Frequently Asked Questions


1. General Questions

2. Email Related

3. Upload & Publishing Your Website

4. CGI & PHP Scripting

5. Domain Names & DNS



General Questions

Where is the full directory path?
/home/your user name/public_html

What is the path to perl?
The path to perl is /usr/bin/perl .

What is the path to sendmail?
The path to sendmail is /usr/sbin/sendmail .

What is the path to my cgi-bin?
The path to your cgi-bin is /home/your user name/public_html/cgi-bin/

How do I access my control panel?
http://yourdomain.com/cpanel/ (Replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain name and login in with your username and password)

Where are all the files and directories in my home directory?
public_html - Your web directory and place all html web files there. Public_ftp is your anonymous ftp directory.

HHow do I upload my web-site?
You need to use a program such as cuteftp or wsftp.

What details do I use to connect to your server using WSFTP or CuteFTP?
You should connect using your domain name or the server IP, you will also need your username and password you received in your account activation e-mail.

Which is my root website folder?
You have to upload your index.html file in the 'public_html' folder, and this is your root folder that is pointed by your domain name.

Why can't I create sub-domains?
If your domain is not pointing to our nameserver and is still in the progress of beening transferred, you will not be able to create sub-domains. You will have to wait until your domain has fully propagated before you can create sub-domains.

What domains do you support?
We support all domains, including foreign domains.

Where are my raw log files?
They are located within your control panel. Login and click  "Raw Access Logs" to download.

I forgot my password what do I do?
We understand accidents do happen, if you ever forget your password, please email to support@sghosting.net and request for your password to be resetted. Please include your first and last names for verification sake.

How Do I Password Protect Directories?
The Password Protect Directory feature in your Control Panel allows you to restrict access to a particular directory within your account and allow access by assigning usernames and passwords to individuals that you choose to allow such access. To access this feature click on "Password Protect Directories". You will be asked to select the directory that you want to protect, simply click the text link of the directory name and you will be taken to the screen where you complete the specifics for user information. You will need to enter a unique name (Protected Resource Name) for this password protection in the upper section of the screen. The name must be a single word or phrase with no spaces. Enter the name and click the save button. Now you are ready to add users that can have access to the specific directory. To add a new user, simply input the username and password and click Save. You will be taken to a screen that will confirm the new user and you can click the link on the bottom of the screen to go back and add more users. To change a password for a user, simply input the username and the new password for the user and click Save. NOTE: Usernames and passwords MUST be from 6 to 8 characters long. Any less than 6 or greater than 8 will cause your protected directory cease to function and you will receive an error when trying to enter the directory. To delete a user, select the user from the list and click the Delete button.

What are subdomains and how do I create them?
When you create a subdomain, a directory with the name of the subdomain is created inside the public_html directory. This directory is mapped to the subdomain. For example, if you create a subdomain called sub1.yourdomain.com, a directory called sub1 will be created inside your public_html directory, files that you place inside the sub1 directory can be accessed by directing your browser to one of the following URLs: http://sub1.yourdomain.com or http://yourdomain.com/sub1 . All subdomains setup through the control panel draw their resources from the parent account plan.

Can I Do My Own Backups?
Yes, This option in your Control Panel allows you download a compressed file that contains the directories and/or files located in your account. This is an excellent way to backup your own files. We HIGHLY recommend that you make it common practice to backup your own web pages. Once you've downloaded the compressed file, you can keep it in your local computer. If you ever need to restore the compressed file, just return to this part of your Control Panel, click Browse, look for the file in your local computer and click Upload.

How can I check disk storage and traffic quotas for my website?
Log into cPanel. Enter your Login Name and Password. On the left panel, it will shows you the disk storage and traffic quotas information.

Where can I view my website statistics ?
Log into cPanel Enter your Login Name and Password. Click on "Web/FTP Stats. Awstats is a more complex stats program which produces a nice variety of charts and graphs about who has visited your site. This is probably the most popular stats engine available today.

How do I create a custom error pages?
Error pages are served to Internet users when any one of a variety of errors occur, such as when a user enters an incorrect URL or is not authorized to access a specific directory in your web site. Companies often customize error pages to brand them with a specific corporate image and a link to their home page. You do not have to customize these pages - the error page is always available, whether customized or not. To create or modify a customized error page: Click on the "Error Pages" link on the main page. Click on the button of the required error page, such as the 403 button. Enter the HTML code for the error page. You can use the buttons at the top of the page to insert variables into the displayed code.

