Installing Softaculous in cPanel

This is very, very simple but the trick is, one part is always missed by the individual setting up this one click web application installer that it will drive you nuts.

Softaculous is the one-click web application installer I am talking about.

It is very inexpensive for a monthly or yearly license, which allows cPanel users to install web applications. For you, it greatly reduces the burden and load of inexperienced shared web hosting users contacting you for simple web application support. The user finds the Softaculous section on their user account, clicks the Category or name of the web application and fills out some very simple information.

The great part – Softaculous downloads and installs the latest version of the web application so these shared web hosting users stop getting hacked!

Softaculous also reminds them of updates which is great for security.

With this being said, let’s talk about installation but first you must purchase a license from your hosting provider or a third party license provider. LicensePal is a great third party licensing company.

Installation:

wget -N http://files.softaculous.com/install.sh
chmod 755 install.sh
./install.sh

This is successful if you have your VPS IP address licensed for the installation.

The download of the latest web applications can take some time, much like installing cPanel so you can do something else like configure your cPanel server some more or even go out to grab an hour lunch like during a cPanel installation.

Note:
These two servers, s2.softaculous.com and s4.softaculous.com, have to be permitted to go through your firewall if you are running a firewall restrictive environment.

Configuring WHM
This is the part people miss the most.

Softaculous is IonCube encoded, which is not enabled by default

Server Configuration -> Tweak Settings -> PHP

That’s all you needed to do to enable Softaculous to work with WHM.

Conclusion:
The sheer inexpensiveness of a license is insane for the amount of time this saves. I have a few WHM/cPanel servers and all of them have Softaculous licenses on every single one of them because I don’t feel like installing WordPress manually all the time, for a customer to install an ecommerce web application so they start their at home online business as quickly and easily as possible, and other instances where it’s amazing how much this license is so cheap but does so much to help you out.

Ubuntu: Install Webmin on Ubuntu VPS

This is easily accomplished with a few commands!

First step, get the requirements for Webmin

apt-get install perl libnet-ssleay-perl openssl libauthen-pam-perl libpam-runtime libio-pty-perl apt-show-versions python

Without these files, Webmin will not run. Next, we get the Webmin .deb file and install it:

wget http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/webadmin/webmin_1.600_all.deb
dpkg -i webmin_1.600_all.deb

Note: If you tried to download and install Webmin first, without the requirements, and have errors after you tried the apt-get install command in step one, type in apt-get -f install to force the install of the dependencies to meet Webmin’s dependency requirements.

Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main libnet-ssleay-perl i386 1.42-1build1 [184 kB]
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/universe libauthen-pam-perl i386 0.16-2build2 [27.9 kB]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main libio-pty-perl i386 1:1.08-1build2 [36.9 kB]
Get:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main libapt-pkg-perl i386 0.1.25build2 [82.2 kB]
Get:5 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/universe apt-show-versions all 0.17 [32.9 kB]
Fetched 364 kB in 0s (416 kB/s)              
Selecting previously unselected package libnet-ssleay-perl.
(Reading database ... 45568 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking libnet-ssleay-perl (from .../libnet-ssleay-perl_1.42-1build1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libauthen-pam-perl.
Unpacking libauthen-pam-perl (from .../libauthen-pam-perl_0.16-2build2_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libio-pty-perl.
Unpacking libio-pty-perl (from .../libio-pty-perl_1%3a1.08-1build2_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libapt-pkg-perl.
Unpacking libapt-pkg-perl (from .../libapt-pkg-perl_0.1.25build2_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package apt-show-versions.
Unpacking apt-show-versions (from .../apt-show-versions_0.17_all.deb) ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Setting up libnet-ssleay-perl (1.42-1build1) ...
Setting up libauthen-pam-perl (0.16-2build2) ...
Setting up libio-pty-perl (1:1.08-1build2) ...
Setting up libapt-pkg-perl (0.1.25build2) ...
Setting up apt-show-versions (0.17) ...
** initializing cache. This may take a while **
Setting up webmin (1.600) ...
Webmin install complete. You can now login to https://ubuntu:10000/
as root with your root password, or as any user who can use sudo
to run commands as root.

This tells you that Webmin is up and running!

We open up our web browser with https://vps-ip-address:10000

Please do not forget the https! We replace vps-ip-address and put in your VPS server’s IP address or even your domain/subdomain you have assigned to it.

