Knowledge base

This guide explains how to connect to your Web Hosting using an SSH key.

✘ UNAVAILABLE with
sites of type Node.js
and Starter hosting plans.

Prerequisites

1. Create an FTP + SSH account from the Infomaniak Manager.
2. Create an SSH key with a secure algorithm, for example ed25519:

   • ssh-keygen -t ed25519

     because with an RSA key (ssh-keygen or ssh-keygen -t rsa), the connection will be refused, and the following error will be returned in verbose mode:

     debug1: send_pubkey_test: no mutual signature algorithm

Upload the SSH key

To do this:

1. Connect to the server via SSH (need help?).

2. Go to the root of your hosting:

   cd ~

3. Create the « .ssh» directory:

    mkdir .ssh

4. Change the permissions of the .ssh directory to CHMOD 700.
5. Create the authorized_keys file and paste your SSH public key into it on a single line (important).
6. Change the permissions of the authorized_keys file to CHMOD 600.

This guide explains how to add an Elegant Themes (Divi) theme for free to a WordPress site that has already been installed via the Infomaniak installer.

Prerequisites

• Your WordPress site must be installed using the Infomaniak WordPress tools to use these themes and extensions.
• The theme can be added during installation (approximately step 14 of this other guide) or activated later.
• To benefit from Elegant Themes support (customer service), you must subscribe to an Elegant Themes plan.

Adding an Elegant Themes Theme

To do this:

1. Click here to access the management of your WordPress site in the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
   • If your site does not appear here, it has not been installed using the Infomaniak tools (see prerequisites).
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 under Theme:
   
6. Select the desired theme.
7. Click on the Save button:
   
8. The theme is applied and available for configuration in your WordPress administration interface:
   

Using an Elegant Themes extension

Refer to this other guide to install an Elegant Themes extension with Infomaniak.

This guide explains how to transfer to Infomaniak data (Web, Mail, Domain, and even Cloud) currently hosted elsewhereYou remain the owner of your data, with no loss or interruption!

Introduction

• By consolidating your domain names, websites, and email addresses with Infomaniak, you simplify the management of your invoices and services.
• Furthermore, your domains will be automatically linked to your website and email address.
  • You will not need to manually configure the DNS settings for your domains with another registrar.

Specific guides

Click on the link corresponding to your current hosting provider:

• Swisscom: complete guide to migrating Web, Mail, and domain name data

Guides for any other hosting provider

To avoid interrupting your website and email services and prevent data loss when importing your existing data, migrate your services in the order indicated:

1. Import Web data (any PHP, HTML, etc. website)

   • For WordPress specifically, please refer to this other guide…
     

2. Copy Mail data (addresses and mailbox content, etc.) to kSuite or a simple Mail Service

3. Transfer the domain name (domain management, DNS zone, etc.)

You can also transfer other types of data to Infomaniak servers:

• Dropbox, Google Drive, etc. content: refer to this other guide
• Data on Synology or QNAP NAS: please refer to this other guide

This guide explains how to view a website hosted by Infomaniak, even if no domain name/URL is currently configured to direct visitors to the site.

Introduction

• Using your website's preview URL, you can view the current version of your content in a browser, regardless of whether the corresponding domain name has been configured correctly.
• This website preview can be accessed using a preview URL and allows you to test a website before pointing a domain name to it, for example, if the domain name is currently pointing elsewhere.
• This temporary URL provided by Infomaniak may change at any time and is only available with paid plans.

Obtaining your website's preview URL

To do this:

1. Click here to access the management of your website on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the website in question:
   
3. Click on Advanced.
4. The preview address is displayed under Preview URL (e.g., XXX.preview.infomaniak.website):
   

If you encounter a problem…

If, when visiting your preview address, the URL immediately changes to another, it may be due to a .htaccess file that you have modified to include rewrite rules. You should disable it and then test again.

… on WordPress

If the preview URL is always displayed, even though you have taken the necessary steps regarding your domain name, you need to assign the definitive address as the main address in your website's options.

