This guide explains how to access phpMyAdmin with a Web Hosting.

Access phpMyAdmin

To access the Web Hosting in the Databases section:

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the relevant product.
3. Click on Databases in the left sidebar.
4. Click on Log in to phpMyAdmin:
   
   • The correct server and a temporary user are automatically filled in.

You can also click on the action menu ⋮ located to the right of a database user:

• The correct server is automatically filled in.
• The password to enter corresponds to the database user (the one you chose when creating the MySQL user reset if you have forgotten it).

This guide explains how to manage Memcached and, in particular, how to check if this in-memory caching system is working correctly on your Cloud Server.

Prerequisites

• Install Memcached on Managed Cloud Server.

Check Memcached is running

To check that Memcached is working properly:

1. Copy the following code into a PHP file:

   						// connexion au serveur memcache local		
   $fp = fsockopen("localhost", 11211);
   if ($fp) {
   // on demande les stats
   fwrite($fp, "stats
   ");
   while (!feof($fp)) {
   $buf = rtrim(fgets($fp));
   if (preg_match('/^STAT curr_items ([0-9]+)$/', $buf, $matches)) {
   // le nombre d'items stockes
   print $matches[1] . PHP_EOL;
   } elseif (preg_match('/(END|ERROR)/', $buf)) {
   // fin des stats
   break;
   }
   }
   fclose($fp);
   } else {
   print "Error: cannot connect to local memcached server: $!" . PHP_EOL;
   }

2. Upload the PHP file to your hosting.
3. Run the PHP file.

The script returns the number of elements cached in the server's memory.

Enable Memcached on…

… Prestashop

This guide is about IP addresses, those…

• … assigned to websites/hosting/servers, dynamic or static, shared or dedicated,
• … assigned by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) when establishing an Internet connection to your Infomaniak product.

Introduction

• A dedicated or static IP address for a website is a permanent IP address specifically assigned to it.
• Unlike a shared IP address, which is used by multiple websites, a dedicated IP address ensures that only this platform is associated with that address.
• Dedicated IP addresses for websites are often used in cases where stability, customization, and security are important, such as server hosting, firewall configuration, or activating SSL certificates (even though it is possible to proceed without a dedicated IP address to install an SSL certificate).
• Here are the main advantages:
  • Configuring a PTR record or reverse DNS on dedicated IPs is useful, especially for setting up a mail server, as some email providers check the PTR record before accepting emails sent from a server.
  • Better connection stability.
  • Reduced risk of a bad reputation due to websites sharing the same IP address.
  • Easier configuration of certain technical aspects.
  • A dedicated IP can improve a website's search engine ranking (although there are differing opinions among SEO specialists).
• **Warning:** Infomaniak does not allow access to websites via HTTP(S) by IP (dedicated) on managed servers; you must use a domain name that points to the IP (or use the preview URL).

Add a dedicated IP to the website

To add a dedicated IP to your website, refer to this guide.

If you encounter any issues directing web traffic to a specific port, refer to this other guide.

IP address block (Internet connection)

If you can no longer access…

• … all your email addresses that you have with Infomaniak (which usually work well) and this with an email software/client from the same Internet network (that is, from the same IP address provided by your ISP)…

… or if you have unfortunately performed this type of operation:

• repeated unsuccessful connection attempts via FTP, SSH, or on access points such as the WordPress login…
• requests returning too many errors such as mass 403 errors…

… your access to Infomaniak servers may be blocked due to the banning of the IP address (banip / ipban) of your internet connection.

To unlock the situation, contact Infomaniak support by email and specify the domain concerned and especially your public IP address concerned.

Permanent Unblocking (IP Whitelisting)

With a Cloud Server, you can additionally request to permanently authorize the IP address in question so that the block does not recur under any circumstances. To do this, you must:

1. Have a dedicated IP associated with your Cloud Server.
2. Be aware that Infomaniak will no longer block potential attacks from this IP; attacks or malicious access attempts from this address will no longer be automatically blocked by the security systems.
3. Confirm by email and from a contact address associated with the account (owner or administrator) that you understand and accept full responsibility in case of an attack originating from this IP.

This guide explains what the "MySQL Prefix" option is for in a site's settings and what its implications are for the operation of your web applications (CMS) and PHP scripts.