We login with root and our root password.

I have not used Webmin much but I plan on doing so to learn more about it. It seems very simple to setup and use without purchasing a monthly license from cPanel. I like cPanel a lot and highly recommend it but could see where spending $15 per month on a license and requiring at least 1gb of memory for cPanel could be a problem to an individual with a small budget.

cPanel: Enable IonCube Loaders

This is a very tricky thing even for the most experienced cPanel system administrators.

First, we run Easy Apache to enable IonCube support in PHP.

Profile:
Choose “Previously Saved Config” and click “Start customizing based on profile”.

Apache Version:
Choose the latest which is not END OF LIFE. For this tutorial, Apache 2.2.23 is the latest and we want to choose this then click “Next step”.

Please choose which PHP version(s) to build:
We do not want END OF LIFE or EXPERIMENTAL. For this tutorial, 5.3.17 is the latest and most stable version so we choose this and click “Next step”.

Short Options List:
Here is our option for IonCube Loader for PHP. Now click “Exhaustive Options List”

Exhaustive Options List:
While we are here, you may want to consider enabling these options under PHP 5.3.17 such as Exif, GD, Mbstring, Mcrypt, PDO MySQL, and Zlib. These are common PHP requirements on most web applications and if you run a shared or reseller web hosting for individuals, they will require this one day!

Next, we click “Save and build” while we go grab a cup of coffee or take the dog for a walk around the block. Recompiling Apache and PHP takes about 10 minutes or so, depending on your system.

Step 2:
Most people forget this step!

We login to our cPanel server http://ip-address:2087 and go to Tweak Settings up at the very top.

Search for PHP and look for cPanel PHP loader. Here you enable ioncube, scroll down to the bottom and click Save. This is where most people forget to enable the PHP loader in this area but compile it in our PHP.

Conclusion:
With this enabled, you can run your IonCube encoded PHP web applications and have it fully supported for your cPanel server for all your other domains, customers and resellers.

cPanel Tutorial: My Email Is Flagged As Spam

When a cPanel user’s email is flagged as spam by Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail there are a few things you can do.

First, enable DKIM and SPF when you setup a domain:

DKIM, according to Wikipedia is, DomainKeys Identified Mail is a method for associating a domain name to an email message, thereby allowing a person, role, or organization to claim some responsibility for the message. The association is set up by means of a digital signature which can be validated by recipients. Responsibility is claimed by a signer —independently of the message’s actual authors or recipients— by adding a DKIM-Signature: field to the message’s header. The verifier recovers the signer’s public key using the DNS, and then verifies that the signature matches the actual message’s content.

SPF, according to Wikipedia, is Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is an email validation system designed to prevent email spam by detecting email spoofing, a common vulnerability, by verifying sender IP addresses. SPF allows administrators to specify which hosts are allowed to send mail from a given domain by creating a specific SPF record (or TXT record) in the Domain Name System (DNS). Mail exchangers use the DNS to check that mail from a given domain is being sent by a host sanctioned by that domain’s administrators.

When you have the option to enable DKIM and SPF, plus you are running your own nameservers on your cPanel server, you need to enable both options to guarantee maximum delivery of your email.

Another common mistake is the lack of a reverse DNS / PTR record for the IP address of the cPanel server or dedicated IP address the domain is sending email on. Yahoo, Hotmail and Gmail will usually flag such emails coming from mailservers with no rDNS / PTR record as spam, so please contact your VPS provider’s support department or look in the SolusVM area to set a rDNS / PTR record.

Most providers check for the existence of an A Record (subdomain) before SolusVM can set an rDNS / PTR record if the provider has SolusVM enabled to set the record. Some providers request you contact their support department to submit the rDNS / PTR records to them to submit to their network administrators.

Once you have DKIM, SPF and reverse DNS / PTR records enabled for your cPanel server, your email delivery should increase and less emails should go to spam.

The only other reason you may have a problem is if your virtual private server or dedicated server hosting provider ignores spam complaints and gets blacklisted by a spam database blacklist, like DNSBL, or other blacklists. If this is the case, you will receive bounced emails saying you are on a blacklist as the error message and will have to contact your support department of your hosting provider to have new IPs assigned to you.

cPanel Tutorial: Enable Gzip Compression In A Few Easy Steps

I had a client request this addition and it’s not as up front or simple as it should be but a few simple steps will make it easier.