What are CGI scripts?
CGI (Common Gateway Interface) is a standard for running external programs from a Web server. CGI allows the returned HTML page to be dynamic - for example, with a CGI script you could access information in a database and format the results as part of an HTML page. Not surprisingly, CGI scripts are very popular and used extensively throughout the World Wide Web. There are a number of very good introduction to CGI documents available on the Web. The information given below is a summary of the most important points to remember when using CGI. Please refer to the following for a more in-depth introduction: Intro to CGI - one of the best introductions available. Ada's Introduction to CGI - a useful introduction. Key points to bear in mind when using CGI scripts: The pre installed scripts available through cPanel are the easiest to use, but if a certain script does not do exactly what you want, feel free to look for better scripts on the Web. You can usually find a script to do almost anything, especially if you are prepared to pay. Read all available documentation on a particular script before using it. This will help avoid most problems. CHMOD ("Change Mode") means change the permissions on a particular file (usually the script itself). The cPanel File Manager allows you to quickly do this, as do most FTP tools. Important - after uploading cgi-bin scripts, CHMOD to 755 (unless the script documentation specifically states otherwise). For example, you need to CHMOD the pre-installed cPanel CGI EMail scripts to 755 to use them properly. Many scripts need to know the path to Perl (scripting language engine) and to sendmail (HTTP mail engine). You can find this information on the front page of cPanel. Make sure you test your scripts repeatedly! Testing is vital to make sure everything is working to your satisfaction.

Do you allow CGI to run on your servers?
We do allow running of cgi scripts on the servers, however they must conform to our acceptable server resource usage policy.
 



Email Related

What is POP3 email and how do I create a POP3 email account?
POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) email stores your email on the server to be downloaded locally by your email program. If you don't want to use POP3 email, you can setup an email redirect to forward your email to an outside email address. You can set up as many POP (Post Office Protocol) email accounts as you require, up to your maximum limit. Each one of these is in the standard email formation of address@yourdomain.com. As with your default email address, you can access these accounts through NeoMai/Horde or through your own offline email application. To add an email account: Click on the Add / Remove accounts link in the Mail Menu area. Click on the Add Account link. Enter the first part of the email address and the password for the account in Email and Password fields. Click on the create button. Your new account has been added

How do I change the password for a POP3 email account?
You can change the password on any of your email accounts whenever required. It is useful to occasionally do this to maximize your email security. You should always change your password if you think someone else has access to your account. Note: Make sure that you change the password in your offline email application as well, or you will not be able to upload or download email to this account. To change an email account password: Click on the Add / Remove accounts link in the Mail Menu area. Click on the change password button next to the required email address. Enter the new password in the New Password field. Click on the change button. Your password has now been changed for that account. You can also change the password by login on-line. Please go to http://www.yourdomain.com/webmail/, login with your account information and select the "change password" option.

How do I create a email forward?
Forwards simply allow you to automatically forward email sent to one account to another account. This is useful when you work at two separate locations, or have gone on holiday. To add a forwarder: Click on the Forwarders link in the Mail Menu area. Click on the Add Forwarder link. Enter the first part of the email address that will be forwarded in the first field in the "Add forwarder" area. Enter the full email address that the forwarder will forward mail to in the second field. Click on the add forward button.

How do I configure my email application for POP3 email?
POP Server name: mail.yourdomain.com
SMTP Server name: mail.yourdomain.com
username: username@yourdomain.com
password: yourpassword

How do I access my email via a web browser?
You can access webmail via: http://www.yourdomain.com/webmail/

How can I send all unresolved email to one "catch-all" email address?
Any email that is sent to an unknown account at your domain name, such as unknown@yourdomain.com, gets automatically rerouted to your default email account. All web site accounts are automatically assigned a default email address - username@yourdomain.com - which you can change, if required. To set your default email address: Click on the Default Address link in the Mail Menu area. Click on the Set Default Address link. Enter the complete email address of the new default in the field next to your web site name drop-down list. Note: You can enter :blackhole: to throw away all incoming mail, or :fail: to bounce the email back to the sender. Click on the change button. Your new default email address has now been set.

How do I setup an autoresponder or vacation reply?
Auto-responders are email messages that are sent automatically when an email arrives for a specific email account. auto-responders are most commonly used for an "Out of Office" style message to inform your correspondents that you are not available, without you having to reply manually. You can have more than one auto-responder on one account. Note: You can not add HTML code to the email reply - plain text only. To add an auto-responder: Click on the Auto-Responders link in the Mail Menu area. Click on the Add AutoResponder link. Enter the address of the account that the auto-responder responds to in the Email field. Enter your name or address in the From field. You do not have to put anything in this field. Enter the subject line of the auto-responder in the Subject field. Enter the auto-responder message in the Body field. You can not use HTML code in this field - plain text only. Click on the create button.

