Parallels H-Sphere 3.6.2 Reseller Guide
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Parallels IP Holdings GmbH
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All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Contents
Preface 11
Typographical Conventions ......................................................................................................... 11
Feedback ..................................................................................................................................... 12
About This Guide 13
Introduction 14
Getting Started ............................................................................................................................. 15
Step 1. Access Your Reseller Account ........................................................................................ 15
Step 2. Create a DNS Zone ......................................................................................................... 16
Step 3. Create an Instant Alias Template .................................................................................... 16
Step 4. Add Server Aliases .......................................................................................................... 17
Step 5. Change Temporary CP Alias to Your Own Reseller CP URL ......................................... 17
Step 6. Configure Mail Notification Addresses ............................................................................ 18
Step 7. Set up Payment Settings ................................................................................................. 19
Step 8. Create Plans.................................................................................................................... 20
Create Hosting Plans ........................................................................................................ 20
Create a System Plan and Account For Your Corporate Domain ..................................... 20
Step 9. Create Billing Periods ...................................................................................................... 21
Step 10. Configure Support Center ............................................................................................. 21
Step 11. Look and Feel ............................................................................................................... 22
DNS and Hosting 23
DNS Manager .............................................................................................................................. 24
Adding DNS Zones ...................................................................................................................... 24
Instant Alias Templates ............................................................................................................... 26
Adding Instant Alias Templates ......................................................................................... 27
Editing Instant Alias Templates ......................................................................................... 28
DNS Records ............................................................................................................................... 29
Adding custom A records .................................................................................................. 30
Adding custom MX records ............................................................................................... 31
Adding custom CNAME records ........................................................................................ 32
Hosting Your Corporate Site ........................................................................................................ 33
Step 1. Make sure you have a service DNS zone ............................................................. 33
Step 2. Create a service plan ............................................................................................ 33
Step 3. Disallow signups from outside your admin account. ............................................. 34
Step 4. Create a service account ...................................................................................... 34
Adding Domains for Third Level Hosting ..................................................................................... 34
Providing Mail Under Service Domain for Third-Level Hosting ................................................... 35
Control Panel Web Interface 36
Regional Settings ......................................................................................................................... 37
Images and Icons ........................................................................................................................ 40
Logo Images ...................................................................................................................... 40
Icons And Control Images ................................................................................................. 41
Interface Language ...................................................................................................................... 43
Preface 4
Setting Default System Language ..................................................................................... 43
Setting Admin Interface Language .................................................................................... 43
Skins and Colors .......................................................................................................................... 44
Interface Texts ............................................................................................................................. 46
Login Texts ........................................................................................................................ 46
Signup Texts ...................................................................................................................... 46
Miscellaneous Texts .......................................................................................................... 46
E-Mail Notifications 48
Setting E-Mail Notification Recipients .......................................................................................... 49
Editing E-Mail Notifications .......................................................................................................... 50
Configuring User Notification Rules ............................................................................................. 55
Online Invoices .................................................................................................................. 56
"No Charge" Notifications .................................................................................................. 57
Control Panel Configuration 58
Company Information .................................................................................................................. 59
Supported TLD's .......................................................................................................................... 60
Provider's Shared SSL ................................................................................................................ 61
Shared SSL Certificates Installation ............................................................................................ 62
Shared SSL installation wizard .......................................................................................... 63
Credit Card Brands ...................................................................................................................... 66
Domain Registrar Manager ......................................................................................................... 68
Merchant Gateways 70
Merchant Gateway Manager ....................................................................................................... 71
Setting Up Merchant Gateway .......................................................................................... 72
Editing Merchant Gateway Settings .................................................................................. 72
Associating Merchant Gateways with Credit Card Vendors ............................................. 73
Editing Description for User Credit Card Statements ........................................................ 73
Handling CC Charge Request Failures ............................................................................. 74
One Step Gateways .......................................................................................................... 75
AssureBuy Configuration ............................................................................................................. 75
Preparation ........................................................................................................................ 75
Configuration ..................................................................................................................... 75
Authorize.Net (Sim Protocol) Configuration ................................................................................ 77
Setting Up Authorize.Net ................................................................................................... 78
Bibit Configuration ....................................................................................................................... 80
Preparation ........................................................................................................................ 80
Configuration ..................................................................................................................... 80
Cardia Services Configuration ..................................................................................................... 81
Preparation ........................................................................................................................ 81
Configuration ..................................................................................................................... 81
ECHO Configuration .................................................................................................................... 82
Preparation ........................................................................................................................ 82
Configuration ..................................................................................................................... 82
ePDQ Configuration..................................................................................................................... 83
Preparation ........................................................................................................................ 83
Configuration ..................................................................................................................... 83
eWay Configuration ..................................................................................................................... 85
Preparation ........................................................................................................................ 85