Preamble

• When the "MySQL Prefix" option is enabled for a site, it is no longer necessary to add the prefix "wxyz_" in front of the name and users of your MySQL databases.
• A PHP script can thus connect to MySQL with the user "monuser" and a database "mabase" and access will automatically be granted with the user "wxyz_monuser" and the database "wxyz_mabase".
• ⚠ If you are migrating from an older Infomaniak offer:
  • After migrating a site from the old console, the "MySQL Prefix" option is enabled by default to automatically maintain the connection of your web applications (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, etc.) and PHP scripts with your MySQL databases.
  • To ensure the proper functioning of your sites in case of migration of your hosting to another server, it is strongly recommended to disable this function and make the necessary adjustments.‍

Manage the MySQL Prefix option

Going further with environment variables

It is possible to configure environment variables directly from the Manager for your entire website:

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the product concerned:
3. Click on Manage under Advanced Settings:
   
4. Click on the PHP / Apache tab.
5. Turn the toggle switch MySQL Prefix on or off.
6. Click the Save button:
   
7. Make the necessary adjustments in the configuration files of your Web applications and PHP scripts…

Implications and adjustments to make

After disabling the MySQL Prefix option for a site, some PHP scripts or CMS may no longer function. To restore the connection to your databases, you must update the following information in the configuration file(s) of the affected scripts:

• The name of the MySQL database: you will need to add the prefix of your server to it
  • before: mabase
  • after: wxyz_mabase
• The MySQL database user: you will need to add your server prefix to it
  • before: monuser
  • after: wxyz_monuser

This guide concerns MySQL/MariaDB and more particularly the analysis of indexes and queries with the Web Hosting.

Slow log for long queries

The MySQL slowlog is enabled on all MySQL servers and groups queries that take more than 5 seconds* to execute. If your queries are well constructed, you will never see these files. Otherwise, check regularly to correct any potential issues and ensure the proper functioning of your site.

Contact Infomaniak support in writing to obtain them (except for the old v1 hosting, which can be viewed directly from the FTP Manager one level above /web in the /logs directory).

And the logs?

No MySQL log is created (except for slowlogs) as the servers would absolutely not support the load of recording millions of simultaneous logs. If needed, Infomaniak can activate this MySQL log for 5 minutes to allow you to analyze them with EXPLAIN and determine useful indexes for example. To do this, contact Infomaniak support in writing.

* elapsed time. And regarding locks, the documentation provides the following clarification: "The time to acquire the initial locks is not counted as execution time

This guide helps resolve a potential 530 error by reducing the number of simultaneous FTP connections to Web Hosting.

Resolve error 530

The error message 530 Sorry, the maximum number of clients (25) for this user are already connected generally appears due to multiple and simultaneous connections with an FTP software/client that poorly manages disconnections or tries to open several connections at once to speed up the download.

Once you have encountered this error, you must close the FTP program and then wait 30 minutes so that the server terminates the active connections and you can reconnect.

You can also create a new FTP user and connect with it.

To avoid this situation with FileZilla, go to the menu Edit -> Settings then under the Transfers tab and set the number of simultaneous transfers to 2.

It is recommended to use the FTP Manager.

This guide explains how to change the password of a FTP or FTP / SSH account for a Web Hosting site.

Change the password of an existing FTP user

To access the site on a Web Hosting to modify its FTP access:

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the relevant product.
3. Click on FTP / SSH in the left sidebar.
4. Click on the action menu ⋮ to the right of the relevant user in the displayed table.
5. Click on Edit:
   
6. Enter the new password that will be used for your FTP or SSH access directly.
7. If necessary, you can generate a strong password.
8. Confirm the changes:
   

This guide explains how to delete an alias domain from an Infomaniak Web hosting. The main domain name of the site will then no longer be linked to any other domain name.

This notably allows you to create a new web hosting or distinct site for the domain name that has been unlinked.

Prerequisites

• Have dissociated the synonym domain from the main domain if there was an association previously.

Remove the alias domain

To remove an alias domain from your site:

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the product in question:
   
3. Then click on the chevron ‍ to expand the Domains section of this site.
4. Click on the action menu ⋮ to the right of the domain to remove.
5. Choose Unlink:
   
6. Confirm the removal of the alias.

This guide explains how to format then mount the volume dedicated to storing your data on VPS Cloud Linux/Unix.

Disk and partition names

The VPS Cloud come with two volumes:

• 1 volume for the operating system of your choice
• 1 volume for storing your data

The volume for data storage must be formatted and then mounted by the client.

In Linux systems, disks and partitions are referenced by names, which vary depending on the Linux distribution, such as:

• /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, …
• /dev/vda, /dev/vdb, …
• /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2, …

These names are not static and can change depending on various factors, such as the driver used (e.g. virtio-scsi or virtio-blk) or updates to the kernel and udev.

