving Files or Directories next to Set all target directories to locate the destination directory
    ii. Double-click the directory to which the files/directories need to be copied and click Choose.

 b. Copying files/directories to another server: Simply provide the destination server IP Address or website URL, FTP port if different from the default port 21, and the FTP Username and Password.

3. Click filemanager02 Copying/Moving Files or Directories to initiate the copying of the files/directories.

 

Moving Files/Directories

1. Select one or more files/directories you wish to move and click Move.

2. You may either choose to move Files/directories to another directory within your website or to a different web server altogether -
 

a. Moving files/directories to another directory within your website: Here you have two options, you may either Move all the files/directories to a single destination or individually select different destination folder for each file/directory -

  • Moving individual files/directories to different destination directories 

    i. Click filemanager01 Copying/Moving Files or Directories next to Target directory to locate the destination directory
    ii. Double-click the directory to which the files/directories need to be moved and click Choose.

    You may also choose to rename the file by providing a new name in the Target name field.
     

  • Moving all files/directories to a single destination directory i. Click filemanager01 Copying/Moving Files or Directories next to Set all target directories to locate the destination directory
    ii. Double-click the directory to which the files/directories need to be moved and click Choose.

 b. Moving files/directories to another server: Simply provide the destination server IP Address or website URL, FTP port if different from the default port 21, and the FTP Username and Password.

3. Click filemanager02 Copying/Moving Files or Directories to initiate the moving of the files/directories.

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12 Mar 10 Modifying the version of PHP for your Website

The PHP4 version has reached its end of life and Gossimer recommends use of PHP5 version as soon as possible. In order to ensure a smooth transition, Gossimer now supports PHP5 version alongwith the existing PHP4 version for all the existing Linux Web Hosting packages.

IMPORTANT

  • Support for PHP4 will be available on existing Linux Web Hosting packages only until 10th April 2008 post which the option of switching to PHP4 will be unavailable and your Linux Web Hosting package will automatically be upgraded to PHP5.
     
  • All new Linux Web Hosting packages purchased on or after 8th February 2008 will only support PHP5.

 

Upgrading your website to PHP5 version

  1. Login to your Control Panel, search for the domain name for which you have purchased this Web Hosting package and proceed to the Order Details view. Click here to read how >>
     
  2. Click on Manage Web Hosting Service in the lower toolbar.
     
  3. In the Website Management interface pop-up that follows, click Switch to PHP5.

 

Reverting to PHP4 version

  1. Login to your Control Panel, search for the domain name for which you have purchased this Web Hosting package and proceed to the Order Details view. Click here to read how >>
     
  2. Click on Manage Web Hosting Service in the lower toolbar.
     
  3. In the Website Management interface pop-up that follows, click Switch to PHP4.

IMPORTANT

  • In order to complete either of the above two actions, the Web Server needs to be restarted. Random restarts affect other services running on the Server. In order to avoid this, the Server has been scheduled to restart at intervals of 20 minutes. Hence, the change might take upto 20 minutes to be effective.
     
  • PHP5 is configured on Gossimer Linux Web Hosting Servers to run as CGI. Following are the requirements for PHP5 pages/scripts -
     

    1. All PHP5 files need to have the file extension .php.
       
    2. All PHP5 files need to have one of the following file permission modes -775, 771, 755, 751, 555 or 551

      Recommended permission: 755
       

    3. Once you have switched to PHP5 version, you need to manually change the permissions of all your PHP5 files to one of the above mentioned permission modes, through a  File Transfer Protocol (FTP) client.
       
    4. The folder in which your PHP5 files are placed should also have one of the above mentioned permission modes.
       
    5. If you switch back to PHP4 version, no permission changes are required.

     

  • You can use only one version of PHP at a time for your website.
     
  • You can switch between the two versions at any time.

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12 Mar 10 Can I serve WAP Files?

Yes, Gossimer does indeed allow you to serve WAP files.

To enable the Web Server to serve WAP documents, you need to set the following MIME types on the web server: 

  • text/vnd.wap.wml for .wml files (WML source files)
  • application/vnd.wap.wmlc for .wmlc files (WML compiled files)
  • text/vnd.wap.wmlscript for .wmls files (WMLScript source files)
  • application/vnd.wap.wmlscriptc for .wmlsc files (WMLScript compiled files)
  • image/vnd.wap.wbmp for .wbmp files (wireless bitmaps)

If you use the Apache Web server add the following lines in the  ..Apache GroupApache2confmime.types file:

  • text/vnd.wap.wml   wml
  • application/vnd.wap.wmlc   wmlc
  • text/vnd.wap.wmlscript   wmls
  • application/vnd.wap.wmlscriptc   wmlsc
  • image/vnd.wap.wbmp   wbmp

Our servers are already preconfigured to serve files.