Configuration ..................................................................................................................... 85
HSBC Configuration .................................................................................................................... 86
Preparation ........................................................................................................................ 86
Configuration ..................................................................................................................... 86
Preface 5
Innovative Gateway Configuration ............................................................................................... 87
Preparation ........................................................................................................................ 87
Configuration ..................................................................................................................... 87
LinkPoint (API v3.01) Configuration ............................................................................................ 88
Preparation ........................................................................................................................ 88
Configuration ..................................................................................................................... 90
MainStreetSoftWorks Configuration ............................................................................................ 92
Preparation ........................................................................................................................ 92
Configuration ..................................................................................................................... 92
Moneris Configuration.................................................................................................................. 94
Preparation ........................................................................................................................ 94
Configuration ..................................................................................................................... 94
NetBilling Configuration ............................................................................................................... 96
Preparation ........................................................................................................................ 96
Configuration ..................................................................................................................... 97
NTPNow Configuration ................................................................................................................ 98
Preparation ........................................................................................................................ 98
Configuration ..................................................................................................................... 98
Paradata Configuration .............................................................................................................. 100
Preparation ...................................................................................................................... 100
Configuration ................................................................................................................... 100
PayGate Configuration .............................................................................................................. 101
Preparation ...................................................................................................................... 101
Configuration ................................................................................................................... 101
PayJunction Configuration ......................................................................................................... 103
Preparation ...................................................................................................................... 103
Configuration ................................................................................................................... 103
Pay-Me-Now Configuration ....................................................................................................... 104
Preparation ...................................................................................................................... 104
Configuration ................................................................................................................... 104
PosNet Configuration................................................................................................................. 105
Preparation ...................................................................................................................... 105
Configuration ................................................................................................................... 105
Protx (VSP Direct Protocol 2.22) Configuration ........................................................................ 107
Preparation ...................................................................................................................... 107
Configuration ................................................................................................................... 107
PSiGate (XML API) Configuration ............................................................................................. 108
Preparation ...................................................................................................................... 108
Configuration ................................................................................................................... 108
SecurePay Configuration ........................................................................................................... 110
Preparation ...................................................................................................................... 110
Configuration ................................................................................................................... 110
SkipJack Configuration .............................................................................................................. 111
Preparation ...................................................................................................................... 111
Configuration ................................................................................................................... 112
SecurePay.com.au Configuration .............................................................................................. 113
Preparation ...................................................................................................................... 113
Configuration ................................................................................................................... 113
SecureTrading Configuration ..................................................................................................... 114
Preparation ...................................................................................................................... 114
Configuration ................................................................................................................... 114
ThePayDesk Configuration ........................................................................................................ 116
Preparation ...................................................................................................................... 116
Configuration ................................................................................................................... 117
Tucows Configuration ................................................................................................................ 118
Preparation ...................................................................................................................... 118
Configuration ................................................................................................................... 118
Preface 6
Web-based Payments 121
Web Payment Systems Manager .............................................................................................. 122
Work Principles................................................................................................................ 122
Configuration Procedure ................................................................................................. 122
Setting Web Payment Instant Notification URL ............................................................... 123
2CheckOut Configuration .......................................................................................................... 124
Authorize.Net (Sim Protocol) Configuration .............................................................................. 125
Setting Up Authorize.Net ................................................................................................. 125
ChronoPay Configuration .......................................................................................................... 127
Setting Up ChronoPay ..................................................................................................... 127
GestPay Configuration............................................................................................................... 128
PayNova Configuration .............................................................................................................. 129
PayPal Configuration ................................................................................................................. 130
Preparation ...................................................................................................................... 130
Setup Procedure.............................................................................................................. 130
Sentry Configuration .................................................................................................................. 132
Preparation ...................................................................................................................... 132
Setup Procedure.............................................................................................................. 132
Webmoney Configuration .......................................................................................................... 134
1. Set your own purse ..................................................................................................... 134
2. Activate Webmoney payments in your Parallels H-Sphere control panel ................... 134
WorldPay Configuration ............................................................................................................. 135
Setting Up WorldPay ....................................................................................................... 135