Therefore, it is recommended to use the UUID (Universal Unique Identifier - read more below) of a partition rather than its name when referencing it in the filesystem configuration file (/etc/fstab).
 

Formatting the storage volume

If you choose XFS, for example, it is necessary to install the appropriate tools (if they are not already present):

sudo apt install xfsprogs

Then format the volume with the following SSH commands:

sudo mkfs.xfs -f /dev/[device]

And if you choose EXT4:

sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/[device]

If necessary, it is possible to format the volume with another file system supported by your distribution.

Mounting the storage volume

Warning: if you mount your data volume in /home, you will no longer be able to connect to your server via your private key on the next reboot (because SSH looks for the keys in the .ssh folder in the home directory of the user and if the data volume is mounted on this folder, the keys are lost). Therefore, it is necessary to copy the data to be preserved in advance. Help for SSH connection

For example, as root:

mkdir /mnt/home
mount /dev/[device] /mnt/home
rsync -rlptgoDHAX /home/ /mnt/home/
umount /mnt/home
mount /dev/[device] /home
rmdir /mnt/home

Here's what happens in order:

• we create a temporary folder
• we mount the volume on the temporary folder
• copy the contents of the original folder /home to the root of the volume while preserving permissions, owner, group, etc. (note that you may need to install the rsync package depending on the chosen Linux distribution)
• we unmount the volume from the temporary folder
• mount the volume on the /home folder
• we delete the temporary folder

This way, you should be able to mount the volume on /home while preserving the initial configuration that will be installed. However, it is recommended to always set a password for root to avoid losing control in case of an error. The password can be removed later.

Alternative solution: do not mount in /home...

This is a standard location to mount the data volume as it is generally in /home that users will work and especially store their data. A user without special rights will normally be limited to their /home/user directory. It is possible to specify another default directory for a user (but the configuration will no longer be "standard").

Another alternative solution: automatic mounting of the volume at startup...

A mount does not survive a reboot. If you want to make the change persistent, you can add your volume to the file /etc/fstab (Debian documentation on this topic) for example:

/dev/md0 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
UUID=181A-4B53 /boot/efi vfat errors=remount-ro,nofail 0 0
UUID=181B-AED3 /boot/efi2 vfat errors=remount-ro,nofail 0 0
UUID=[UUID1] /srv/node/sda xfs noatime,nodiratime,nofail,logbufs=8 0 0
UUID=[UUID2] /srv/node/sdb xfs noatime,nodiratime,nofail,logbufs=8 0 0

After formatting the disk, find the UUID and add it to the fstab.

Getting the UUID of a partition

To obtain the UUID of a partition after formatting it, use the blkid command. This command displays the UUID along with other information about all partitions detected by your system.

Add the UUID to fstab

Once you have obtained the UUID of the partition you want to mount automatically at startup, you can add it to your fstab file. To do this, open the fstab file with a command-line text editor (e.g., nano or vi) and add a new line for your partition using the example above as a template. Replace [device], [UUID1] and [UUID2] with the appropriate values for your configuration.

This guide explains how to migrate a Web Hosting from MySQL to MariaDB.

Preamble

• MariaDB is an enhanced version of MySQL, featuring numerous powerful integrated features and many improvements in terms of usage, security, and performance:
  • MariaDB has a larger connection pool supporting up to 200,000 connections, while MySQL has a smaller connection pool.
  • When comparing the performance of MariaDB and MySQL, it is noted that replication is faster in MariaDB and slower in MySQL; MariaDB is generally faster than MySQL.
  • MariaDB is Open Source, while MySQL uses proprietary code in its Enterprise edition.

Using MariaDB to replace MySQL

To migrate a Web Hosting to MariaDB:

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the relevant product.
3. Click on Databases in the left sidebar.
4. Click on the link Migrate to MariaDB.

To migrate a Cloud Server, refer to this other guide about migrating to a new generation of Cloud Server.

Remote connection to an Oracle database is not available with shared hosting and servers.

However, you can install OCI8 for PHP on VPS Cloud / VPS Lite.

This guide concerns Django, an open-source web development framework in Python.

Django Installation

It is only possible to install Django on VPS Cloud / VPS Lite.

Discover the various web hostings of Infomaniak.

This guide explains how to migrate a shared web hosting to a Cloud Server by retrieving all its data, websites, databases, etc.