Alternatives for previewing your site

If you wish to use a different method than the preview address provided by Infomaniak (see above), you can modify the hosts file on your computer (including with browser extensions such as this one for Firefox). For this, you will need the IP address of your site.

Once your tests are complete or the domain name's DNS records are updated, remember to delete any changes you made; otherwise, it will be impossible to display your site if the server's IP address is changed or the site is migrated to another web hosting.

This guide explains how to enable or disable maintenance mode on a website hosted with Infomaniak Hosting.

Preamble

• Maintenance mode allows you to display a custom message to your visitors, for example while resolving a technical issue.
• It is also possible to specify IP addresses that can bypass this page.
• An email is sent to the Organization's users.

Enable maintenance mode

To activate a page that temporarily replaces your usual homepage:

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. Click the toggle switch to enable the maintenance page.
4. Confirm the warning.
5. Click the button to enable:
   

Customize the maintenance page

To set up a page with your desired message:

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. Click on Page and Maintenance in the left sidebar menu.
4. Click on Create a page or the Customize button if it already exists:
   
5. Format the text of your choice.
6. Configure the display using the elements on the right.
7. Click on Save & Activate to publish the page:
   

Allow IP addresses to bypass the suspension

It is possible to display the actual site even with maintenance mode activated. To do this, it is necessary to enter the IP addresses of the computers that need to be able to bypass maintenance mode:

1. Activate maintenance mode according to the procedure above.
2. Go back to the maintenance page configuration page (see procedure above).
3. Under Maintenance on the right, click on Insert my IP address to allow your computer to display the site without maintenance mode:
   
   • It is also possible to manually enter the IP addresses to authorize.
4. Click on Save and publish.

Disable maintenance mode

To disable the message that appears on your site during maintenance:

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. Click either on the Disable button or on the toggle switch to disable the maintenance page:
   
4. Confirm the deactivation of maintenance.

Alternative method for WordPress

It is not recommended to activate the Infomaniak maintenance page above to then work in WordPress.

It is recommended to install a WordPress extension (there are dozens available) dedicated to maintenance within the CMS itself.

Otherwise, you can add the code <?php $upgrading = time(); ?> in a new empty file named .maintenance (the dot before the file name is important) placed on the server at the root of your site, which will disable all your pages except the WordPress homepage.

This guide details the security measures implemented as part of Infomaniak's email services to detect abusive and abnormal use of an email address.

Introduction

• For sending emails to a large number of recipients, the Newsletter tool is the most suitable.
• Upon written request, which must be justified and authenticated, it is possible to modify these security rules for a specific paid email address.
• These measures protect you from malicious use of your computer or account.
• Quota calculation (sliding window): the limits (below) are not reset at midnight but calculated in real time over a 24-hour window; each message sent "occupies" a slot in your quota and is automatically freed up 24 hours after it is sent.
  • If you send messages throughout the morning until you reach your limit at 11 a.m., your sending rights will gradually become available the next morning, as each message reaches its 24-hour age.
• 1 message sent to 2, 42, or 99 people in CC/BCC counts as 2, 42, and 99 messages, respectively.

Sending limits per 24 hours

Number of outgoing emails possible per 24 hours:

* The maximum number depends on the email plan to which the address belongs.

Other email limits

• Limits on the number of recipients per email
• Email size limits

This guide explains how toreplace the primary domain name associated with a website(excluding Starter hosting) hosted on Infomaniak, in case you wish to change the name of your business or modify the spelling.

Introduction

• It is not possible to simply change the spelling of the domain name in question.
• You must own the new domain name and install it in place of the current one by performing a swap (see below).
• After making changes to the domain name, it may be necessary to adapt the website content.
• You can also rename your Web Hosting product in the Infomaniak Manager, but changing the name of a hosting plan has absolutely no impact on website URLs.
• During this operation, the statistics are reset.

