Knowledge base

The Cloud Server plan enables you to set up several hosting spaces ("FTP spaces", for which you set up your FTP/SSH accounts) into which you add websites ("Apache vhosts" for the specified domain).

Allocate your websites to hosting spaces as you wish. You can configure them by indicating the root directory along with details such as the memory_limit and max_execution_time settings.

Web tools are available such as cronjobs, My WordPress Site (enabling you to use WordPress easily) or access and error logs. It is also possible to add specific Apache modules or install a caching system.

Managed: we manage the software part, meaning you cannot freely configure the server (no customised installation, for example). Only specific programs can be installed by us, like Varnish for example. Find out more

Unmanaged: we only manage the hardware and we install the Windows or Linux version selected with the order. There is no intervention on the software level. The Server comes under "your responsibility". You can reboot the server through Infomaniak Manager and a snapshot system is available.

If you are hesitant to take a Cloud Server and you expect to host a lot of video content, you can pair shared hosting with a VOD space. That solves overload problems on a site as it allows you to unlink the audiovisual content from your shared hosting and thus have a video storage space which easily supports significant increases in load. You will also have access to detailed statistics concerning the viewing of your videos.

This guide explains how to change the server configuration of a site with Web hosting and a managed Cloud Server.

The difference between .user.ini and .htaccess files

• Apache is the HTTP server. It is configured with a .htaccess file placed in the root of the website.
• PHP is a programming language used to create dynamic web pages via an HTTP server. It is possible to customize the PHP commands using a .user.ini file. These changes will be effective in the folder and sub-folders where the .user.ini file is located

 

We will now illustrate 3 ways to modify the server configuration of a site.

1. Changing the PHP configuration via the Manager

Most settings (e.g., max_input_vars, allow_url_fopen, memory_limit, etc.) can be configured via the Manager:

1. Open the Manager (manager.infomaniak.com)
2. Go to Web Hosting
3. If necessary, click the hosting/domain name concerned
4. Under Sites at the bottom, click the domain name of the site concerned
5. Click Advanced settings
6. Under the PHP and Apache tabs, adjust the configuration of the site as needed
7. Save

2. Changing the PHP configuration via the .user.ini file

For the PHP commands not present in the Manager, you must define the desired values in the .user.ini file. For example:

max_file_uploads = 20

The list of existing commands can be found on the official PHP website but the elements with "PHP_INI_SYSTEM" in the "Editable" column as well as max_input_time, memory_limit and mysqli.default_socket cannot be used.

 

3. Changing the PHP configuration in CLI

To customize the PHP commands using a command line interface (CLI) or in CRON tasks, you must define the desired values in a .user.ini file and then call the PHP executable with the -c .user.ini option

The following example enables the modification of the memory available for PHP:

~/web$ echo -e '<?php echo "memory_limit: " . ini_get("memory_limit") . "n"; ?>' >memory-limit.php
~/web$ php memory-limit.php
memory_limit: 512M
~/web$ echo 'memory_limit = 1024M' >.user.ini
~/web$ php -c .user.ini memory-limit.php
memory_limit: 1024M
~/web$

 

The following example enables allow_url_fopen for the WP CLI tool (specifically allows the recovery of extensions):

php -d allow_url_fopen=On ~/bin/wp package install trepmal/wp-revisions-cli

 

Useful resources

• How to create a .htaccess or .user.ini file
• Changing the PHP version of an Internet site
• Enabling Gzip compression
• Enabling Google's PageSpeed Tools
• Support for 301 type redirections
• Increasing the memory and runtime of scripts

This guide explains how to add a site (your-site2.com) or a subdomain (xxx.your-site.com) to your existing hosting.

During this multisite / multidomain (virtual host) management, the disk space and resources of your hosting will be divided between your sites/subdomains.

Step 1: modify your hosting package

Comment: you can move directly to step 2 if you still have unused sites, which is generally the case when you start with shared or Cloud hosting as we offer 20 sites in our basic package.