§ What is WAP?

WAP stands for Wireless Application Protocol. You would use WAP to serve information from your website to wireless devices such as mobile phones, pagers and communicators.

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11 Mar 10 SMTP Server settings for sending mails through your website

 

All Gossimer Web Servers have SMTP Server installed and are capable of sending emails. You need to use localhost as the SMTP Server in your web forms or web applications, in order to send emails through the Web Server.

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11 Mar 10 How do I generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR)?

You can generate a Certificate Signing Request or CSR from your Control Panel provided by Gossimer. Follow the process mentioned below to do so:

1. Login to your Control Panel and search for the domain name for which you have purchased this hosting package. Click here to read how >>

2. In the search results view, click on the domain name. This will take you to the order details view.

3. Click on Manage Web Hosting Service in the lower toolbar.

4. In the Website Management interface pop-up that follows, go to Manage Website -> SSL Manager.

5. Click on the Generate icon.

6. Provide the following details for your certificate:

  • Common Name
  • Email Address
  • Organization Name
  • Organization Unit
  • Country
  • State
  • City

7. Next, choose from the drop-down if you wish to generate only the CSR, or a Self Signed Certificate as well.
 

IMPORTANT

If you are planning to buy a Digital Certificate, you should choose to generate only a CSR.

 


8. Click on Generate Certificate.

This will generate the CSR for you. In order to view or take a backup the CSR you have just generated, click on Download on the succeeding page.

IMPORTANT

In order to complete the action in case of Linux Hosting, the Web Server needs to be restarted. Random restarts affect other services running on the Server. In order to avoid this, the Server has been scheduled to restart at intervals of 20 minutes. Hence, the process might take upto 20 minutes for completion.

 

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10 Mar 10 How do I delete my Certificate and Private keys?

If, for some reason, you wish to uninstall SSL for your website, you can do so by deleting your existing CSR, Certificate and Keys. Once you have deleted these, SSL will stop working immediately for your website.

Follow the process mentioned below to delete these:

1. Login to your Control Panel and search for the domain name for which you have purchased this hosting package. Click here to read how >>

2. In the search results view, click on the domain name. This will take you to the order details view.

3. Click on Manage Web Hosting Service in the lower toolbar.

4. In the Website Management interface pop-up that follows, go to Manage Website -> SSL Manager.

5. Here, click on the Delete icon.

6. Enter the domain name whose SSL installation you wish to disable, and click on Delete.

IMPORTANT

In order to complete the action in case of Linux Hosting, the Web Server needs to be restarted. Random restarts affect other services running on the Server. In order to avoid this, the Server has been scheduled to restart at intervals of 20 minutes. Hence, deletion might take upto 20 minutes to be effective.

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10 Mar 10 Customized Error Pages for your website

 

When a user attempts to connect to a Web site and an HTTP error occurs, a generic message is sent back to the client browser with a brief description of what happened during the attempt to establish a connection. For example, if a user attempts to connect to a page that no longer exists on the Web site, an HTTP error will be returned in the form of an HTML page that contains the statement The requested URL was not found on this server.

You can use the Custom Error Pages view to customize HTTP errors that are sent to clients when Web server errors occur. Following is a list of HTTP errors you can customise:

401 – Authorization Failed
The request requires user authentication, typically a Username/Password credential pair. If the request already included Authorization credentials, then the 401 response indicates that authorization has been refused for those credentials.

403 - Permission Denied/Forbidden
You tried to access a URL for which you don’t have permission.

404 – File / Resource Not Found
Your browser cannot locate the document corresponding to the URL you entered. An improperly typed URL is usually the cause.

406 - Resource Not Acceptable
It’s possible you have requested a page that contains files which your browser has indicated to the server that it cannot accept, e.g. a multimedia file that your browser cannot process. Your browser sends information about what files it can accept to the server (in the HTTP header) as part of a request. You might check the preferences settings of your browser to see if there are file types it is not accepting.

500 – Internal Error
The server encountered an unexpected condition which prevented it from fulfilling the request.