Change the domain name of the website

Prerequisites

• Prepare the new domain name (if necessary, you need to purchase it).
• Install a valid SSL certificate, otherwise the redirection will not be offered.
• If the desired change is more of a "subdomain" to "main domain" type (e.g., dev.domain.xyz → domain.xyz), then please refer to this other guide.

Next, to replace the domain name assigned to the website with a different domain name:

1. Click here to access your website management interface in the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the site in question:
   
3. Then, click on the down arrow ‍ to expand the Domains section of this site:
   
4. Refer to this other guide (especially its Prerequisites) to link the new domain name to your site:
   • This new domain linked will replace the current main domain name after the switch you will perform below.
5. Once the new domain name is linked to your site, click on the action menu ⋮ to the right of it.
6. Choose Set as primary domain:
   
7. If necessary, delete the old domain name and its variants that have become alias domains (and are no longer primary domains).

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

If you are using the dedicated IP option, you must uninstall it and then reinstall it after the switch you are going to perform.

Adapt the website content to the new name

In some cases,The web application used to develop the site needs to undergo some adjustmentsto function with the new domain name. Click on the link corresponding to your site's development to adapt the content:

• WordPress
• Joomla
• Prestashop
• Application available in WordPress & Apps

This guide is intended for users who are making changes to a web hosting environment where WordPress is installed.

Introduction

• Following a change to your web hosting plan (migration from the old v1 60 GB hosting plan to the current plans), you may need to update the connection between your MySQL/MariaDB database and your WordPress site (to avoid the "error establishing a database connection" error, for example) and re-establish the link between WordPress and the MySQL/MariaDB database.

Modify the important elements

Here is the information to update in the wp-config.php file so that your WordPress site works (generally, a prefix has simply been added to the existing database name and username):

1. the name of the MySQL database (bddname before, abcd_bddname after, for example)
2. the server hosting the MySQL database (mysql.domain.xyz before, abcd.myd.infomaniak.com after, for example)
3. the username used to access the MySQL database (userbdd before, abcd_userbdd after, for example)

Modify the wp-config.php file of WordPress

To do this:

1. Find and save your current MySQL data according to the list above.
2. Create an FTP account.
3. Connect via FTP.
4. Edit the wp-config.php file, which is located in the root directory of your WordPress site.
5. Find the relevant paragraph and update the 3 pieces of information (according to the list above).
6. Save the file, and that's it! Your WordPress will now connect to the correct database.

This guide explains how to completely cancel an Infomaniak Web Hosting and all the websites it contains.

Preamble

• For most products, confirm the cancellation request by email otherwise no data will be deleted.
• To delete only one website and not the entire product, refer to this other guide.
• Open and out-of-package fees remain due.
• A cancellation confirmation is sent to any other administrators of the Organization.
• Backups will be irrevocably deleted upon cancellation, making any restoration impossible.

Cancel the Web Hosting Offer

To access the cancellation of the offer:

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 item concerned.
3. Choose Cancel:
   
4. Follow the procedure to the end.

This guide explains how to use PHP environment variables with Web Hosting that runs on php-fpm.

Preamble

Using environment variables

To use PHP environment variables:

1. Define the PHP environment variables in a .htaccess file:

   • SetEnv EXAMPLEVARIABLE hello

2. In your PHP file, the name of the variable to call corresponds to the same variable name defined in the environment variable:

   • <?php getenv('EXAMPLEVARIABLE');

In this example, the displayed result will be hello.

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 site on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the site concerned:
   
3. Click on Manage advanced settings:
   
4. Click on the PHP / Apache tab:
   
5. Further down on the page, click on the chevron to expand the Environment Variables section.
6. Click on the icon Add.
7. Enter the variable and its value.
8. Click the button to save:
   

This guide explains how to add or modify one or more A and AAAA type records in the DNS zone (of a domain name) managed in the Infomaniak Manager.

