Host Supreme -- Linux Frequently Asked Questions

FTP is File Transfer Protocol, an internet protocol used to transfer materials over the Internet. It is very fast, very efficient, and very reliable.

What does "Unlimited FTP Site Updates" mean?

This means that you have access to your site via FTP over the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can "upload" files to your site - in other words, transfer files from your computer to the Host Supreme web server on the Internet - and you can also "download" files from your site - in other words, transfer files from your site on the Host Supreme web server, to your computer.

What is the first step in setting up a website?

The first step is to gain FTP access to your site, and upload the initial file to the proper directory. This initial file is generally named index.html, and it is the web page that will be returned when you call up www.yourdomain.com..

How do I gain FTP access to my site?

First, get the best FTP program on the Internet, which in our humble opinion is Cute FTP. You can download it at: www.cuteftp.com
After it's installed, run the program (double click on the yellow icon), and then click Add Folder - this is where you will store your FTP site info. Then click Add Site. In the panel that comes up, enter a name - call it anything you want - ftp.yourdomain.com. Then in Host Address, put: yourdomain.com. (Obviously if the extension is NOT .com - if it's .nu or .edu or whatever, you would use the appropriate extension) In User ID, put your User ID - this is usually the same as the domain name - and then in Password, carefully type your password - I say carefully because it will be masked, so you won't be able to read it - this password is CASE SENSITIVE!
Now click OK in the lower left of the panel, and you will see your domain name in the right hand panel - highlight it and click Connect - lower right part of panel. If all goes well, the program will establish an FTP connection with your site and take you to the home directory. Go up 2 directories to /home/web and this is the right place to put your index.html file
.

How do I "upload" and "download" files using CuteFTP?

CuteFTP is VERY easy to use, and has a very intuitive, easy to use interface. The lower left panel is YOUR COMPUTER - the lower right panel is THE REMOTE SITE - in this instance, your Host Supreme ftp site. Everything is drag and drop - to upload, drag the appropriate file from the left panel to the right panel. To download a file on the remote server, simply reverse the process - drag the file on the remote server - lower right hand panel - over to the lower left panel. Easy!.

Where do I put the index.html file?

When CuteFTP opens the site ftp.yourdomain.com, it initally goes to the directory - /usrs/web You will need to move up 2 directories to /web. This is the place to put index.html/ Make sure you do NOT put the file into one of the folders you see there - put it UNDER those folders. Also put all your pictures and other files for you site in this same directory.

What does "updating the site" mean?

Basically what a webmaster does is download files from a website, operate on them and/or change them with an HTML editor such as Arachnophilia, and the upload the changed file back to the site. More recent versions of cuteFTP have such features conveniently integrated with the ftp program.

What is HTML, and what is an HTML editor?

HTML is HyperText Markup Language - it is essentially a kind of typesetting language, and is used to create pages on the web. Our recommended editor - for creating and manipulating these images - is 1st Page 2000. We provide all new clients with a FREE copy of 1st Page 2000 and it can be downloaded immediately after your Linux Professional Plan account has been setup. Read the Help file, practice a while, and you'll pick it up in no time.

How do I set up email accounts with my domain?

One account is automatically set up when the domain is set up - yourdomain@yourdomain.dom To setup additional Pop3 accounts, login to your web site control panel at www.your-domain.dom/siteadmin.

What about Email Auto Responders?

Email auto responders are very useful in Internet commerce. Essential, an auto responder is a robot which resides on your site, and does one thing - when it receives an email - from anywhere - with its name on it - it sends its text back to the source of that email. Uses for these little robots are limited only by your imagination..

How do I set up an Email Auto responder?

Login to your control panel at www.your-domain.dom/siteadmin.
Use the "Vacation Message" feature to setup Email Auto Responders on ANY e-mail account. Auto responders are unlimited! Use as many of them as you like.

What is an email redirect account?

These "aliases" are simply lines of code in your home directory which "bounce" emails from one email address to another. Let's say you have a web page and you want people to email you, but you don't want your personal email address to appear on the page. Solution? Use a forwarding email account. Emails sent toJoe@your-domain.dom (the address shown on the web page) will automatically be forwarded to joe@personal.dom

How do I set up email redirect accounts?

This is similar to setting up Auto responders. Login to your control panel at www.your-domain.dom/siteadmin. Select the use you wish to setup the alias for. In the email options section type the email alias you wish to use minus the @domain.dom. Use one email address per line.

How can I track who is requesting email from my Auto responders?

A copy of the email will always be sent to the pop3 account attached to the Auto Responder

What is a MailBot or E-mail list?

A MailBot is a robot which resides on your site, and which redirects a single email sent to it, to a list of email recipients. There are companies out there specializing in setting these up - many of them charge plenty for it too! With your Host Supreme Web Domain, however, you can set up as many as 1000 - free via your control panel!

How do I set up an E-mail list?

Login to your control panel at www.yourdomain.dom/siteadmin and select the "Email List" Option. You can then setup your email list using the settings you like.

How do I set up password protected directories?

Although we do not have a browser interface to allow this feature, it can be done with a telnet session or by submitting a request to us to have it done.

