Knowledge base

Error 500 may have various origins related in general to your site development. If the error occurs after a change is made on one of your pages, restore the previous version of the file: https://faq.infomaniak.com/2217

Apache2, which is installed on our servers, is strict about syntax errors, especially rewrites of your .htaccess files.

If your home page or any other page displays an error, rename the .htaccess file. Alternatively, comment out every line with # and then uncomment them line by line until you arrive at the part that is causing the problem.
Here is an example of a rewrite rule that was accepted in Apache 1.x but which is no longer valid in 2.x:

<code>RewriteRule ^fr/appartement/([a-zA-Z0-9]+)Pieces.htm$./fr/appartement/$1Pieces.php [L]</code>

In addition, when moving to Apache2, some modules are no longer supported on our servers:
mod_auth_anon, mod_auth_dbm, mod_authz_dbm, mod_cern_meta, mod_imap, mod_imagemap, mod_mime_magic

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 '' >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
• 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.

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 the hosting/domain name concerned
4. Go to Sites and click Add
5. Select the addition of a Domain or a Subdomain 
6. Enter the name of the Domain (e.g., your-site2.com) or a Subdomain (e.g., xxx.your-domain.com)
   • By default, the new site is added to the following directory: /sites/your-site2.com on your FTP server
   • To manually define its location, click Advanced Options (above the Confirm button) and tick Manually define the location, then enter a folder name
7. Under Advanced options, you can select a different PHP version from the recommended one
8. 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 Sites 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 the hosting/domain name concerned
4. Under Sites, click theicon to the right of site concerned and choose Unlink

Find out more

• Configuring an FTP account limited to the folder of a subdomain or a site
• Installing/obtaining an SSL certificate
• Installing a new WordPress site

Thank you for entrusting your the hosting of your website to us.

Remember, a web hosting is a storage space available on a computer, also referred to as a "server", connected to the Internet and managed by a web host, in this case Infomaniak.

This storage space, available to professionals and private individuals, serves to install website or other types of tool (CRM, extranet, intranet, etc.) which must be accessible via Internet.

This guide will enable you to quickly use the basic functions of your new product, your web hosting solution, which can host several websites.

Where to start?

1. Create a WordPress website
2. Install a web application (ownCloud, Joomla, Typo3, Drupal, phpBB, Simple Machines Forum, Magento, Prestashop, …)
3. Manage your FTP account/users
4. Manage and publish files on your hosting via our FTP Manager
5. Manage your MySQL databases
6. Add a site or a sub-domain to your hosting (multisite/multidomain)
7. Link another domain name to an existing web site (domain alias)
8. Preview your site even if your domain name does not yet point to the Infomaniak servers

And the domain name?

To be visible to the public online, a web hosting solution must be associated with a domain name!

Your domain name is not managed by Infomaniak? Or it is in a different customer account from your web hosting solution?

Then follow this guide to configure the DNS or the A records in order to link the domain name to your web hosting solution.

I have not found an answer to my question

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 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

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.

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).

This guide explains how to enable the maintenance mode for a website in your hosting. The maintenance mode displays a customized message to your visitors during the resolution of a technical problem, for example. It is also possible to configure IP addresses which will bypass this page.

Enabling the maintenance mode

1. open the Manager (manager.infomaniak. com)
2. go to Web Hosting
3. click on the hosting/domain name concerned
4. on the left side panel, click on My Sites, then on the Page Editor
5. select the site concerned
6. click on the "+ Maintenance Page" rectangle
7. configure the display using the elements on the right (notably the Maintenance element)
8. click on Save & publish

Authorising IP addresses

It is possible to display a site without the maintenance mode. To do this, you need to give the IP addresses of the computers which should be able to bypass the maintenance mode:

1. enable the maintenance mode following the procedure above
2. go to the configuration page in the maintenance page (see the procedure above)
3. to the right, under Maintenance, click on Insert my IP address to authorise your computer to display the site without maintenance mode. It is also possible to enter the IP addresses to be authorised manually
4. click on Save and publish

This guide explains how to replace the main domain name associated with a Website in the event that you wish, for example, to change the name of your activity or change the spelling.