Introduction

• This type of record allows you to point a domain name to a static IP address (usually a server), type A for IPv4 and AAAA for IPv6.
• This is the method generally used to redirect your domain name to the IP address of the web server hosting your website. Moreover, this type of record is used automatically to link your domain name with your website if they are in the same location and within the same Infomaniak organization.
• You should only modify this type of record if you have a specific configuration to implement (e.g., pointing a subdomain to an external application).

Modify the DNS zone

To manage this type of record in a DNS zone:

1. Click here to access your domain management in the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the domain in question.
3. Click on DNS Zone in the left-hand menu.
4. Click the button to add a record:
   
5. Click the A or AAAA radio button to add a record.
6. Click on the Next button:
   
7. Enter the values required for your DNS zone.
8. Leave the default value for the TTL.
9. If necessary, you can request an adjustment to the AAAA record by activating the checkbox, which will allow you to specify an IPv6 address at the same time.
10. Click on the Save button:
    

This guide provides tips to perform operations related to a WordPress site, which allows, among other things, to…

• … copy and migrate a WordPress site from a competing host to Infomaniak,
• … change the domain name of a WordPress site,
• … backup an entire WordPress site…

Preamble

• Depending on the context, instead of performing a WordPress transfer, you can simply…
  • … change the site address (the associated domain name) very easily if you have installed WordPress via the Infomaniak installer,
  • … duplicate a WordPress site to work in parallel in a development environment…

Transfer a WordPress site…

… with the All-in-One WP Migration extension

• Requires installing a new clean WordPress (for example via the Infomaniak automatic installer) to import the old site onto it.
  • Refer to this guide.

… with the Duplicator extension

• Requires connecting to the hosting via FTP to send a .zip archive and a PHP file to reinstall the old site.
  • Refer to this guide.

This guide provides instructions on how to obtain one or more Infomaniak invoices before and after payment, and how to view, download, and print all or part of the invoice history for your accounting purposes.

Introduction

• Final invoices can only be printed after they have been paid.
• If necessary, a personalized message can be easily added to your billing documents: see this other guide.

Accessing the Invoice History

Prerequisites

• Be Administrator or Legal Representative within the Organization…
  • … or a simple user account but with the permission to manage accounting enabled:
    

To go to the billing documents page:

• Click here to access the invoice history in the Infomaniak Manager:
  
• The table automatically displays the most recent billing documents.
• The top section allows you to filter documents based on the Paid, Reimbursed, etc. status and based on the desired period (start and end date):
  

Print/export a billing document

To view one of these documents in PDF format and then save it to your device or print it with your printer:

1. On the same page, click on the invoice in question in the table that appears:
   
2. Click the Download button or the chevron ‍ for more options:
   

Export a set of billing documents

To download a set of documents in a CSV file in .csv format, or to receive them by email:

1. On the same page, filter the documents based on the Paid, Reimbursed, etc. status, and based on the desired period (start and end dates).
2. Click on the button at the bottom, depending on the type of export you want:
   

Receive the (next) PDF invoice by email

To ensure that the invoice is always attached in PDF format with each renewal email:

1. Click here to access the configuration/accounting page in the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
   1. Access requires authentication with a user who has sufficient rights.
2. On this page, enable or disable the addition of PDF invoices:
   

Your preferences are automatically saved as soon as a change is made on the page.

Print a Pro Forma Invoice

Pro Forma invoices do not have any legal, judicial, tax, or accounting value:

1. Click here to access payment management in the Infomaniak Manager.
2. Select the relevant products.
3. Click on Generate a Pro Forma Invoice at the bottom of the table.
   ‍
4. Once displayed, you can then download the Pro Forma Invoice.

This guide explains how to easily set up a redirect for your domain name managed with Infomaniak.

Introduction

• A web redirection allows you to redirect a domain name or subdomain to the internet address of your choice.
• This procedure is only valid if the DNS of the domain is managed by Infomaniak and if Custom Brand is not activated.
  • Any addition/modification may take up to 48 hours to propagate.
• If necessary, create a redirection for your domain with and without the www (domain.xyz and www.domain.xyz).