Preamble

• If you already have a **Serveur Cloud**, go straight to step 2 of this guide.
• To migrate a web hosting from one Server Cloud to another Server Cloud, refer to this other guide.
• To migrate a web hosting from a Server Cloud to a shared web hosting, refer to this other guide; note that this is a manual operation.

1. Order a Cloud Server

For this:

1. Click here to access the management of Cloud Servers on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click on Order, choose a Managed Cloud Server and follow the assistant to complete the order:
   

2. Migrate the hosting to the Cloud Server

Once the Cloud Server is up and running:

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click on the action menu ⋮ located to the right of the relevant item.
3. Click on Change Offer:
    
   
    
4. Select the free transfer offer.
5. Select the Serveur Cloud to which to migrate your hosting:
   ‍
6. Click on the Next button at the bottom of the page and complete the procedure entirely.‍
7. Please wait during the hosting migration, a service interruption will be felt during the process.
8. Note:
   1. The names of the databases and database users are retained.
   2. FTP accounts are retained with the same names, but the host server changes to an address of type xxxx.ftp.infomaniak.com.
   3. The IP addresses of the sites will change except for dedicated IPs.

This guide explains how to view and download Apache logs from Web Hosting useful for correcting PHP scripts or certain programming errors.

Preamble

• Infomaniak keeps the last 500 error or access displays for a maximum retention period of 10 days.
• It is impossible to perform a previous search even upon request.
• You can also find these logs on the server via FTP in the /ik-logs folder.

Accessing the access and error logs

To display these logs:

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the relevant product.
3. Click on Logs in the left sidebar:
   
4. Click on Errors or Access to display the error log or access log.
5. Click on Send by email to immediately receive all entries by email at your user address:
   

This guide explains how to order, link or remove a dedicated IP from a website.

Manage dedicated IPs on a hosting plan

Order one or several first dedicated IP addresses

To do this:

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the relevant product.
3. Click on Web in the left sidebar.
4. Click on Dedicated IPs in the left sidebar.
5. Click on the button to order one or more IP addresses:
   

Order one or several additional dedicated IP addresses

To do this:

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the relevant product.
3. Click on Web in the left sidebar.
4. Click on Dedicated IPs in the left sidebar.
5. Click on Order :
   

Associate a dedicated IP address with a website on a hosting plan

Once the IP has been ordered and paid for, familiarize yourself with the prerequisites below, as switching to a dedicated IP address for a website may cause a temporary interruption, especially in the presence of a certificat SSL Let’s Encrypt. To limit the impact:

• Start by reducing the TTL of the DNS records A and AAAA (for @ and www) to 5 minutes.
• Wait for the previous TTL duration before making any changes.
• The change below should be made during a period of low traffic to limit the inconvenience caused by the inevitable interruption.
• At the end of the procedure, you will need to wait for the new TTL to propagate the new configuration and for the SSL certificate to be regenerated, then check the accessibility of the site in HTTPS to ensure that everything is working correctly.

To switch to a dedicated IP address:

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the relevant product.
3. Click on Web in the left sidebar.
4. Click on Dedicated IPs in the left sidebar.
5. Click on the button to dedicate the IP to a site on your hosting:
   
6. Select the site to assign the new IP address to.
7. Check the box after reviewing the warnings.
8. Click on the Associate button:
   

Remove a dedicated IP address from a website

Once the IP is installed, to uninstall it:

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the relevant product.
3. Click on Web in the left sidebar.
4. Click on Dedicated IPs in the left sidebar.
5. Click on the action menu ⋮ located to the right of the relevant item.
6. Choose Unbind:
   
7. Take note of the warnings and confirm the deletion to complete the IP uninstallation procedure.

This guide provides basic instructions for creating and using a .htaccess and .user.ini file with an Web Hosting Infomaniak.

Preamble

• A .htaccess file is placed at the root of a website and allows you to configure the Apache HTTP server.
  • As a decentralized configuration file, it offers significant flexibility to adjust the server's behavior according to the specific needs of the site.
  • This file allows you to define URL rewrite rules, impose access restrictions, manage HTTP errors, and even customize security aspects such as disabling the display of files/folders.
  • It also facilitates the implementation of redirects and aliases, thus providing precise control over the organization and accessibility of the site.
• A .user.ini file allows you to customize the PHP directives of the folder (and its subfolders) in which it is located.
  • By acting at the PHP interpreter level, this file allows you to define specific configurations for a given folder and its subdirectories.
  • With its clear syntax, it offers the possibility to modify various parameters such as memory limit, script execution time, error handling, and other PHP-related directives.
  • This granular approach allows developers to finely customize PHP behavior according to the specific requirements of each section of the site.