To customize the error messages, follow the procedure below:

1. Create your custom Error message and upload it to your website.

2. Login to your Control Panel and search for the domain name for which you have purchased this hosting package. Click here to read how >>

3. In the search results view, click on the domain name. This will take you to the order details view.

4. Click on Manage Web Hosting Service in the lower toolbar.

5. In the Website Management interface pop-up that follows,

 

go to Manage Website -> Custom Error Pages, if you have a Windows web hosting package

or

go to Manage Website -> Web Server Manager -> Custom Error Pages, if you have a Linux web hosting package

 

 

6. For the HTTP error that you wish to customize, you can

  • select the radio button adjacent to Local URL, and enter the path to the file that you have uploaded, or
     
  • select the radio button adjacent to Text/HTML Message, and fill in a suitable text/html message.

If for some reason you wish to disable custom error message for a particular error, select the radio button adjacent to Set To Default for that error.

7. Click on Submit to save the settings.

IMPORTANT 

In order to complete the action in case of Linux Hosting, the Web Server needs to be restarted. Random restarts affect other services running on the Server. In order to avoid this, the Server has been scheduled to restart at intervals of 20 minutes. Hence, the changes might take upto 20 minutes to be effective.

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09 Mar 10 Reissuing your Digital Certificate

You may reissue your Digital Certificate at anytime prior to its Expiry. You would generally need to reissue your Digital Certificate in the event that

  1. you lose your Private Key,
     
  2. you lose your Private Key Passphrase,
     
  3. your Private Key file gets compromised due to the server being hacked,
     
  4. you wish to make changes to the domain name for which you have issued a Digital Certificate – This could be because of
     

    • Host name was left out when the Key/CSR pair was generated on the server (For example, the Private Key/CSR pair was generated on the server for yourdomain.com but domain name being secured is www.yourdomain.com)
       
    • Incorrect host name filled in when the Key/CSR pair was generated on the server (For example, the Private Key/CSR pair was generated on the server for secure.yourdomain.com but domain name being secured is shoppingcart.yourdomain.com)
       
    • Host name changes, provided that the top-level domain name remains the same (For example, the Certificate was requested for secure.yourdomain.com but the secure area is now being moved to shopping.yourdomain.com)
       
  5. you wish to change the Web Server Software Platform where your Digital Certificate has been installed – This could be because of
     

    • Incorrect server software was selected during the enrollment process
       
    • Web Server software platform has been upgraded to the latest version
       
    • Moving to a different ISP or Hosting Company
       
  6. your Organizational Unit changes
     
  7. your Technical Contact details change
     
IMPORTANT

  • If Privacy Protection is enabled for the Domain Name, it needs to be disabled while reissuing the Digital Certificate. 

    Privacy Protection may be enabled again once the Certificate has been reissued.

 

Click here to read how to enable/disable Privacy Protection >>
 

  • While reissuing a SSL123 Certificate, you must ensure that your Company and Domain Name details haven’t changed since the original details at the time of issuing.
  • Follow the below mentioned process to reissue your Digital Certificate from your Control Panel:

    1. Login into your Control Panel, search for the Digital Certificate and click on the same to go to the Order details view. Click here to find instructions to accomplish this >>
       
    2. Click on the Reissue Certificate button.
       
    3. Mention your new Certificate Signature Request in the text box and click on the Reissue Certificate button.

    Once thawte reissues your Certificate, you may retrieve the same from within your Control Panel and install the same on your web server.

    Click here to find instructions on how to check the status of your Digital Certificate and retrieve your reissued Digital Certificate >>
    Click here to read how to install your Digital Certificate on your web server >>

     

    IMPORTANT

    1. In case your reissue request is rejected and the Digital Certificate is Revoked by thawte, then
       

      1. you will not be eligible for a refund and
         
      2. you need to delete the Digital Certificate. Click here to know how to delete a Digital Certificate Order >>

       

    2. If you have secured multiple servers through Additional License(s) purchased for a Digital Certificate and the Digital Certificate gets reissued, you need to install the reissued Certificate on all the servers. However, you will not be required to purchase Additional License(s) for the reissued Certificate. Click here to read about Additional Licenses in detail >>

     

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    09 Mar 10 How do I install my Intermediate CA Certificate?

    Follow the below mentioned process to install your Intermediate CA Certificate on your website:-

    1. Login to your Control Panel and search for the domain name for which you have purchased this hosting package. Click here to read how >>

    2. In the search results view, click on the domain name. This will take you to the order details view.

    3. Click on Manage Web Hosting Service in the lower toolbar.

    4. In the Website Management interface pop-up that follows, depending upon the type of hosting package go to the relevant path

    Linux Web Hosting: Manage Website -> SSL Manager -> Add

    i. Here you need to paste the Intermediate CA Certificate within the textbox titled as Bundle (Optional).

    ii. Click on the Add button to submit the same.
     