Redirect a domain to the URL of your choice

To do this:

1. Click here to access the management interface for your product in the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the product in question.
3. Click on Web Redirections in the left-hand menu.
4. Click on the Add a redirection button:
   
5. Enter the destination address (under To).
6. Choose between a 301 or 302 redirect.
7. The advanced options allow you to specify a redirect in the form of an iframe (invisible, but not recommended).
8. Click the button to Confirm:
   

This guide explains how to display the absolute paths for certain Infomaniak web applications that require them.

Obtaining the absolute path…

… of web hosting

To do this:

1. Click here to access the management of your hosting on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the hosting in question.
3. Then click on the chevron ‍ to expand the Information section of this hosting.
4. The highlighted information below indicates the location of the example site:
   

… of a website

To do this:

1. Click here to access your website management in the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the website in question.
3. Then, click on the chevron ‍ to expand the Information section of this site.
4. The highlighted information below indicates the location of the example site:
   

To help you identify the kSuite plan that best suits your needs, please refer to this other guide.

You can, of course, subscribe to an Infomaniak Web Hosting plan from the same user account and/or the same Organization and build your website using the tool of your choice, such as WordPress or Site Creator.

To help you identify the hosting plan that best suits your needs, please refer to this other guide.

This guide explains how to generate a certificate signing request (CSR) for a domain name and all its subdomains with a Web Hosting (excluding free hosting of type Starter), thus allowing you to encrypt the connection to your domain name and all its subdomains via a single SSL certificate.

Preamble

• The configuration allows for a "named site" and a "backup site"; to ensure this works without conflict, make sure that the wildcard and your specific subdomains do not overlap on the same web hosting:
  • DNS Level the priority is natural: if a specific subdomain exists (e.g., private.domain.xyz), it is the one that is requested; otherwise, the request is redirected to the wildcard (*.domain.xyz).
  • Server Level it is necessary to be vigilant: if the wildcard and the specific subdomain are on the same server, it is the software implementation (Apache) that decides; Apache processes requests according to the evaluation order of the configuration files.
  • The risk: if the wildcard is evaluated first, it "captures" all the traffic, making your specific subdomain inaccessible, even if it exists elsewhere.
  • Therefore, do not place the wildcard on the same hosting as a more specific overlapping subdomain.

Setting up a Wildcard Certificate

1. Add an alias domain with an asterisk *

To add an alias of type * to your website:

1. Click here to access the management of your site on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the site concerned:
   
3. Click on the chevron ‍ to expand the Domains section of this site.
4. Click on the Add a Domain button:
   
5. Enter the domain name to be added in this form:
   • *.domain.xyz (the asterisk is mandatory, followed by a dot, then the domain name of the website which is domain.xyz in this example)
6. Click on the Confirm button to complete the procedure:
   

2. Install or update an SSL certificate

Example of updating the existing certificate to include the * wildcard subdomain:

1. Click here to access the management of your site on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the site concerned.
3. Click on SSL Certificate in the left sidebar menu.
4. Click on the action menu ⋮ located on the right.
5. Click on Update the certificate:
   
6. Make sure the recently added subdomain is selected.
7. Click on the Install button at the bottom:
   
8. Wait for the creation or update to complete.

This guide explains how ModSecurity works, how to configure it, and how to manage it on Infomaniak servers.

Introduction

• ModSecurity (mod_secure) is available and enabled by default on Infomaniak servers:
  • All HTTP requests will be subject to the security rules defined by ModSecurity.
  • The uploadprogress PHP extension is not available on Infomaniak servers, as PHP is used in its FPM version.
• It is not possible to disable ModSecurity on Infomaniak servers:
  • The setting is global to the server where your site is hosted, which means that all defined security rules will be applied to your site.

In case of a problem

Language error in the browser (code 403)

If the error message ModSecurity: Access denied with code 403 (phase 2). Operator EQ matched 0 at REQUEST_HEADERS. (...) appears regarding ModSecurity, you should check that a default language is properly configured in your web browser. This error can sometimes be caused by incorrectly configured language settings in the browser.