What is spam assassin, and how do I enable it?
Spam Assassin is a mail filter installed on a mail server used to identify spam. It checks for spam using a large number of pre-set rules that check the header, body, and sender of all email messages sent to your domain mailbox. To enable Spam Assassin: Click on the Spam Assassin link in the Mail Menu area. Click on the enable spam assassin button.

How do I block emails?
You can block unwanted email according to email address, subject, header, recipient, or even phrases inside the body of the message. To block unwanted email: Click on Block an Email Click on Add Filter. Use the drop down menus to choose what you want blocked. For example, you might want to filter out pornographic email messages. You could choose Subject, Body or Any Header from the first drop down menu, and Contains from the second drop down menu. Then type a phrase or word that frequently appears in the header or body of email you receive that promotes pornographic content. For example "babes." To block email from a specific source, just choose From in the first drop down menu, then Equals from the second menu. Type in the person's email address in the box and click Activate. To remove an email block/filter: Click on Delete to the right of the filter that you would like to delete.

I can't send email. What's wrong?
Our SMTP servers are configured as secure relays. This means that you cannot simply reference "mail.yourdomain.com" as an Outgoing mailserver unless you successfully log in via one of your pop3 accounts at "mail.yourdomain.com' before you try to send. This is a mandatory setting to prevent spammers from using our mailservers as havens for unsolicited email. If you are getting a "relaying prohibited" or "disconnected by administrator" error, it means that you haven't logged into the pop3 server at your domain before you tried to send through the smtp server at your domain. To log in, you need to check for mail first. In addition to this, you might not be able to send regardless of if you check mail successfully. Some ISPs have it set so that their users cannot use an outbound SMTP server to relay messages. If you are still experiencing problems sending through your domain, and are certain that you have logged in via pop3 to an account at your domain, you might want to contact your local ISP to see if they do allow their users to use outbound smtp servers. Several large ISP's are in the process of blocking all access to port 25 (the SMTP port). They do this so that you will be forced to use their outgoing SMTP servers. Instead of using mail.yourdomain.com as your outgoing mail server, you should use the SMTP servers that your ISP provides you with.

Why do I get a "Relaying Denied: Authenticate with POP first" error when trying to send email through the server?
You need to login to your pop account and check your mail first. The server has anti-spam software installed that won't allow anyone to use the smtp server until they have logged in first. This keeps just anyone from connecting to the server and sending out thousands of messages. You may need to wait 20-30 seconds before trying to send mail again for the server process to recognize you after you check your mail. Once you have logged into the pop server and have been authenticated, you will be allowed to send mail for 30 minutes without having to login again. If you do login again, your 30 minutes will start from the time you logged in last.

How do I setup email (outlook)
1. Go to Tools | Accounts 2. Click on Add | Mail 3. In Display Name, type whatever you want. Click "Next" 4. E-mail address: name@[yourdomain].com Click "Next" 5. My incoming mail server is a "POP3". 6. Incoming Mail(POP3 or IMAP)server: mail.[yourdomain].com 7. Outgoing Mail(SMTP) server: mail.[yourdomain].com or what your ISP provided you.* 8. Click Next 9. POP account name: [username], Password: [passwd] Click "Next". 10. Internet Mail Account Name: whatever you want 11. Choose your connection type depending on your connection method. If using AOL, choose "Connect through ...LAN..." option. 12. Click "Finish" Microsoft Outlook 2000/98 1. Go to Tools | Accounts 2. Click on Add | Mail 3. In Display Name, type whatever you want. Click "Next" 4. E-mail address: whatever@[yourdomain].com Click "Next" 5. My incoming mail server is a "POP3". 6. Incoming Mail(POP3 or IMAP)server: mail.[yourdomain].com 7. Outgoing Mail(SMTP) server: mail.[yourdomain].com or what your ISP provided you.* 8. Click Next 9. POP account name: [username], Password: [passwd] Click "Next". 10. Internet Mail Account Name: whatever you want 11. Choose your connection type depending on your connection method. If using AOL choose "Connect through ...LAN..." option. 12. Click "Finish"

How do I setup email (eudora)
1. Install and start up the Eudora program 2. Select "Settings" from the "Special" menu 3. Select the "Getting Started" tab, then under Real Name, enter your Real Name 4. Under "POP Account" put [username]@[yourdomain].com 5. In "Return Address", enter whatever@[yourdomain].com 6. If you use the Macintosh version, the radio button for TCP/IP connection should be highlighted 7. Click the "Personal Information" tab (also only for the Macintosh version) 8. Under POP account put [username]@[yourdomain].com again 9. Fill out the "Real Name" and "Return Address" as you did before 10. Under "Dialup User Name" enter yourdomain (do not enter .com or .net here) 11. Click the "Hosts" tab then enter [username]@[yourdomain].com again under POP Account, and put yourdomain.com under SMTP Server. 12. Go to the "Checking Mail" tab and make sure "Save Password" is checked.

