Newest KB Articles in Tools and Utilities

Web App Gallery

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:53:58 GMT

Our Control Panel comes with a Web App Gallery tool to help you perform a base install of many popular Content Management Systems to help you build your website. Here are the applications that are currently available:

Content Management System	Version Number
DotNetNuke Platform	10.1.2 Platform
Drupal	11.2.5
Gallery Server Pro	4.5.0
Joomla	6.0.0
Kentico CMS for ASP.NET	11
MediaWiki	1.44.2
mojoPortal	2.9.0.1
nopCommerce	4.8, 4.9
osCommerce	4.13
phpBB	3.3.15
phpMyAdmin	5.2.3
Umbraco CMS	9.4.3
WordPress	6.8.3

Permission Manager

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:36:16 GMT

The Permission Manager is used to control user permissions on a per-directory basis.  These permissions apply to HTTP and FTP access.

Note that permissions are inherited, so the permissions that you apply to your root directory (the first directory listed in the directory tree) will apply to all directories under it.  Similarly, if you apply permissions to a directory that you created, those permissions will apply to any subdirectories under it.

To change permissions, select the directory you wish to affect in the directory tree.  Under "Set Permission for this Directory," the path to the selected directory is shown in red (for example, \yoursite000\photos).   Directly below the path you will see a list of users who have permissions set for the directory.  The "anonymous" user will always be listed (a visitor to your web site is an anonymous user), as well as any other users you have added.

To add a user to the list and give them permissions for the directory, simply select the user from the dropdown box under "Assign Users to Above Directory."   You can assign permissions at the same time that you select the user.

To edit an existing user's permissions, click the appropriate "Edit" link in the user list.  Select the permissions you wish to apply using the dropdown boxes and click the "Update" link to save them.

Scheduled Task

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:33:44 GMT

The Scheduled Task Manager allows you to schedule the web server to make a call to a specific file at certain predetermined intervals. Those intervals are:

Every 15 minutes
Every hour
Every 3 hours
Every 6 hours
Every 12 hours
Every day
Every week
Every month

So if you have a script on your site that you run every day or every week to send email, perform database maintenance, etc., you can use this tool to run the script automatically. You can set up two scheduled tasks.

Simply complete the fields under "New Task" to start your scheduled task:

Enabled - Check this box activate the task as soon as you submit the form. If you wish to stop a task temporarily, click the "Edit" link for an existing task and uncheck this box.

Name - A descriptive name used to identify the task.

URL - Select the domain you wish to use to access the file from the dropdown list and enter the file name in the field that follows the domain.

Interval - Select the interval that you wish to use; daily, weekly, etc.

Start Date - Enter the date you wish the task to begin running in MM/DD/YYYY format. Select the time you would like the task to be executed. You may choose any hour of the day in 15 minute increments. Note that scheduling a task to run at 10:45 does not mean the task will run at exactly 10:45. Scheduled tasks are run in a batch on the server, so depending on how many tasks are in the batch, where your task is in the batch and how long the batch takes to run, there may be a delay between your selected time and the time the task is actually executed.

End Date - Enter the date you wish the task to stop running in MM/DD/YYYY format.

Username - If the URL is password protected, enter the appropriate username here.

Password - If the URL is password protected, enter the appropriate password here.

If the Control Panel Scheduled Task Manager Does Not Properly Call Your Page

When you access the scheduled task URL directly with the browser, it works fine, but when the scheduled task manager calls the page, it does not work properly.

This problem is likely caused by your page having a redirect. The scheduler does not follow HTTP redirects. When the HTTP call is made to the page on your site it must return a 200 response. If it returns a 301 or a 302, then it will not work correctly.

Please make sure you don't have any redirects on the page you're calling with the Scheduled Task Manager.

DNS Manager

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:30:50 GMT

Due to the complexity of DNS and the possibility of causing problems resolving your domain to our servers, we do not recommend changing any values in the DNS Manager.

If you host your mail elsewhere or require additional records or record changes, you can make them here. However, please be aware that we cannot troubleshoot errors related to DNS changes. If you experience difficulties after making DNS changes and cannot remedy them, you can reset your DNS to its default values by clicking the "Reset" button at the bottom of the DNS Manager page (note that resetting the DNS will remove any DNS customizations that have been made). Beyond resetting the default values, we cannot assist with DNS issues once changes have been made using this tool.