Gzip compression is used by a few web applications, such as Magento’s ecommerce shopping cart and is a requirement in some instances, so installing on cPanel can be difficult and will drive you crazy.

First step:
We enable “Deflate” by running Easy Apache. If you are familiar with Easy Apache, this will not be a problem. We click the Easy Apache button and go to the following.

Profile:
Choose “Previously Saved Config” and click “Start customizing based on profile”.

Apache Version:
Choose the latest which is not END OF LIFE. For this tutorial, Apache 2.2.23 is the latest and we want to choose this then click “Next step”.

Please choose which PHP version(s) to build:
We do not want END OF LIFE or EXPERIMENTAL. For this tutorial, 5.3.17 is the latest and most stable version so we choose this and click “Next step”.

Short Options List:
You should have IonCube Loader for PHP and Suhosin for PHP enabled because most people require this at a later date. Choose both two of them and click “Exhaustive Options List”

Exhaustive Options List:
We have found our Deflate option! Click it to enable it. While we are here, you may want to consider enabling these options under PHP 5.3.17 such as Exif, GD, Mbstring, Mcrypt, PDO MySQL, and Zlib. These are common PHP requirements on most web applications and if you run a shared or reseller web hosting for individuals, they will require this one day!

Next, we click “Save and build” while we go grab a cup of coffee or take the dog for a walk around the block. Recompiling Apache and PHP takes about 10 minutes or so, depending on your system.

Second Step:

We navigate to Services Configuration >> Apache Configuration >> Include Editor >> Post VirtualHost Include, and select All Versions.

Next, we paste this:
Click here for the code to paste into this area

After we paste this, we click “Update”.

Third Step:
We login to the account of the domain we want to enable Gzip for. There will be an “Optimize Website” option now under “Software / Services” and you can enable Gzip entirely for the site, for certain file extensions, or disable it.

We have enabled Gzip globally for every domain on the server and this works because we give the user the power to maintain their account without contacting you to have this enabled.

Tutorial: How to Install Webmin on CentOS VPS

Webmin Introduction:
Webmin is a web-based interface for system administration for Unix. Using any browser that supports tables and forms (and Java for the File Manager module), you can setup user accounts, Apache, DNS, file sharing and so on.
(From the Webmin official website) 

For this tutorial and installation, I recommend the following:

• OpenVZ or Xen VPS (it doesn’t really matter)
• 512mb minimum RAM, 1024mb swap (1GB RAM/2GB swap recommended)
• 20gb of disk space
• 1 IPv4 address

Step One: Webmin Web Repos

# cat > /etc/yum.repos.d/webmin.repo << EOF
[Webmin]
name=Webmin Distribution Neutral
#baseurl=http://download.webmin.com/download/yum
mirrorlist=http://download.webmin.com/download/yum/mirrorlist
enabled=1
EOF

This command puts inside of /etc/yum.repos.d/webmin.repo the [Webmin] contents of repository. If you have issues with this comand, you can copy starting at [Webmin] and stop before EOF then paste into /etc/yum.repos.d/webmin.repo those 5 lines.

After that, we run a yum update and see if we see the Webmin repos show up in the yum output.

Step Two: Install Webmin GPG Key

# rpm --import http://www.webmin.com/jcameron-key.asc

This makes sure that we have the GPG keys necessary to verify that Webmin is valid and from the Webmin team, not Webmin files that have been hacked by an intruder and the intruders are using the Webmin servers to distribute a backdoored version of Webmin.

Step Three: Install Webmin

# yum install webmin

That’s it and all you need!

After that, you open up http://your-ip-address:10000 in your web browser and you should be asked for a username and password. The default is root and your root password.

Conclusion:
Webmin is an excellent alternative to paid control panels, like cPanel and DirectAdmin. I plan on writing a series of articles about how to setup, configure and run Webmin for your personal projects or a few websites for friends, family and coworkers.