"Request body larger than configured limit" warning

If you see messages regarding the Request body larger than configured limit error or warning, please note that this is only a warning — the request still goes through and is not blocked. This configuration is specific to certain older hosting generations (of the jessie type) and allows all requests to pass through to the server without impacting your visitors.

Thank you for choosing Infomaniak to host your WordPress site.

Introduction

• As a reminder, the WordPress website creation tool can be:
  1. hosted by the WordPress.com infrastructure (paid), in which case Infomaniak is not involved in hosting
  2. installed freely but manually by the user using the archive provided by WordPress.org; in this case, Infomaniak hosts the website but does not manage any updates and does not list the application in the Web Applications section of the Infomaniak Manager; this is the case if you migrate an external WordPress to Infomaniak
  3. installed automatically by the tool available in the Manager; in this case, WordPress is largely maintained (in terms of security) by Infomaniak
• This guide focuses on this third and final point.
• The Infomaniak installerautomates the installation and security updates of WordPress.

Install WordPress & Apps

Infomaniak makes it easy to install the WordPress application (and other applications as well):

• Quickly install WordPress with the Infomaniak installer
• Access the WordPress management interface

Using WordPress

Although WordPress is one of the easiest CMS platforms to use, it still requires some familiarization. To help you with this, here are some external resources in various languages to get you started with WordPress:

• Essential basics to know to get started with WordPress
• Support forum for the French-speaking WordPress community
• FAQ about backups / restores
• Using an ElegantThemes theme or extension
• Free WordPress training provided by the website progresser-en-informatique.com. If you want to focus on the essentials, concentrate on the following modules:
  • Understanding the administration interface
  • How to properly configure WordPress
  • Adding content to your website

This guide explains what a web hosting provider like Infomaniak is, and specifies its role, scope, and the limits of its technical support.

Infomaniak, a hosting provider since 1996

According to Wikipedia, a web host is a company that provides Internet hosting for computer systems for individuals or entities who do not wish to do so themselves.

Infomaniak also offers:

• … decades of experience in hosting and high-performance online solutions.
• … over a million users in Switzerland and Europe trusting us with the management of their critical data.
• … a company certified according to ISO 27001, 9001, 14001, 50001 standards and committed to sustainable digital practices.
• … 100% Swiss-made technological expertise with data hosted in Switzerland in its own data centers.
• … a comprehensive knowledge base and a customer support service available to assist you.

Responsibilities and scope of intervention

As a hosting provider, Infomaniak installs, secures, and keeps the server infrastructure up to dateis constantly improving its management interfaces (Manager) and helping its customers to make the most of the tools provided. Infomaniak strives to offer solutions that are accessible to everyone; however, human support for free products is inherently limited in order to guarantee the sustainability of these services.

Support is exclusively for Organization administrators. End customers or users with a contract through a Reseller Partner must first contact their administrator or dedicated service provider.

Scope of technical support

Technical support does not provide assistance for:

• Development and programming: debugging websites, correcting source code, personal scripts (PHP, JS, etc.)
• API usage and integration.
• Application maintenance and webmastering: troubleshooting, updates, or content management for third-party applications (e.g., CMS such as WordPress, email clients such as Outlook, etc.).
• On-site and customized support: remote access, configuration of your own hardware, complex manual installations or migrations.

However, our support team will be happy to assist you with:

• Infrastructure and Manager: resolving incidents related to the network, hardware, or Infomaniak management interfaces.
• Using Infomaniak services: clarifying configuration processes and providing assistance with using our native features.
• Documentation: we will guide you to the relevant resources and technical guides to help you become self-sufficient.

A Premium support service and a migration service are available for more specific needs.

Find external support

For assistance with the content of your website, its programming, or the advanced organization of your email accounts, use the Infomaniak bidding platform, which lists over 1000 verified professionals, or consult the directory.