1. open the Manager (manager.infomaniak.com)
2. go to Web Hosting or Cloud Server depending on your product
3. click on the hosting/domain concerned
4. click on Manage on the Dashboard for the relevant hosting
5. click on Change offer
6. under Site, select the total number of sites or subdomains desired
7. complete the order procedure

Step 2: add a site or subdomain

1. open the Manager (manager.infomaniak.com)
2. go to Web Hosting or Cloud Server depending on your product
3. click on the hosting/domain name concerned
4. under Sites click on Add
5. under Domain name, enter either a subdomain (xxx.your-domain.com) or a domain name (your-site2.com) you own
6. under Site folder, select or write the directory in which the files of the new site/subdomain will be stored
7. if it is a subdomain, or if the domain name or its DNS zone is managed by Infomaniak, the DNS entries and the existing entries can be updated automatically. Otherwise, make the necessary changes through your registrar or transfer the management of the domain name to Infomaniak: https://www.infomaniak.com/en/support/faq/1814
8. under Advanced options, you can select a different PHP version from the recommended one
9. finish the procedure using the Confirm button

Manage/display your sites

1. open the Manager (manager.infomaniak.com)
2. go to Web Hosting or Cloud Server depending on your product
3. your different sites are displayed under the Sites heading on the Dashboard of the hosting concerned 

Delete a site or a subdomain

1. open the Manager (manager.infomaniak.com)
2. go to Web Hosting 
3. click on the hosting/domain name concerned
4. under the heading Sites, click on the 3 vertical dots on the far right of the concerned site and choose Release

To configure an FTP account restricted to the folder of a subdomain or a site: https://www.infomaniak.com/en/support/faq/1982

Thank you for letting us host your online projects.

This guide will enable you to quickly use the basic functions of your new product. In case of problems, please consult  our knowledge base before contacting  our support team.

You ordered a managed Cloud Server and you want...

1. To create a WordPress website with "My Easy Site"
2. To install a Web app (ownCloud, Joomla, Typo3, Drupal, phpBB, Simple Machines Forum, Magento, PrestaShop, etc.)
3. Manage your FTP accounts/users
4. Manage and publish files on your hosting via our FTP Manager
5. Manage your MySQL databases
6. Add a site or a subdomain to your hosting (multisite)
7. Preview your site even if your domain name does not yet point to the Infomaniak servers

Important: If your domain name is not managed by Infomaniak or your hosting is not managed under the same customer account as your domain name, follow this guide to configure DNS or the Records to link the domain name to your hosting.

Thank you for trusting us to host your online projects.

Here are some essential resources for getting off to a good start with your unmanaged Cloud Server:

Unmanaged Linux Cloud Server

• How to log in to your server using an SSH key
• What Linux distributions are supported?
• Formatting and mounting the Cloud Server data volume (important)

Unmanaged Windows Cloud Server

• How to log in to your Windows server
• What Windows versions are supported?

In the event of a problem, please check out our knowledge base. Generally speaking, our support team will only answer your questions regarding the hardware part of unmanaged Cloud servers.

My WordPress Site enables you to create a dynamic, user-friendly website and keep it updated without any knowledge of programming. It is based on the world's most used content management system, WordPress.

Check out our hostings, which are compatible with My WordPress Site

Installing WordPress on the site of your choice

1. Open the Manager (manager.infomaniak.com)
2. Go to Web Hosting
3. Click on the hosting/domain name in question
4. On the left-side menu, click on My Sites
5. click on WordPress & Apps
6. click on + New application
7. select WordPress and click on Install

Two types of installation are available to you: easy andadvanced to further customise your WordPress use.

In any case, you must  choose the site to install the application on (from a dropdown menu showing the sites present on your hosting) as well as a user name (login) and a password that you will use to connect to the WordPress dashboard (find out more: https://faq.infomaniak.com/2275).