To add an A, CNAME, MX or TXT record, click the "new" link in the appropriate category. To change an existing record, click the appropriate "edit" link.

See this Knowledge Base article for definitions related to DNS records.

The Anonymous ASPNet User

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:27:45 GMT

All tasks performed under Windows require a valid Windows User account. Similarly, IIS (Internet Information Server) requires a valid user account to handle any requests it may receive.

When DiscountASP.NET sets up a hosting account, we assign each hosting account a unique username.  You can access your website using that valid username (and your password) to transfer files via FTP, for example.

However, which user account is used when a website contains, for example, a web-based upload script that can be accessed by visitors?

The Anonymous ASPNet User

The Anonymous ASPNet User is the Windows User that is used by the .Net Framework to access web pages.  This user account is often called the "Web Anonymous User" or "Internet Guest account".  Anonymous requests are the most common type of requests handled by HTTP (web) servers.  An example is Internet users browsing your web site.  In this mode, the server knows nothing about the user except for some general information such as IP address and browser type.  All tasks performed under Windows require a valid Windows User account, so IIS uses this account when handling these requests.

To ensure maximum security in the DiscountASP.NET hosting environment, each web site account has its own Anonymous IUSR account to avoid cross-site script access.

In general, the IUSR does not require any disk space quota unless a file is created by a web application.  Examples include:

A File Upload Script
A Web-based File Manager

If your web site uses one of the above mechanisms, you will need to adjust the disk space usage quota for the Anonymous ASPNet User to accommodate for file uploading/management.  We provide a User Quota Manager tool in the control panel to make these disk quota assignments.

Note: Enabling write permission for the anonymous user does not mean that anyone can write to your website.

Allowing the Anonymous User write access does not pose a threat to your site's security.

The Anonymous User is a Windows user which IIS uses to authenticate.   Having write access does not mean that your web site visitor can write to your files, but rather, it allows the web server (application) to write to your files.

Write access is necessary for certain types of applications.  For example, if your ASP or ASP.net application needs to write to an MS Access database file, the Anonymous user must have write permission to allow the web server to update the database file.

Web Application Tool

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:18:04 GMT

Warning: Improper use of this tool can break your website.

The Web Application tool in the control panel allows you to designate a directory as the starting point (application root) for an application.

To create a web application, follow these steps:

Log in to the Web Application Tool in Control Panel.
The directory structure of your web site will be displayed. Directories currently set as application roots are displayed with a special IIS application icon.
To navigate to a subdirectory, click on the + sign.
Click the directory you wish to designate as an application root.
Click "Install Application."

User/Quota Manager

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:14:19 GMT

The User/Quota Manager allows you to:

Add/Remove Additional Windows users
Update existing user passwords
Adjust quota distribution for each Windows user account
View existing user quota usage and assignment

By default, we allocate 200MB of your disk space quota to the primary account user (your username) and 100MB of disk space to both the Anonymous ASPNet and Anonymous IUSR account. See this Knowledge Base article for details on the definitions of Anonymous IUSR User and Anonymous ASPNet User.

Reading the Disk Space Quota Usage Report

There are 3 sections to the Disk Space Usage table.

Used Disk Space

This table displays the current disk space usage in MB for each User.

Free Disk Space

This table contains two sections: Allocated and Unallocated.
Allocated space means the space is already allocated to a user but not used.
Unallocated space means the space that has not been allocated and can be assigned to a user

Total Purchased Disk Space

This section displays the total purchased disk space. That is, the sum of the Used Disk Space and Free Disk Space should equal the total of the Total Disk Space allotment for the hosting account.

Reading the Pie Chart

The Pie Chart shows the percentage of Used Disk Space, Allocated Free Disk Space and Unallocated Free Disk Space.

Adding a New User

At the bottom of the Active User List, you will see text fields.   Simply fill out the Username, Password, Disk Space Quota assignment, and click "Add".  You can add up to three Users per hosting account.

Deleting an Existing User

In the Active Users table, find the User that you wish to delete.   Click on "Delete".  You cannot delete the main account User, Anonymous ASPNet User and Anonymous IUSR.