For this example, we will show how to password protect a users Web page.

1. Telnet in, and login as the User or admin
2. Navigate to the directory you want to password protect.
3. Create the .htaccess file, it should contain the following lines:
# Access file
order allow,deny
allow from all
require valid-user
Authname DirectoryName
AuthPAM_Enabled off
Authtype Basic
AuthUserFile /home/sites/sitename/web/directory/.htpasswd
Replace sitename and directory as appropriate.
Note: If you want to use the systems' /etc/passwd file for authentication you can eliminate the AuthUserFile line from the .htaccess file above.
4. Now you must create the .htpasswd file using the htpasswd tool.
a. Type the following command to create the file and add a user:
/usr/sbin/htpasswd -c .htpasswd username
b. You will be prompted for the users' password twice.
5. If you need to add additional users to the file, use the command above without the -c.

How do I get access to traffic statistics for my site?

Very easily - go to this URL: http://www.your-domain.dom/stats You'll find detailed reports in various formats on your traffic, including where hits are coming from, at what hours of the day, month, etc. Also you'll be able to tell which files are being requested. Essential for fine tuning your web marketing strategy! You will need your admin Username & Password to login to your statistics.

Does Host Supreme offer unlimited hits?

For the vast majority of domains, traffic never becomes an issue and yes, within reason, you should never worry about the number of hits your site receives, but as a practical matter, no provider can provide you with unlimited resources for a fixed price. Bandwidth costs money, and unlimited amounts of it are not available to anyone. Therefore, we set a limit of transfer for each web hosting plan. Anything over this we bill at ?3 per additional gigabyte. Unlike other providers we do not cause a fuss if you exceed your allocated limit within reason and your site will not automatically be suspended should this occur as the majority of other hosts will so. We do however, reserve the right to shut down any site without notice that is in arrears on payments for extensive overage on traffic.

What is Host Supreme's policy on "spam," or unsolicited email?

The sending of unsolicited commercial email, or "spam," is strictly prohibited. We have a "zero tolerance" policy on spam, and reserve the right immediately to terminate without warning any domain, without refund, that sends out unsolicited commercial email, in any amount.

What about Microsoft FrontPage 2000?

Host Supreme's servers fully support the Microsoft Frontpage HTML Editor and Publisher. Microsoft FrontPage 2000. For more info, visit our FrontPage FAQ.

Hey I just checked out my new site - and the counter does not work!!

Most everything will work on the site immediately; the counter and a couple of other functions, however, are set to begin working when your 'alpha' name begins answering - if your site is brand new, this will take 24 to 48 hours.

Can you help me with my HTML, web page, CGI programming, etc?

Time permitting we give advice via email on these issues but remember, we are providers of web space and can help you with 'content' only as time permits. Please visit our Web Design section for anything you require in this area, whether It be simple advice or varying jobs ranging from minor to major web development projects..

Can I change a password to my email account, FTP account, or main account?

Yes, you can do this yourself easily via your web site control panel at http://www.your-site.dom/siteadmin.

I don't want to learn HTML or design a web site - can you design it for me?

Yes! We offer highly competitive design services through a network of talented professionals. Contact us for more details or visit the online Web Design services area of the site.

I can't get my CGI script to work. HELP!!

Host Supreme does offer CGI script installation. For more information, e-mail info@hostsupreme.co.uk or get in touch with us via our technical support form.
The following information is provided in order to make your cgi scripts run properly on the Host Supreme Linux Servers:
� Scripts can be executed from ANY directory of your web site. You are not limited to a "cgi-bin" however you may create a folder named "cgi-bin" and use this to store your scripts if you prefer this method.
� Any script must end in .cgi or .pl to ensure execution.
� Scripts must be made executable with chmod 755 filename
� Scripts that dont respond with Content Type tag as first Line, must be named nph-Scriptname.cgi . The nph- stands for non-parsed-headers.
� Perl 5 is located at /usr/bin/perl ,perl 4 at /usr/bin/perl4.036 , make sure the first line has this right or else you can expect to encounter immense errors!
� Perl scripts will REFUSE to run if uploaded in binary from a non-unix computer. Make sure you upload scripts in ascii mode only!
� Perl 4 scripts usually will need to have any @ or $ escaped with \ character to be perl 5 compatible. ie print "webmaster\@yourdomain.com"
� index.cgi is valid, as a directories home page for a cgi script. Like wise you could replace index.htm with index.shtml to use PARSE(Server Side includes).
�  only work in files with .shtml extension. The execute bit and read public bits must be on to use .shtml.
�  is a highly effective way to output the result of a simple cgi script into the middle of somefile.shtml.
� .shtml files need to have their permission changed to 755 -- chmod 755 filename.cgi
� If you can't figure out why it doesn't work , run it from the command LIne, or rename it to nph-Scriptname. You'll see more error messages.
� The "Full path" to your web would be "/home/sites/www.yoursite.dom/web/"
CGI is programming, don't be mistaken into thinking it is as easy as HTML. It isn't. If you are going to use perl, buy a Perl book. If you can't figure it out, ask us and we will assist you as much as we can by email on a time permits basis.

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