Create a file…

… .htaccess

1. Log in to your hosting via FTP or SSH.
2. At the root of the relevant website, create a new file and name it: .htaccess.
3. Enter the desired directives in the file; refer to these other guides for example:
   1. Create a 301 redirect
   2. Set up PageSpeed Tools

… .user.ini

1. Log in to your hosting via FTP or SSH.
2. In the desired location, create a new file and name it: .user.ini.
3. Enter the desired PHP configuration parameters in the file.

⚠️ Modifying the .user.ini file takes several minutes to take effect.

This guide explains how to deploy Node.js with a Cloud Server to always have the environment needed to compile or build modern frontends (React, Vue, etc.).

Preamble

• Node.js is a free software platform in JavaScript designed for network applications that need to scale, a simple and effective solution for integrating frontend tools into any server stack.
  • Node.js = official name of the language/environment.
  • NodeJS = "technical" or simplified name in certain contexts (often for practical reasons, no real technical difference).

Install Node.js

Prerequisites

• Install NVM on your Cloud Server.
• Warning: Node.js version 18 is not compatible with older Cloud Servers; perform a migration beforehand!

Install the stable version of Node.js

nvm install stable

Install the latest version available

nvm install node

Install an older version (not recommended)

nvm install 17

List the available versions

nvm ls-remote

Install a specific version

nvm install <version>

Switch Node.js version and set version 6.3.1 (or another version) as default

nvm alias default 6.3.1

Use a specific version of Node.js in the current shell

nvm use <version>

Check the currently used version of Node.js

node -v

Source

To set up NVM, go to the WebSSH console of your Cloud Server.

Source the .profile file

source ~/.profile

Run the following command to check the installation of NVM

nvm

Configure Node as a service

To configure Node as a service, it is recommended to use a "service systemd-user.

Redirect traffic to a specific port

Familiarize yourself with this other guide regarding traffic redirections to a specific port and dedicated IPs.

This guide concerns the database management features available on Infomaniak servers.

MySQL, SQLite, MariaDB, PostgreSQL…

At the level of Database Management System, Infomaniak servers support…

1. … MySQL databases via PHP MySQL access or via Perl DBI+DBD::mysql
   • You can use MySQL as a database management system (DBMS) on Infomaniak servers.
   • You can access it either via PHP using the built-in MySQL database functions of PHP, or via Perl using the DBI and DBD::mysql modules
2. … MySQLI, the native MySQL access interface (PHP5)
   • MySQLI is a PHP extension that allows access to a MySQL database.
   • It is an improved and more recent version of the old MySQL extension of PHP, offering enhanced features and performance.
3. … SQLite 3.x
   • SQLite is a lightweight, self-contained, serverless SQL database engine.
   • Infomaniak servers support SQLite version 3.x, which means you can use SQLite to store data on these servers.
4. … MariaDB
   • MariaDB is a fork of MySQL and is often used as an alternative to MySQL
   • You can therefore use MariaDB as a database management system on Infomaniak servers
5. … the PGSQL module
   • PGSQL is a PHP module that allows you to connect to a PostgreSQL database
   • This specific feature allows you to connect to a REMOTE PostgreSQL database via PHP; this requires opening the appropriate port to the precise IP of the PostgreSQL database from the Infomaniak manager.

This guide explains how to update Web Applications installed via Infomaniak tools.

Preamble

• If an application is manually updated via FTP, it is then impossible to update it via the Manager and benefit from automatic updates.
• When installing your Web Application, automatic updates (at least security updates) are usually enabled by default:
  

Updating an application installed via Infomaniak

To access the Infomaniak Web Application and update it:

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the relevant product:
   
3. Click on the action menu ⋮ located to the right of the relevant Web Application.
4. Click on Settings for the application:
   
5. Click on Edit in the Information block:
   
6. Click on the dropdown menu to select a newer version.
7. Click on the Save button:
   

This guide explains how to enable or disable the PHP function set_time_limit for a Web Hosting.

Preamble

• set_time_limit is a PHP function that sets the expiration time of a script, in seconds; if this limit is reached, the script stops and returns a fatal error.
• set_time_limit cannot be used to set values beyond the script execution time limit (max_execution_time) set in the Manager.

Enable or disable the PHP function set_time_limit

To access website management:

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the relevant product:
3. Click on Manage under Advanced Settings:
   
4. Click on the PHP / Apache tab.
5. Click the toggle switch button On/Off as desired:
   
6. Click the Save button to confirm the changes.