Changing the Password for an Existing User

Locate the User in the Active Users table and click on "Edit".  Update the password and then click on "Update".  You cannot update the password for the main account Username, Anonymous ASPNet User and Anonymous IUSR.

If you want to update the password for the main account User, you must go to the "Update Password" section of the Control Panel (Upper Left Navigation).

Changing the Disk Space Quota for a User

Locate the User in the Active Users table and click on "Edit".  Update the quota and then click on "Update."

Stats/Raw Logs

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:48:33 GMT

The Stats/Raw Logs page in the Control Panel allows you to enable raw http log access and/or SmarterStats, a web site statistics program.

Enabling Raw Log File Access will make a .zip file of your raw http logs available daily. We rotate the raw log .zip files on a 30 day basis, so the past 30 days are available for download at any given time. Note that the size of the log files counts against your disk storage space, as they are stored in the root directory of your account.

There is no charge to activate raw logs or SmarterStats.

How to Log into SmarterStats

SmarterStats has its own set of login credentials which you can change with the web interface.

When you first enable statistics in Control Panel, a default user is created (the default user has the same username and password as your Control Panel login).

To log into SmarterStats:

Click the URL on the Stats/Raw Log page which will bring up the SmarterStats web interface.
In the "Site ID" text box, enter your domain name (without the www).
Enter the username/password.
Note that once you establish a SmarterStats username/password, it is not related to your control panel login, and future changes must be made through the Smarter Stats interface.

For more SmarterStats help, please review the online help in the Smarter Stats web interface.

How to Access the Raw Log Files

HTTP Log access is disabled by default. To enable log access:

Log in to the Stats/Raw Logs page of Control Panel
In the Raw Log File Access section, click the "Enable" button

Log File Generation Schedule

Your raw log files will appear within 24 hours after the nightly update (so they will not be available immediately after enabling the feature).

Log File Format

To ensure easy download, the log files are compressed into .zip files. This takes place on a nightly basis (every 24 hours). To download the zipped log files, log in via FTP and manually add /httplog to the remote site.

Note: The log file directory is hidden, so it will not be immediately visible when you log. Manually type in the file path and hit enter: /httplog in your FTP client to access the log file directory.

Log File Rotation

Log files more than 30 days old are removed from the system and are not recoverable.

DNS Manager Definitions

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:27:26 GMT

A Record

Short for Address Record: Maps an IP address to a domain name.  An A Record is also referred to as a host or hostname.

CNAME Record

Short for Canonical Name Record: A special type of DNS record in a DNS database used to create an alias from one hostname to another.

For example: If, www.YourHostedDomainName.com, is a CNAME to, YourHostedDomainName.com - then this means that anyone accessing www.YourHostedDomainName.com will be pointed tothe same IP address as YourHostedDomainName.com.

This is useful when your IP address changes, since you will only have to update the YourHostedDomainName.com DNS entry and www.YourHostedDomainName.com will automatically point to the right place.

Note: We recommend the use of individual A Records rather than CNAME aliases.   It is recognized as a "best practice" among DNS experts to minimize the use of CNAME aliases.

MX Record

Short for Mail Exchanger Record: This DNS record is an entry in a DNS database that identifies the email server that handles email for a given domain or subdomain.

TXT Record

TXT Record provides the ability to associate arbitrary text with the host or other name.  The TXT record is used to define the SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record which may be used to validate legitimate email sources from a domain.  See this Knowledge Base article for more information on SPF records.

Service Record

An SRV record defines the location of a hostname, port number, etc. of servers for a specific service.  In order to add an SRV record you will need the following information for each record you wish to create:

Service
Priority
Weight
Port
Target Server
TTL (Default is 3600, set in seconds)

For example:

(1) The Service _sip._tcp.domain.com (where domain.com is the domain that we host).
(2) The Priority value is for the intended target host. The lower the value, the more preferred.
(3) The Weight value is used when you have multiple SRV records for the same domain, a higher value here is proportionally better for records of the same priority.
(4) The Port value determines on which port the service will listen.
(5) The Target Server value is the CNAME of the host providing the service.
(6) The TTL value is a standard DNS Time To Live.

Reset DNS Records

Use this to reset your DNS settings to the default values that were present when your account was activated. Resetting DNS will remove any DNS customization that you have made. You may wish to make a note of your current DNS settings before using the reset tool. A DNS reset is not reversible!