Resources 138
User/Account/Domain Management .......................................................................................... 138
Users ............................................................................................................................... 139
Accounts .......................................................................................................................... 139
Domains .......................................................................................................................... 142
Traffic ......................................................................................................................................... 143
Traffic Calculation ............................................................................................................ 144
Traffic Limit ...................................................................................................................... 144
Traffic Pricing ................................................................................................................... 144
Restricting Traffic Usage and Traffic Limit ...................................................................... 145
Charging for Traffic .......................................................................................................... 146
Traffic Configuration Changes ......................................................................................... 152
Tracking End User Traffic Consumption ......................................................................... 153
Disk Space ................................................................................................................................. 153
Charging Users for Disk Space ....................................................................................... 154
Enabling/Disabling Summary Disk Usage ....................................................................... 155
Blacklists in Parallels H-Sphere ................................................................................................. 156
Domains in blacklist ......................................................................................................... 156
Emails in blacklist ............................................................................................................ 157
Uploading and Exporting Black Lists ............................................................................... 158
Plans 159
Creating And Editing Reseller Plans ......................................................................................... 160
Starting Plan Creation Wizards ....................................................................................... 160
Starting Plan Edit Wizards ............................................................................................... 160
Simplified Plan Wizards ................................................................................................... 161
A Typical Plan Wizard................................................................................................................ 163
Step 1. Selecting Resources and Configuring Plan Settings .......................................... 164
Subsequent Steps. Setting Prices ................................................................................... 175
Unix RealMedia Plan Wizard ..................................................................................................... 176
Preface 7
MySQL Plan Wizard .................................................................................................................. 176
Windows Plan Wizard ................................................................................................................ 176
Windows RealMedia Plan Wizard ............................................................................................. 178
E-mail Plan Wizard .................................................................................................................... 178
Markup Plan Wizard .................................................................................................................. 178
Admin Plans ............................................................................................................................... 179
Creating Admin Plans ...................................................................................................... 179
Editing Admin Plans ........................................................................................................ 180
Demo Plans ............................................................................................................................... 181
Access to Plans ......................................................................................................................... 184
Plan Controls ............................................................................................................................. 185
Show ................................................................................................................................ 186
Copy ................................................................................................................................ 187
Delete .............................................................................................................................. 187
Plan Settings .............................................................................................................................. 188
Controlling RAM And CPU Usage ............................................................................................. 191
Enable RLimit in Plans .................................................................................................... 191
Configure RLimit Values .................................................................................................. 192
Limiting Resource Use For Individual Accounts .............................................................. 192
Billing 194
Plans ................................................................................................................................ 194
Billing Types .................................................................................................................... 194
Trial Hosting .................................................................................................................... 194
Billing Profiles .................................................................................................................. 194
Prices ............................................................................................................................... 195
Billing Periods .................................................................................................................. 195
Crediting Accounts .......................................................................................................... 195
Debiting Accounts ........................................................................................................... 195
Billing Modes ................................................................................................................... 195
Traffic ............................................................................................................................... 195
Disk Space ...................................................................................................................... 196
E-mailing Invoices ........................................................................................................... 196
Taxes ............................................................................................................................... 196
Promotions ...................................................................................................................... 196
Suspending Debtors ........................................................................................................ 196
Money Returns ................................................................................................................ 197
Billing Statements ............................................................................................................ 197
Reseller Billing ........................................................................................................................... 198
Wholesale Prices vs Retail Prices ................................................................................... 199
How do I view my billing history? .................................................................................... 202
How do I pay?.................................................................................................................. 206
Billing Types .............................................................................................................................. 209
Billing Profiles ............................................................................................................................ 210
Billing Periods and Discounts .................................................................................................... 210
Default and Actual Billing Periods. Base Prices .............................................................. 210
Monthly and Billing Period Resources ............................................................................ 210
Opening a New Billing Period/Month............................................................................... 211
Creating and Configuring Actual Billing Periods ............................................................. 211
Changing Account's Billing Period ............................................................................................. 213
Changing Billing Period Start Date ............................................................................................ 214
Credit Limit ................................................................................................................................. 216
Setting Credit Limit in a Plan ........................................................................................... 217
Increasing Credit Limit for Individual Accounts ............................................................... 217
Resetting Credit Limit For All Users ................................................................................ 217
Fees Collected From Customers ............................................................................................... 218
Plan Fees ........................................................................................................................ 218
Taxes ......................................................................................................................................... 219
Preface 8
Tax Exemption ........................................................................................................................... 221
