OnyxServers
Getting Started Guide
Revision date: 2007-09-04
This guide explains the steps you should take once you have received
your welcome e-mail, which contains your login details.
Step 1:
Getting your domain name to point to your web hosting account
Step 2: Familiarize yourself with the webcontrol
panel
Step 3:
Upload your web site
Step 4:
Setup and configure your e-mail system
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If you have registered your domain name through OnyxServers, we
will take care of pointing your domain name to your account and
you can skip this step. |
If you already own your own domain name and it was not registered
through OnyxServers, you will need to modify its nameservers (or DNS)
to the following:
Primary nameserver: dns1.optimalweb.com (IP: 72.52.154.133)
Secondary nameserver: dns2.optimalweb.com (IP: 72.52.155.8)
The nameserver modifications can only be done through the registrar
company used to register your domain name. The vast majority of
registrars offer the ability to modify the nameserver addresses (as
well as other bits of information) through their web site.
If you rather we modify your domain nameservers, please
contact support your registrar login details and web site URL and
we will take care of this step for you.
Please note that nameserver modifications can take anywhere from 24 to
48 hours to take effect.
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Common problem #1: You are not sure which registrar
company maintains your domain name registration.
Your domain name registrar contact information is visible on its
domain name record. You can lookup your domain name record (aka.
WHOIS lookup) through the web site
http://www.dnsstuff.com by
entering your domain name in the ‘WHOIS Lookup’ field. Please note
that it is possible that your domain name was registered through a
reseller of the registrar company listed. In such a case you will
need to figure out which one of their resellers you registered
your domain name through. Please
contact support if you
need assistance with this.
Common problem #2: You have lost your registrar login details.
The vast majority of registrars allow you to retrieve or reset
your login details through their web site. The link for this is
usually found on the same page which asks for your login details.
Please
contact support if you
need assistance with this.
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Your web site webcontrol panel, called cPanel, allows you to configure
virtually all aspects of your web hosting account through the browser.
To login point your browser to:
http://YourDomainHere/cpanel
You will be prompted for the username and password which was sent
to you in your welcome e-mail.
Once logged in, you will see the following page:
The cPanel webcontrol guide can be found here:
http://www.cpanel.net/docs/cpanel/cp11/cPanel-11-User-Manual.htm
Click on the ‘Logout’ button (top right hand corner) when you are done
exploring the webcontrol panel.
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If you are publishing your web site using Microsoft FrontPage, this
section does not apply to you. Before publishing your web site
using FrontPage, please install FrontPage extensions for your web
site through the ‘FrontPage Extensions’ icon found in your
webcontrol panel. |
You can start uploading your web site by using either an FTP client
application or the ‘File Manager’ tool found in your webcontrol panel.
The FTP client application method is both faster and more reliable and
is the preferred method. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. If you
are not familiar with FTP, here is a link to an FTP beginners guide:
http://www.ftpplanet.com/ftpresources/basics.htm
Using an FTP client application to upload your web site
If you do not already have an FTP client application installed on
your computer, you will need to download and install one. There are
commercial and free ones available.
Click here to see a list of FTP client applications available for
download through download.com. Here are two popular and free ones you
can download and install:
Core FTP:
http://www.coreftp.com
WSFTP:
http://www.wsftp.com
Once you have installed an FTP client application you can connect via
FTP by using the following connection information:
FTP server/hostname: this is simply your domain name
Username & Password: as sent to you in your welcome e-mail
Once connected through FTP, you will need to upload your web site
files into the public_html/ folder. Most FTP applications present you
with two windows upon connecting to your account. One window lists the
files on your computer and the other window lists the files on your
web hosting account. You should be able to upload files and folders
simply by dragging them from the local computer window to the web
hosting account window.
Sample screenshot of an FTP connection using Core FTP
IMPORTANT: Do not delete any existing files or folders in your
web hosting account,
especially if you are not sure what function they serve.
Using the ‘File Manager’ tool in your webcontrol panel
Login to your webcontrol panel and click on the ‘File Manager’ icon.
You will be asked which directory to open. Select ‘Web Root’. This is the folder you will need to upload your web site files into.
Click on the ‘Upload’ button to start uploading your web site files. If your web site files are organized into folders, as is the case with most web sites, you will need to create those folders first using the ‘New Folder’ button and then upload the folder contents, one folder at a time.
IMPORTANT: Do not delete any existing files or folders,
especially if you are not sure what function they serve.