Indeed it is not possible to simply modify the spelling of the domain name concerned; you must own the new domain name and come install it instead of the current one by reversing it (read below).

Also note that you can rename your Web Hosting product in the Infomaniak Manager, but changing the name of a hosting has absolutely no impact on the site URLs. It is necessary to act on the domain name and if necessary adapt the content of the site.

Prerequisites

Have the desired new domain name (if necessary you have to buy it).

If the change sought is more of a "subdomain" to "main domain" type (example: dev.domain.abc → domain.abc) then a guide is here.

Add the new domain as an alias

When the new domain name is ready to be used instead of the old one:

• connect to your Infomaniak space (manager.infomaniak.com)
• add the new domain as an alias to your site

It is this alias that will replace the current main domain name after the inversion that you are going to perform.

Swap alias and primary domain

Once the alias domain is added to your site:

1. connect to your Infomaniak space (manager.infomaniak.com)
2. go to Web Hosting
3. click on the relevant hosting/domain name
4. under Sitesat the bottom right, click on the site concerned
5. under Domains at the bottom right, click on the iconall to the right of the alias intended to become the main domain
6. chooseSet as primary domain
7. if necessary, delete the old domain name and its variants that have become alias domains

If you use an SSL certificate, you will need to update it so that it includes the added aliases.

If you use the Dedicated IP option, you must uninstall it, and reinstall it after the reversal you are about to perform.

Adapt the content of the site

If your site corresponded to a specific domain name, it is possible that errors will appear if you do not adapt its content to the new name. Click below if you are using:

• WordPress
• Joomla
• Prestashop
• Other application offered in WordPress & Apps

This guide explains how to use PHP environment variables with our new hostings that work in php-fpm.

Here's how to use PHP environment variables:

1. Define the PHP environment variables in a .htaccess file: SetEnv EXEMPLEVARIABLE hello
2. In your PHP file, the variable name to be called must be prefixed by REDIRECT_
   

   <?php getenv('REDIRECT_EXEMPLEVARIABLE');

In this example , the result displayed will be hello.

This guide explains

• how to migrate a WordPress site from one web host to another
• how to change the domain name of a WordPress site
• how to back up an entire WordPress website

If you use My WordPress Site (WordPress installed via WordPress & Apps in the Infomaniak Manager), then you can change the address very easily: https://www.infomaniak.com/en/support/faq/2016/my-wordpress-site-changing-the-web-address-urlchanging-the-domain-name

Each step of this guide is illustrated by a video that details all the actions to be performed. This guide is for informational purposes only and we cannot provide more details about the process.

Step 1: full backup of the WordPress website

To back up all files and the database of a WordPress site:

1. from the WordPress admin console, install and enable the Duplicator extension
2. from the WordPress main menu, open the dashboard of the extension
3. follow the wizard to create a new backup package
4. download the installer and the archive to your computer at the end of the process

video setup guide

Step 2: preparing for site restoration

On your web hosting:

1. create an FTP account (help)
2. create a MySQL database (help)
3. send the installer and the archive created in step 1 to your hosting via FTP (help)

It is recommended to carefully note the following:

• FTP host server
• name of the FTP account
• FTP account password
• host server of the database
• database name
• the user's database password

Step 3: restoring the WordPress website

To restore the WordPress site on the domain name and the hosting of your choice:

1. go to the installer URL (e.g., exampledomain.com/installer.php)
2. check the Connect and Remove All Data box and enter the requested information regarding the database
3. in step 2 (Update) of the restoration process, it is possible to specify the new domain name of the WordPress site under New settings
4. when the restoration process is complete, test the site and delete the archive and the Duplicator extension installer

If you want to duplicate a WordPress site in order to work in parallel in a development environment, you can follow this guide: https://news.infomaniak.com/en/create-a-wordpress-development-environment/