Enabling Tax Exemption ................................................................................................. 221
Setting Tax Exemption Mode at Signup .......................................................................... 222
Activating User Accounts with Tax Exemption Code Entered ........................................ 222
Money Returns .......................................................................................................................... 224
Events that Trigger Refunds ............................................................................................ 224
Refund Formulas ............................................................................................................. 225
Moneyback Period ........................................................................................................... 225
Reducing Quotas and Limits ........................................................................................... 226
Refund Percentage ......................................................................................................... 226
Managing Debtors ..................................................................................................................... 227
Punitive Measures ........................................................................................................... 227
Punitive Measures Automation ........................................................................................ 227
Start Date of Time in Debt ............................................................................................... 228
Promotions ................................................................................................................................. 229
Promotion Types ............................................................................................................. 229
Calculating Promotion Discounts .................................................................................... 229
Creating Promotions ........................................................................................................ 229
Associating Promotions With Plans................................................................................. 232
Extra Packages .......................................................................................................................... 233
Creating Extra Packs ....................................................................................................... 233
Managing Extra Packs .................................................................................................... 234
Dedicated Servers 236
Adding Network Switches .......................................................................................................... 237
Creating/Managing Dedicated Server Templates ..................................................................... 239
Custom-built Dedicated Servers ...................................................................................... 240
Dedicated Server Plans ............................................................................................................. 241
User Plans ....................................................................................................................... 241
User's Choosing a Server at Signup ............................................................................... 244
Managing Dedicated Servers .................................................................................................... 244
Adding Dedicated Servers ............................................................................................... 245
Editing Dedicated Servers ............................................................................................... 247
Deleting Dedicated Servers ............................................................................................. 248
Custom-built Dedicated Servers ................................................................................................ 248
Dedicated Server Status ............................................................................................................ 249
Assigning Additional IP Ranges ................................................................................................ 252
1. Set Prices for Extra IPs in Plans ................................................................................. 252
2. Add IP Subnet ............................................................................................................. 252
3. Split IP Subnet to Smaller IP Ranges ......................................................................... 254
4. Create PTR zone for Reverse DNS Records .............................................................. 255
5. Assign IP Range to Dedicated Server ......................................................................... 256
6. Unassign IP Range ..................................................................................................... 257
Dedicated Servers' Maintenance ............................................................................................... 258
Regular Backups ............................................................................................................. 258
Maintenance Requests .................................................................................................... 259
Automatic Cancellation Settings...................................................................................... 260
Parallels Virtuozzo Containers 262
Creating Virtuozzo Plans ........................................................................................................... 263
Creating Virtuozzo Plan Groups ................................................................................................ 264
Signing Up Users for Virtuozzo Plans ....................................................................................... 264
Parallels Sitebuilder Integration 265
Licensing Parallels Sitebuilder Accounts ................................................................................... 266
Preface 9
Configuring Access to Parallels Sitebuilder Plans from Parallels H-Sphere Plans ................... 266
Migrating from Parallels SiteStudio to Parallels Sitebuilder ...................................................... 267
Customer Signup 268
Signing Up Users ....................................................................................................................... 268
Signing Up Users from Admin Control Panel .................................................................. 269
Signing Up Users from the Street .................................................................................... 270
Moderating User Signups .......................................................................................................... 270
Moderated Signups ......................................................................................................... 270
Email Notifications ........................................................................................................... 271
Activating Or Rejecting Signups ...................................................................................... 271
Changing Details of Moderated Accounts ....................................................................... 272
Moderated Credit Card Signup ........................................................................................ 273
Signup Guard Settings .............................................................................................................. 274
Creating moderation rules ............................................................................................... 274
Setting Signup Guard Blacklist ........................................................................................ 276
Viewing Signup Info ................................................................................................................... 281
Signup IPs ....................................................................................................................... 281
Signup Statistics .............................................................................................................. 281
Trial Hosting ............................................................................................................................... 283
Introduction to Trial Hosting ............................................................................................ 283
Managing Trial Accounts ................................................................................................. 283
Enabling Trial Registration .............................................................................................. 284
Grouping Trial Plans ........................................................................................................ 285
Managing Trial Accounts ................................................................................................. 286
Enabling Trial Registration .............................................................................................. 287
Grouping Trial Plans ........................................................................................................ 288
Account Management 289
Finding User Accounts............................................................................................................... 290
Generic Search................................................................................................................ 291
Search in Resellers ......................................................................................................... 292
Search Deleted Accounts ................................................................................................ 293
Search Dedicated Server Accounts ................................................................................ 293
Search Suspended Accounts .......................................................................................... 294
Search by Contact Info .................................................................................................... 295
Search by Credit Card Charges ...................................................................................... 295
Search by Disk Usage ..................................................................................................... 296
Search by Domain Name ................................................................................................ 296
Search by Invoice/Balance Entries.................................................................................. 296
Search by Logical and Physical Servers ......................................................................... 297
Search by Merchant Gateway Transactions ................................................................... 297
Search by Reseller Traffic ............................................................................................... 298