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Common problem #1: I have uploaded the web site files
into the Web Root (public_html) folder but still my web site does not show
up.
Make sure your homepage (first page you want shown when someone
visits your domain name) is called index.html (lower case). This
is called your index file and it should be named index.html,
index.php (if it uses PHP), index.jsp (if it uses JSP),
index.shtml (if it uses server side includes), or index.cgi (if
it’s a CGI script). If there is an existing index.html file in
your web hosting account, you will need to delete that file first.
Common problem #2: My web site does not show up properly.
There could be many reasons for this. It is very likely a web
design related issue so contact your webmaster for assistance. If
you are unable to figure out the problem, feel free to
contact support and we will do our best
to help.
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You will not be able to receive any e-mails at your domain name
until you create a mailbox. |
Setting up your mail system
If you want to receive mail sent to your domain name, you will need to first create a mailbox. To create a mailbox, login to your webcontrol panel and click on the ‘Email Accounts’ icon.
Complete the form under ‘Add a New E-mail Account’.
E-mail refers to the address which you want to
create a mailbox for.
Quota refers to how much disk space should be allocated for this
mailbox. If the quota is exceeded, incoming e-mails will not be
received and will bounce back to the sender. Click on the ‘Create’
button when done.
Now you can receive mail sent to the address you
just created a mailbox for. If you want to receive mail at more than
one e-mail address, you can either create more mailboxes or have mail
sent to those addresses placed into the mailbox you just created.
Which solution is better?
- Creating one single mailbox and using it to
store mail sent to multiple addresses will save you time. There will
be only one mailbox you need to connect to every time you want to
check for new mail. As well, you need to setup only one mail account
in your e-mail client application.
- Creating multiple mailboxes is ideal and
required for organizations where each individual must have access
only to their own address or a set of addresses, but not all.
Retrieving mail sent to your domain
There are two different methods for retrieving the mail in your
mailbox(es):
- Through an e-mail client application
(e.g. Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Apple Mail).
- Through the browser by logging to your
webmail interface at http://YourDomainHere/webmail (you can also
access webmail by clicking on the ‘Webmail’ icon in your webcontrol
panel)
How to use an e-mail client application to send and receive mail:
Most operating systems come pre-packaged with an e-mail client
application. For Windows this is usually Microsoft Outlook or Outlook
Express. For Macintosh computers this is usually Apple Mail.
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Mozilla Thunderbird is a good and free alternative to using
Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express. Thunderbird includes some
excellent features such as built-in SPAM filtering. Thunderbird
can be downloaded from
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/ |
Instructions for setting up your e-mail application to send and
receive mail will depend on which application you are using. You can expect to
be prompted for the following bits of information:
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Server type: select POP (or IMAP if you are familiar
with IMAP and would like to use it. To learn more refer to our
E-mail FAQ: What is the difference
between the POP and IMAP mail protocols and which one should I be
using?)
Incoming (POP/IMAP) mail server: mail.MYDOMAIN.COM (replace MYDOMAIN.COM with your domain name)
Incoming server port: 110
Outgoing (SMTP) mail server: mail.MYDOMAIN.COM (replace MYDOMAIN.COM with your domain name)
Outgoing server port: 25 or 26 (try port 26 if your ISP
restricts SMTP port connections –
Click here for more info on this)
Username: the e-mail address you created a mailbox for (if
your e-mail client application does not accept the @ character in
the username field use the ‘+’ character instead. e.g.
user+domain.com)
Password: as typed in when you created the mailbox
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How to use the webmail interface through the browser to manage your
mail:
The webmail interface is an alternative means for sending and
receiving mail. While using an e-mail client application is
recommended, especially for heavy mail users, beginners might find the
webmail interface easier to use. The webmail interface is also a means
for customers to access their mailboxes from any computer with an
internet connection (e.g. when away on a trip).
There are two different webmail interfaces available to you: Horde and
SquirrelMail.
Horde supports the IMAP protocol and offers more features than
SquirrelMail. SquirrelMail supports the POP protocol and users might
find it a bit faster to navigate since it is less graphic intensive
than Horde.
To login to either webmail interface, point your browser to:
http://YourDomainHere/webmail
You will be prompted for a username and password. The username is
simply your mailbox address (e.g. user@mydomain.com). The password is
the password you entered at the time you created the mailbox.
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If you have forgot the mailbox password, you can reset it
through your cPanel webcontrol panel: click on ‘E-mail Accounts’
icon followed by ‘Change Password’ (under ‘Current Accounts’). |