Upload & Publishing Your Website

What information do I need to enter into my FTP program or the FTP feature that is built into my web design application in order to upload my files to the server?
Server/hostname: your-domain.com User name: your-username Password: your-username Remote directory: public_html port: 21 If your Domain is still not pointing to our servers, please replace Server/hostname with the IP address provided in the welcome email.

What information do I need to enter into DreamWeaver in order to upload my files to the server?
FTP Host: your-domain.com Host Directory: public_html User name: your-username Password: your-password

What information do I need to enter into FrontPage in order to upload my files to the server?
Publish Destination dialog box: your-domain.com User name: your-username Password: your-password Please note frontpage extensions will only work after your domain is pointing to our servers.

What do I need to name the default page for my site?
Any of the following will be recognized as the default page for any directory within your site including the top level directory: index.html, index.php or index.htm, PLEASE NOTE: Linux is case-sensitive, so Index.html is not the same thing as index.html.

I am trying to FTP using WS_FTP but when I try to send I am getting a 503 No Port Command Issued First error.
Make sure you do not have passive transfer mode enabled in your ftp software.

How can I assign subdomains their own ftp username/password
If you have created the subdomain for another user, you may also create an FTP account with the same name as the subdomain and then that FTP username/password will work for the subdomain. i.e. Create a subdomain named "amanda". Then create an FTP account with the username "amanda". This FTP account will now have permissions to upload to amanda.yourdomain.com.

CGI & PHP Scripting

How do I run my own CGI programs?
Put your CGI programs in the cgi-bin directory. Make sure you upload them in ASCII mode. Change permissions to 755 for the script (chmod 755 script-name) Access them via http://www.yourname.com/cgi-bin/script-name

I'm getting 'Internal server error' running my Perl script. What's wrong?
1.When executed, you must print an HTTP header followed by a blank line. The header must contain either a Content-type field or a Location field. eg. print "Content-type: text/htmlnn"; 2.You have incorrectly set the path to Perl in your script. 3.You have used invalid Perl arguments

I'm getting 'file not found' running my script. What's wrong?
Check the following: 1. script is located in your cgi-bin directory. 2. page that calls the script has the path properly specified 3. script has world read & executable permission.

What permissions will I need to set my CGI scripts to in order to have them run properly?
CGI scripts only need to be chmod 755 to run. Additionally, scripts should NOT be put at 777 on any server. This is a huge security risk and opens your account up to all sorts of possible abuse. If you have any scripts chmoded to 777, then please change them to 755 immediately.

How do I change the default root document?
You can use the .htaccess file to specify what file should be loaded as your default page whenever a directory or URL request comes in that does not specify a specific page. Eg, You might have yourdomain.com/index7.html and you want this to be your root document Simply add: DirectoryIndex filename.html In a .htaccess file and upload it to your site via FTP. This would cause filename.html to be treated as your default page, or default directory page. You can also append other filenames to it.

What does the 'premature end of script headers' error mean?
99% of the time, this is caused by improper permission settings. Make sure you have the proper permissions set on your script (CHMOD 755). You should also make sure that you are using a text-only editor such as notepad or UltraEdit to edit your scripts.

What is the path to Perl?
/usr/bin/perl

Domain Names & DNS

Can I renew my domain name through SG Hosting Services even though it was registered with another company?
Certainly. It does not matter which company you registered your domain names with. We are able to transfer the your domain name to us and renew it at the same time.

How can I find out the expiration date of my domain name if I am registered through another company?
You can perform a Whois search by visiting www.whois.net. The result page will offer you the option to view the Whois record. This record will show your expiration date. Otherwise, please go to your domain registrar's site and login to your account there.

What fees do you charge for domain name registration?
Full details can be found by following this link: http://www.sghosting.net/domain/index.html

If SG Hosting Services registers my new domain, who takes ownership?
All domain names are registered in YOUR name, not ours. You will have the FULL control over the domain name.

I recently signed up for a hosting account and I am not able reach my site using the domain name. What could be the possible cause?
If you have followed the steps for pointing your domain name to our nameservers, but your new site does not appear to be hosted, you are probably encountering a propagation lag. The Internet is set up with thousands upon thousands of name servers. Most are configured to receive updates only at a certain time each day. It can take from 24 to 72hours or more for your domain name to propagate across all of the possible domain name servers. You can test this yourself by typing in your temporary site URL (http://ipaddress/~username) and trying to bring up your web site. If you can bring your web site up by the IP address but not by domain name, it is probably a propagation issue. Please give it a few days to resolve.

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