Search by Resellers Disk Usage ..................................................................................... 298
Search by Transfer Traffic ............................................................................................... 298
User Details ............................................................................................................................... 299
Admin Notes .............................................................................................................................. 299
Crediting Accounts ..................................................................................................................... 300
Debiting Accounts ...................................................................................................................... 301
View debits ...................................................................................................................... 304
Deleting Accounts ...................................................................................................................... 305
Suspending and Resuming Accounts........................................................................................ 306
Suspending Accounts ...................................................................................................... 309
Resuming Accounts ........................................................................................................ 309
Restoring Accounts.................................................................................................................... 310
Reports ...................................................................................................................................... 311
Billing Balance ................................................................................................................. 312
Preface 10
Estimated balance exhaustion date ................................................................................ 314
Daily Report ..................................................................................................................... 315
Charge Log ...................................................................................................................... 316
Web Payments Log ......................................................................................................... 317
Registrar Log ................................................................................................................... 318
Credit Card Charge ......................................................................................................... 319
CC Processing Errors Report .......................................................................................... 320
Billing Entries ................................................................................................................... 321
Tax/Refund Report .......................................................................................................... 323
Signup/Go-away Statistics .............................................................................................. 324
Monthly Revenue ............................................................................................................ 325
Monetary Transactions .................................................................................................... 326
Transfer Traffic Report .................................................................................................... 327
Disk Usage Report .......................................................................................................... 329
Reports Installed in a Package ........................................................................................ 330
Processing Check Payments ..................................................................................................... 336
Technical Support 337
Client Support Center ................................................................................................................ 338
Configuring Administration Security ................................................................................ 339
Managing Trouble Tickets ............................................................................................... 340
Task System .................................................................................................................... 344
Searching Trouble Tickets ............................................................................................... 345
Exchanging Private Messages ........................................................................................ 346
Supporting Reseller End Users ....................................................................................... 347
Ticket Statistics................................................................................................................ 348
Ticket Queues ................................................................................................................. 349
Configuring Support Center ....................................................................................................... 350
Knowledge Base ........................................................................................................................ 354
Creating Knowledge Bases ............................................................................................. 355
Editing and Removing Knowledge Bases ....................................................................... 355
Exporting Knowledge Base ............................................................................................. 356
Importing Knowledge Bases ............................................................................................ 357
Spellcheck ....................................................................................................................... 357
Search ............................................................................................................................. 358
Settings ............................................................................................................................ 358
Custom Jobs .............................................................................................................................. 359
Adding Custom Jobs ....................................................................................................... 360
Adding Tasks to Custom Jobs ......................................................................................... 361
Tracking Custom Job Status ........................................................................................... 362
Mass Mail ................................................................................................................................... 363
Comodo SSL Manager 365
Step 1. Register as a Comodo CA Web host reseller ............................................................... 366
Step 2. Configure prices for various certificate types ................................................................ 366
Step 3. Enable SSL Support in plans ........................................................................................ 368
Step 4. Manage your customer requests................................................................................... 368
In this chapter:
Typographical Conventions ............................................................................... 11
Feedback .......................................................................................................... 12
Formatting convention
Type of Information
Example
Special Bold
Items you must select,
such as menu options,
command buttons, or
items in a list.
Go to the System tab.
Titles of chapters,
sections, and
subsections.
Read the Basic
Administration chapter.
Italics
Used to emphasize the
importance of a point, to
introduce a term or to
designate a command
line placeholder, which is
to be replaced with a real
name or value.
The system supports the
so called wildcard
character search.
Monospace
The names of
commands, files,
directories, and domain
names.
The license file is located
in the
http://docs/common/
licenses directory.
C H A P T E R 1
Preface
Typographical Conventions
Before you start using this guide, it is important to understand the documentation
conventions used in it.
The following kinds of formatting in the text identify special information.
12 Preface
Preformatted
On-screen computer
output in your commandline sessions; source
code in XML, C++, or
other programming
languages.
# ls –al /files
total 14470
Preformatted
Bold
What you type,
contrasted with on-screen
computer output.
# cd /root/rpms/php
CAPITALS
Names of keys on the
keyboard.
SHIFT, CTRL, ALT
KEY+KEY
Key combinations for
which the user must
press and hold down one
key and then press
another.
CTRL+P, ALT+F4
Feedback
If you have found a mistake in this guide, or if you have suggestions or ideas on how to
improve this guide, please send your feedback using the online form at
http://www.parallels.com/en/support/usersdoc/. Please include in your report the
guide's title, chapter and section titles, and the fragment of text in which you have found
an error.
Parallels H-Sphere Reseller guide aims at resellers of hosting services and explains
C H A P T E R 2
About This Guide
how to configure and administer Parallels H-Sphere control panel.
Parallels H-Sphere is a comprehensive hosting automation system that allows you to
In this chapter:
Getting Started .................................................................................................. 15
Step 1. Access Your Reseller Account .............................................................. 15
Step 2. Create a DNS Zone ............................................................................... 16
Step 3. Create an Instant Alias Template .......................................................... 16
Step 4. Add Server Aliases ................................................................................ 17
Step 5. Change Temporary CP Alias to Your Own Reseller CP URL ................ 17
Step 6. Configure Mail Notification Addresses ................................................... 18
Step 7. Set up Payment Settings ....................................................................... 19
Step 8. Create Plans ......................................................................................... 20
Step 9. Create Billing Periods ............................................................................ 21
Step 10. Configure Support Center ................................................................... 21
Step 11. Look and Feel ..................................................................................... 22
C H A P T E R 3
Introduction
provide a heterogeneous operating system environment to your customers across
multiple servers. It can manage hosting servers located in various data centers.