    IMPORTANT

    • If you have already added a Certificate, then you need to click on the Add button and then paste your Certificate within the textbox titled as Bundle (Optional).
       
    • In order to complete the action in case of Linux Hosting, the Web Server needs to be restarted. Random restarts affect other services running on the Server. In order to avoid this, the Server has been scheduled to restart at intervals of 20 minutes. Hence, certificate installation might take upto 20 minutes for completion.


    Windows Web Hosting: Manage Website -> Intermediate CA Certificates -> Add Certificate

    i. Paste the Intermediate CA Certificate in the textbox.

    ii. Click on the Add button to submit it.
     

    IMPORTANT

    When you paste your Intermediate CA Certificate, it is essential that you copy the certificate without any leading, trailing or intermediate spaces. Any spaces in your certificate would cause failure in the installation.

     

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    08 Mar 10 ASPSmartUpload Component

     

    ASPSmartUpload is an Active Server component which enables an ASP application to accept, save and manipulate files uploaded through a browser. The files are uploaded via a HTML POST form with one or more <INPUT TYPE=FILE> tags. The <FORM> tag must contain the attribute ENCTYPE=”multipart/form-data”. All Gossimer Windows Hosting packages have support enabled for ASPSmartUpload component. You can use the sample script provided below and tweak it a bit to suit your requirements.

     

    Upload Script (Upload.asp)

    <%
    // Variables

    Dim mySmartUpload
    Dim intCount

    // Object creation

    Set mySmartUpload = Server.CreateObject(“aspSmartUpload.SmartUpload”)

    // Upload

    mySmartUpload.Upload

    // Save the files in a folder on the web server

    intCount = mySmartUpload.Save(“C:WHBSitesyourdomainname.comdatafiles”)

    // Display the number of files uploaded

    Response.Write(intCount & ” file(s) uploaded to C:WHBSitesyourdomainname.comdatafiles”)
    %>

    HTML form for uploading up to 3 files

    <HTML>
    <BODY BGCOLOR=”#FFFFFF”>
    <FORM METHOD=”POST” ENCTYPE=”multipart/form-data” ACTION=_quot;Upload.asp_quot;_gt;
    <INPUT TYPE=”FILE” NAME=”FILE1″ SIZE=”50″><BR>
    <INPUT TYPE=”FILE” NAME=”FILE2″ SIZE=”50″><BR>
    <INPUT TYPE=”FILE” NAME=”FILE3″ SIZE=”50″><BR>
    <INPUT TYPE=”SUBMIT” VALUE=”Upload!”>
    </FORM>
    </BODY>
    </HTML>

     

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    08 Mar 10 How do I disable Web Statistics?

    If you do not wish to generate a report of your Web based traffic, you can choose to disable the option at any time. Doing this would save the disk space actually utilized for these reports, and could be done if you do not feel it necessary to monitor the usage of your site.

    Follow the process mentioned below to disable Web statistics:

    1. Login to your Control Panel and search for the domain name for which you have purchased this hosting package. Click here to read how >>

    2. In the search results view, click on the domain name. This will take you to the order details view.

    3. Click on Manage Web Hosting Service in the lower toolbar.

    4. In the Website Management interface pop-up that follows, go to Manage Website -> Web Statistics Manager -> Settings.

    5. On this page, you would see the option to Generate Web Stats. Select No from the drop-down adjacent to this option.

    This would disable all web traffic reports for your site.

    IMPORTANT

    In order to complete the action in case of Linux Hosting, the Web Server needs to be restarted. Random restarts affect other services running on the Server. In order to avoid this, the Server has been scheduled to restart at intervals of 20 minutes. Hence, the change might take upto 20 minutes to be effective.

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    07 Mar 10 How do I start using my Website Builder service?

    Once you have bought the Website Builder Service, you need to take the following steps in order to start building your website.