Uninstalling a WordPress site

1. Open the Manager (manager.infomaniak.com)
2. Go to Web Hosting
3. Click on the hosting/domain name in question
4. On the left-side menu, click on  My Sites
5. Click on WordPress & Apps
6. on the chart, mouse over the WordPress you want to remove
7. Click on the trashcan icon In the upper right corner of the tile concerned
8. Confirm the uninstallation

   

Find out more

• Check out our hostings optimised for WordPress
• Installing a free SSL certificate and adapting the links of a WordPress site

This guide explains how to establish the first SSH connection to your unmanaged Cloud Server.

Launching a command with root rights

Type 'sudo su -: or 'sudo -s' (without the quotations) to launch a command with root rights. Learn more.

---

In Mac or Linux

To log in, you must open a terminal window and enter the following command:

ssh -i [key path] [user]@[server]

If you get the error message "WARNING: UNPROTECTED PRIVATE KEY FILE!", launch the following command:

chmod 400 [key path]

Meaning of the indications

[key path] = link to the file that contains the private key. As a reminder, when you ordered your unmanaged cloud server, you were prompted to generate a key pair or to upload your own public key (the rights must be sufficient, e.g. 0700).

[user] = see the end of the guide.

[server] = IPv4 address of the server (indicated on your admin console in the menu "Server" > "Cloud" on the "Cloud Server" page).

---

In Windows

Windows does not allow you to connect using SSH natively, but you can enable Bash Shell (Windows 10 minimum) or download the following two free programs: PuTTY & PuTTYgen.

To start, your private key must be converted to be used with PuTTY.

To do this, open PuTTYgen and click the "Load" button to load your private key. Then, save your private key using the "Save private key" button.

Now open PuTTY and configure it with the following settings:

Under Session (in the left panel):

[HostName] = IPv4 address of the server (indicated on your admin console in the menu "Server" > "Cloud" on the "Cloud Server" page).

[Port] = leave the default port, i.e. port 22.

[Connection type] = enter "SSH".

Under Connection/SSH/Auth (in the left panel): Open your private key generated via PuTTYgen using the "Browse" button under "Private key file for authentication".

Lastly, press the "Open" button at the bottom of the window. A terminal will open and ask you for your username ([user] = see below).

---

Default user name [user] for unmanaged Cloud servers under:

archlinux = arch

CentOS = centos

Debian Stretch = debian

Debian Jessie = debian

Debian Wheezy (and previous versions) = root

Fedora = fedora

FreeBsd = freebsd

Ubuntu = ubuntu

OpenBsd = root

openSUSE LEAP 15 = opensuse

openSUSE 42 = root

rancherOs = rancher

SuSE linux Enterprise server = root

To reboot your unmanaged server

 

1. open the Manager (manager.infomaniak.com)
2. go to Cloud Server
3. click on the server concerned
4. click on Manage
5. choose to Restart your server

The classic mode enables you to normally restart your server.

On a technical level

A hosting covers different websites. It is therefore possible to add several websites to a hosting (multisite management). In this case, the hosting resources (disk space, databases, runtimes and script memories, etc.) are shared between the different websites on the hosting.

For example, the basic Cloud Server plan contains 5 hostings and 20 websites. That means that you can create 20 website with 20 different domain/subdomain names which you can organise freely among your 5 hostings.

On an administrative level

You can assign rights at the level of a hosting. For example, you can assign the management of all sites contained on one hosting to one person.

However, it is impossible to restrict the management of certain sites within the same hosting.

A user (which you add on your management platform) cannot have a right limited to a single site, but only to a hosting.

However, you cancreate an FTP user limited to a specific folder (in this case, you'd have to limit the user to the folder where the site is located).

The basic Cloud Server plan includes 5 hostings and 20 websites. To add an extra hosting or change the configuration of your managed Cloud Server:

1. open the Manager (https://manager.infomaniak.com )
2. go to Cloud Server
3. click on the server in question
4. click on Manage and then on Change offer
5. make the necessary adjustments and complete the procedure

Find out more

• Modifying the disk space of a hosting on a managed Cloud Server: https://faq.infomaniak.com/484
• Difference between a hosting and a site: https://faq.infomaniak.com/1947