Parallels H-Sphere can have a multiple server layout, called a cluster. The main server
in the cluster is the actual Parallels H-Sphere Control Panel, a web application with
graphical interface, which centralizes all hosting management tasks, controls all hosting
servers and services, manages users, domains, events, and processes. Through
Parallels H-Sphere web interface, you can configure and manage these and other
subsystems, other servers, user accounts and domains, etc. All system data, such as
billing, domain, and other info, is stored in the Postgres system database. The Control
panel consists of many subsystems, the major of them described below.
Getting Started
To switch to Reseller Billing CP:
To switch to Reseller Admin CP:
This document explains what you need to do in order to set up your hosting system with
minimum required configuration. We presume that your reseller account has been created.
Follow the given instructions step by step to configure your Reseller CP.
Step 1. Access Your Reseller Account
Parallels H-Sphere offers simplified reseller concept which means more convenient way to
work with both the Reseller User account (hereinafter referred to as Reseller Billing) and the
Reseller Master Admin account which is now created automatically once reseller account is
created. Each of the above accounts has its own CP design.
The new approach allows resellers to switch between accounts easily without having to log
out/into accounts as if they worked with one CP. Both Reseller Admin and Reseller Billing
interfaces are provided with respective links (menu items) to switch between reseller billing
account and reseller admin account CP's. They will open in one and the same window.
Second way to access Reseller Admin CP is to log into your Reseller Admin CP from
Reseller Billing interface. In this case, however, Reseller Admin CP will open in the new
window.
There's also a third way to access Reseller Admin Section: via Reseller CP URL which can
contain either Reseller CP alias or registered domain name. Enter URL into the address bar
and when the login page is loaded, enter Reseller User (billing account) login and password.
Parallels H-Sphere will send you to the Reseller Admin CP. However, we don't recommend
doing so for privacy/security reasons. Reseller can have several Admin accounts but only
one Reseller Master Admin Account. According to that, switching between the Reseller Billing
and Reseller Admin is possible only via Reseller Master Admin. Minor Admin accounts can't
find and log into the Master Admin Account, therefore switching panels is security safe.
Step 2. Create a DNS Zone
Now that you have entered the admin account, you need to setup your DNS:
1. Go to DNS Manager -> E. Manager > Add DNS Zone.
2. Enter all necessary information on the page that appears, where:
Name: the name of your domain without the "www" part.
Admin e-mail: your e-mail address with ' .' instead of '@'
Allow third level domain hosting: check this box to let your customers register domains
like customerdomain.yourdomain.com.
Master server and slave 1: Leave as is.
3. Click Submit.
Step 3. Create an Instant Alias Template
The instant alias template is required to generate instant aliases. They provide immediate
access to your customers' sites while DNS servers get updated.
To create an Instant Alias Template in your admin account control panel:
1. Select DNS Manager in the E. Manager menu.
2. Choose DNS zone and click the Edit icon under the Action field.
3. At the top of the page that shows, click the Add instant alias link.
4. In the form that appears, enter "u" or any other letter for prefix and leave the
shared IP tag value as it is. Click Submit.
5. You will now need to go to your domain registrar and create the name
servers that are associated with your domain name. Use the IP numbers that
were assigned to the name servers.
Step 4. Add Server Aliases
If you, as a reseller, don't need your own DNS servers, skip this step.
Server alias is your own name for the parent host. Once you set up the server alias, it will
appear everywhere in place of the real server name. In other words, the parent host will
become totally transparent to the end customers, and you will look to them as a totally
independent hosting provider.
To add server aliases:
1. Select Server Aliases in the E. Manager menu.
2. Set your server aliases for each host in the Reseller`s DNS server aliases section
and click Submit. These server aliases must be registered with your domain
name registrar. Note: Name servers and the corresponding IP's for each of
them will show in Reseller`s DNS server aliases section.
3. Set your server aliases for each host in the Other reseller's server aliases section
and click Submit. These server aliases must be registered with any registrar.
Note: until your name servers are registered by an accredited registrar, they
will never be recognized by servers across the Internet and none of your
reseller domains will work. It usually takes about 2 to 4 days before these
name servers become active across the Internet.
Step 5. Change Temporary CP Alias to Your
Own Reseller CP URL
Once the system configuration is completed, the reseller CP can be accessed by the instant
reseller CP domain alias.
To change this temporary CP alias to your own Rreseller CP URL:
1. Switch to Reseller User panel
2. Go to Info - > Admin Settings and change Reseller CP URL:
Set the protocol: http for regular or https for SSL secured
Enter the new domain name with cp at the beginning. (e.g.: cp.example.com).
Leave the the port number as is - it must be the same as that of the parent hosting
company.
3. Click Change.
As a result, the URL of the control panel will be similar to http://cp.example.com:8080
Step 6. Configure Mail Notification Addresses
To subscribe your staff to receive copies of user e-mail notifications:
1. Go to the Settings menu - > Notifications - > Notification Recipients.
2. On the page that appears add subscribers to mailing lists you choose.
Step 7. Set up Payment Settings
On this step you can configure Parallels H-Sphere to process credit cards, accept check
payments and perform online web payments for the services you provide.