    Provide your FTP details for publishing your website

    Your Website Builder package allows you to publish your website on a web server of your choice. You need to supply the FTP access details provided by your Web Hosting Service Provider, to our Website Builder before you can start publishing. To set these details, follow the steps given below:

    1. Login to your Control Panel, search for the domain name for which you have purchased this Service and proceed to the Order Details view. Click here to learn how >>
       
    2. Here, click the Modify FTP Details button. 
       

    Mention the FTP details provided by your current Hosting Provider here and click Modify to submit -

    • FTP Username
    • FTP Password
    • FTP Hostname
    • FTP Port
    • FTP Path

     

    IMPORTANT  

    If you have bought your Web Hosting package through Gossimer, then you need to submit the
    following details here:

    • FTP Username - This could be either the default FTP Username created for you at the time of purchase of your Web Hosting package with us, or any other user added by yourself.
    • FTP Password - Likewise, this is the FTP Password corresponding to the FTP Username entered above. 
    • FTP Hostname - Mention the domain name here for which you have purchased Web Hosting with us.
    • This is also known as the Primary Domain Name.
    • FTP Port - This needs to be mentioned as 21.
    • FTP Path - By default, this needs to be mentioned as 
      • /web if you have a Linux Hosting package
      • Web if you have a Windows Hosting package
      • If you are not using the default FTP user, then the FTP Path needs to correspond to the directory, this FTP User has been given access to.

     

    Create your website using the Website Builder Tool

    When you start creating your website, you are first taken to the QuickStart Wizard, which enables you to setup your website
    quickly and effectively. 
    Click here for instructions on building your Website >>  

    Access your Website

    You may access your website using your domain name or any alternate URL provided by your Web Hosting Service
    Provider. 

    IMPORTANT  

    When you purchase Web Hosting Service with Gossimer, the Email (with instructions about Web
    Hosting Service) sent to you, specifies a temporary URL that you can use to view your website in a web browser.

    In order to point your own domain name to your website, you need to change the Name servers of your domain
    name. Follow the process outlined below to know what Name servers you need to use:

    1. Login to your Control Panel, search for the domain name for which you have purchased this Service and proceed to the
      Order Details view. 
      Click here to learn how >>
    2. Click the View Name Server Details button.
    3. Here, you would find the list of Name servers you need to set for your domain name.

    Click here to find out how you can modify the Name Servers, if you have registered your domain name with Gossimer >>

     

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    07 Mar 10 Should I use Active or Passive mode for FTP?

    FTP exists primarily for the transfer of data between two end points. FTP differs from HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, used for serving websites via web browsers) fundamentally as it is an application made up of two distinct TCP connections:

    1. Control connection: This TCP-based connection is used to provide a communications channel for the delivery of commands and replies. This is effectively the mechanism that enables the user to tell the server which file is being requested, which directory it is in, and so forth.

    2. Data connection: The second TCP-based connection is used for the actual transfer of user data. Once the Control connection has been used to exchange information on which file is required, the Data connection is used to transfer the file between the client and server.

    Using these two communication connections, two distinct modes of operation determine in which direction the connections are established: Active mode and Passive mode.

    FTP is a TCP based service exclusively. There is no UDP (User Datagram Protocol transports data as a connectionless protocol, using packet switching) component to FTP. FTP is an unusual service in that it utilizes two ports, a Data port and a Command port (also known as the Control port). Traditionally these are port 21 for the Command (Control) port and port 20 for the Data port. The confusion begins however, when we find that depending on the mode, the data port is not always on port 20.

    Active FTP

    In active mode FTP the FTP client software connects from a random unprivileged (unprivileged port is a port which is higher than 1023) port. Let’s say N is the FTP server’s command port, port 21.

    Then, the client starts listening to port N+1 and sends the FTP command PORT N+1 to the FTP server. The server will then connect back to the client’s specified data port from its local data port, which is port 20.

    Here in this mode of FTP, Gossimer doesn’t need to open any additional non-secure ports on our servers firewall and hence is secure from the server-side.

    Passive FTP

    In passive mode FTP, the FTP client initiates both connections to the server. When opening an FTP connection, the client opens two random unprivileged ports, lets say N and N+1. The first port contacts the server on port 21, but instead of then issuing a PORT command and allowing the server to connect back to its data port, the client will issue the PASV command. The result of this is that the server then opens a random unprivileged port lets say P and sends the PORT command back to the client. The client then initiates the connection from port N+1 to port P on the server to transfer data.

    This method of FTP is insecure, as a random unprivileged port is opened on the Server. This is a potential security issue and it isn’t advisable to use the Passive mode of FTP.
     

    IMPORTANT

    All Gossimer Windows and Linux web servers support both Active as well as Passive modes.

     


    All popular FTP software allow users to select the data connection mode (Active or Passive), when uploading/downloading data to a web server.

    Reference:

    Click here to read how to set data connection mode in CuteFTP >>
    Click here to read how to set data connection mode in 3D-FTP >>
    Click here to read how to set data connection mode in CoreFTP >>
    Click here to read how to set data connection mode in SmartFTP >>
    Click here to read how to set data connection mode in WS_FTP >>

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