How to Setup FTP with ProFTPD in Webmin

After installing Webmin on a VPS, you may be wondering how to add and configure FTP users. With Webmin it is not a one-click process, but the procedure is still fairly simple. To install proftpd and add a user, follow these steps:

1. Login to webmin at http://xx.xx.xx.xx:10000 (may be https:// for Debian/Ubuntu systems)
2. Access the Webmin Modules option via Webmin > Webmin Configuration
3. Select Standard module from www.webmin.com
4. Click the button on the right of that option
5. Choose: proftpd
6. Click Install Module
7. On the left sidebar, after installation, click Refresh Modules
8. Click Create a new user accessed via System > Users and Groups
9. Provide a username for what is to be your FTP account
10. Select Normal Password and provide a unique, complex password for the account
11. If desired, select a custom home directory, otherwise choose Create home directory near the bottom of the options.
12. Select New Group with same name as user
13. Click Create

Once this is done, you should be able to access FTP with the username and password you selected, using your server’s IP address as the host.

This article is also available in the VPS6.NET Knowledgebase:

https://vps6.net/my/knowledgebase/65/How-to-Setup-FTP-with-ProFTPD-in-Webmin-.html

How to Clear cPanel/WHM Brute Force Log from SSH

If you find that you have accidentally been locked out of your WHM/cPanel server by Brute Force Detection, you can log in to your VPS via SSH and run the following command to clear the brute force log:

# echo “delete from brutes; delete from logins;” | mysql cphulkd

This article is also available in the VPS6 Knowledgebase:

https://vps6.net/my/knowledgebase/28/How-to-Clear-cPanelorWHM-Brute-Force-Log-from-SSH-.html

How to Install Webmin on CentOS or Debian VPS

Webmin is a free web hosting control panel compatible with most Linux distributions. To install on CentOS or any other RHEL-derived system, follow the first half of the guide; to install on Debian or Ubuntu, skip to the latter half.

CentOS/RHEL Installation with Yum

1. Create and edit the /etc/yum.repos.d/webmin.repo file:

# vi /etc/yum.repos.d/webmin.repo

2. With the file open in vi, press “A” to enter editing mode, and add:

[Webmin]

name=Webmin Distribution Neutral

#baseurl=http://download.webmin.com/download/yum

mirrorlist=http://download.webmin.com/download/yum/mirrorlist

enabled=1

3. Save and exit the file by pressing ESC, typing :wq (colon-w-q), and pressing enter.

4. Fetch and install the proper GPG Key:

# wget http://www.webmin.com/jcameron-key.asc

# rpm –import jcameron-key.asc

5. Install Webmin with yum using the newly added repository:

# yum install webmin 

Debian/Ubuntu Installation with APT

1. Edit the APT sources list:

# vi /etc/apt/sources.list

2. With the file open in vi, press “A” to enter editing mode, and add these lines to the file:

deb http://download.webmin.com/download/repository sarge contrib

deb http://webmin.mirror.somersettechsolutions.co.uk/repository sarge contrib

3. Save and exit the file by pressing ESC, typing :wq (colon-w-q), and pressing enter.

4. Fetch and install the proper GPG Key:

# cd /root

# wget http://www.webmin.com/jcameron-key.asc

# apt-key add jcameron-key.asc

5. Install Webmin:

# apt-get update

# apt-get install webmin

For more information, visit: http://www.webmin.com/

This article is also available in the VPS6 Knowledgebase:

https://vps6.net/my/knowledgebase/25/How-to-Install-Webmin-on-CentOS-or-Debian-VPS.html

How to Install Kloxo on RHEL or CentOS VPS

The Kloxo installation process differs depending on whether you have already setup MySQL. If you have already installed MySQL and set a root password, skip to the second set of steps. Otherwise, proceed below. You will need to be logged in to your VPS as the root user to install Kloxo.

# yum install -y wget

# wget http://download.lxcenter.org/download/kloxo/production/kloxo-installer.sh

# sh ./kloxo-installer.sh –type=<master/slave>

 

If MySQL is already installed with a root password set:

# yum install -y wget

# wget http://download.lxcenter.org/download/kloxo/production/kloxo-installer.sh

# sh ./kloxo-installer.sh –type=<master/slave> –db-rootpassword=PASSWORD

Once setup is complete, you can configure Kloxo at: http://xx.xx.xx.xx:7778 (Login with username: admin and password: admin)

For additional information, please see: http://wiki.lxcenter.org/Kloxo+Installation+Guide

This article is also available in the VPS6 Knowledgebase:

https://vps6.net/my/knowledgebase/5/How-to-Install-Kloxo-on-RHEL-or-CentOS-VPS.html