To configure credit card processing through Merchant Gateway Manager:
1. Go to the Settings menu ->Payment Settings -> CC Brands and add necessary CC
brands.
2. Go to the Settings menu ->Payment Settings -> Merchant Gateway and add
necessary merchant gateway from the drop down menu and click Add.
3. In the Set Active drop down box, select this merchant gateway. You can have
only one active merchant gateway at a time.
4. In the Payment Type drop down box, select the CC brand you would like to
process with this merchant gateway.
5. Click the Activate button.
To configure Web Payment Processor, like PayPal or 2CheckOut:
1. Go to the Settings menu ->Payment Settings -> Merchant Gateway.
2. Select the payment system from the drop-down menu and click Edit:
3. Enter your account settings. Once you enter correct settings, the web
payment system will appear in the list as Active
To configure Processing Check Payments:
1. Go to the Settings menu ->Payment Settings -> Merchant Gateway.
2. Enable Accept Checks.
Step 8. Create Plans
Create Hosting Plans
Now that your control panel is configured, you can create hosting plans.
1. Go to Plans -> Create and click Select next to the plan to start the wizard.
2. Enter the name of the plan at the top of the page.
3. Select the resources (features) you would like to include in the plan. Make
sure to leave Service Domain unchecked.
4. In the last section of the wizard, make sure to enter Credit limit, e.g. 10 and
click Next to proceed.
5. Enter prices and free units for each type of resource and click the Create
button at the bottom of the page.
6. Go to Plans -> Manage and turn this plan ON for signups.
Now your control panel is ready for signing up users. Please read all documentation before
using Parallels H-Sphere as a production system.
Create a System Plan and Account For Your Corporate
Domain
This step is required to host your corporate promotion site with your hosting system.
1. Go to Plans -> Create menu and select a Unix or Windows plan wizard
2. On Step 1, set the plan name to System and include resources you want to
use with your site.
3. Make sure to check Service domain and in the Settings section set Billing Type to
Without billing.
4. Submit and complete the wizard.
5. Go to Plans -> Manage and click Access for the System plan and make sure only
Admin is checked.
6. Go to Signup menu and create System account using the Signup Wizard
Note: Your system account is treated as an ordinary end customer account. You'll be
charged for all resources used in this account.
Step 9. Create Billing Periods
Each plan can have several billing periods with different price discounts for each. You can't
delete billing periods, but you can change their duration. For instance, if you create a billing
period for 1 year and you find out you don't need it, you can change it to 3 months.
To create a billing period for a plan:
1. Go to Plans -> Manage and click Settings in the Advanced section.
2. Scroll down to the Payment Intervals and click Add.
3. Specify the duration of the billing period. For instance, to make it 3 months
long, select MONTH and enter 3 in the Size box.
4. Optionally, enter discounts. For instance, if you want to cancel any setup fee
for this billing period, enter 100 in the Setup Discount field.
5. Click Submit. This will add the billing period to the list.
Step 10. Configure Support Center
Support Center is the web-based means of providing customer support.
To configure your Support Center:
1. Go to Plans -> Create menu and choose Administrator Plan Wizard.
2. Enter TechSupport Admin as the name of the plan, check to include TroubleTicket
Admin and Allow assignment of trouble tickets and submit.
3. Go to Plans -> Manage and turn this plan ON for signups.
4. Go to Signup menu, click to sign up for Tech Support Admin and create Tech
Support Admin account using the signup wizard.
5. Go to Settings - > Tech Support and configure your Support Center. It is
required to collect customers' e-mails and convert them into trouble tickets.
Step 11. Look and Feel
Go to Settings -> Look and Feel menu and enter information to all necessary sections. These
settings will affect all your customers' control panels.
Corporate Logos : enter Banner HTML Code for the banner to show up in your users CPs
and the location and sizes of the logos. Click the help [ ? ] icon for details.
Company Info: enter the company info that will show in customer e-mail notifications and
the address will be used by customers to send checks.
Default language: choose CP interface language. It can be overridden by individual
customers.
Regional options: enter preferred currency symbol.The language and the regional settings
will affect all your customers' control panels.
Default CP design: set designs to be available by users and the default design for Users
CPs.
This chapter discusses the configuration steps required for your DNS.
In this chapter:
DNS Manager ................................................................................................... 24
Adding DNS Zones ............................................................................................ 24
Instant Alias Templates ..................................................................................... 26
DNS Records .................................................................................................... 29
Hosting Your Corporate Site .............................................................................. 33
Adding Domains for Third Level Hosting ........................................................... 34
Providing Mail Under Service Domain for Third-Level Hosting ........................... 35
C H A P T E R 4
DNS and Hosting
24 DNS and Hosting
DNS Manager
DNS Manager in the Admin panel is used to create and manage:
service DNS zones - to host your corporate site and provide third level domain
hosting.
instant alias templates - to provide immediate access to users' newly registered
domains until their domain's DNS hasn't been propagated.
DNS records - to manage servers external to Parallels H-Sphere with Parallels H-
Sphere DNS.
It's not intended to work with your user domains' dns.
Adding DNS Zones
You must have at least one DNS zone in your system. Before you start adding a DNS
zone, make sure to have added the DNS servers with Service IPs.
To add a DNS zone:
1. Select DNS Manager in the E.Manager menu:
2. Click the Add DNS Zone link:
DNS and Hosting 25
3. Enter zone name and zone administrator e-mail and choose whether to
allow third level domain hosting in this zone:
Name: the name of the DNS zone you are going to create. If this domain name is
not yet registered, don't forget to register it with a domain registration company.
Admin e-mail: the e-mail address of this DNS zone administrator.
Allow third level domain hosting: allow the creation of lower level domains in this
DNS zone.
Master/slave server: available only for service DNS zones - allows you to choose
and appoint a master and a slave server. The information is backed up every
hour.
4. After you submit the form, the new zone appears in the DNS Manager
table:
26 DNS and Hosting
5. Click the EDIT icon to go to the DNS zone management page. Here you
In this section:
Adding Instant Alias Templates ......................................................................... 27
Editing Instant Alias Templates ................................................................ ......... 28
can add instant alias templates, custom DNS records and Reseller CP
alias to your DNS zone:
Instant Alias Templates
Instant Alias Templates are used to generate Instant Aliases, temporary addresses
providing immediate access to users' domains from the Internet. They are usually
helpful when the DNS servers worldwide are being refreshed and the site is temporarily
unavailable at the regular domain name.
Creating an instant alias template will automatically add one or more A-DNS records to
your service zone. These records resolve all your logical servers.
DNS and Hosting 27
Adding Instant Alias Templates
To add instant alias:
1. Select DNS Manager in the E.Manager menu.
2. Click the EDIT icon to go to the DNS zone management page. The
following page appears:
28 DNS and Hosting
3. To add an instant alias template, click the Add instant alias link. This will
open the following form to fill out:
Prefix: instant alias prefix that will appear on the left to the domain part in user's
instant domain alias. Different prefixes should be set if you use different shared
IP tags. Other than that, it is recommended to use one and the same prefix (e.g.
u for all instant alias templates).
Shared IP tag: a digital "mark" that helps separate sites within one plan on one
logical server. All sites located on the same logical host under the same plan are
usually assigned to the same shared IP. This feature allows to give a different
shared IP to a group of sites of, say, explicit nature. This may become
necessary as many corporate firewalls filter sites based on their IP, not the
domain name.
Normally, you are expected to have devoted one IP address for each shared IP
tag. To use a shared IP tag, you need to have it defined for every logical host.
Numbers 10 to 99 are acceptable. The default value of 2 is assigned when the
field is submitted being empty.
4. Click Submit. You will be taken back to the list of instant aliases with the
new instant alias template added to the list.
Editing Instant Alias Templates
Once an Instant Alias is created, the system adds all necessary A DNS records to this
DNS zone.
To view these DNS records, cilck the Edit button near the necessary Instant Aliases:
DNS and Hosting 29
The upper part of the table lists the existing DNS A records in the selected DNS zone.
To delete DNS records, click the Trash icon.
The lower part of the table appears only when the DNS zone does not contain A
records for some logical servers. It lists these logical servers with their IP's.
To add a logical server to the DNS zone, click the Add button. You can add all these
servers to the DNS zone by clicking the Add records to all listed logical servers link at the
bottom of the table.
To delete Instant Alias Template, click the Trash icon next to the corresponding alias.
DNS Records
Custom DNS records are required to manage non-HSphere servers with Parallels HSphere DNS zone or to configure new logical servers that are added manually.
Depending on the service, you can add:
A records
MX records
CNAME records
To add new custom DNS records:
1. In your admin control panel go to the E.Manager menu -> DNS Manager.
The following page shows:
30 DNS and Hosting
2. Click the Edit icon near the chosen DNS zone. A page similar to this will
In this section:
Adding custom A records ................................................................................... 30
Adding custom MX records ................................................................................ 31
Adding custom CNAME records ........................................................................ 32
appear:
3. At the bottom of the page that shows, select a DNS record from the
drop-down list and click the Go button.
4. On the form that shows enter all necessary data and click Submit to
save.
You can add one of the following types of DNS records:
A records to map domain names and web server IP's.
MX records to map domain names and their mail server IP's.
5. CNAME records to map aliases with domain names.
Adding custom A records
The Address record (A record) gives you the IP address of a domain. That way, users
that try to go to www.example.com will get to the right IP address.
To add a new DNS A record, you need to provide a set of parameters:
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