Hostgator Training notes

IMAP = gator.hostgator.com:143

Sitebuilder Login Info

agila_bwright
UHgnnpphdJNo

last 4 of CC is good for verificatio and if they paid with PayPal they must provide
the paypal id transaction #

What to do b4 you put a customer on the hold!!!

Ask the customers permission
Give the reason
And the time frame 

Windows:      server 2003

Why Windows?
Personal preference: they just prefer it...
ASP.net, and that goes for anything.NET
MSSQL- Microsofts version of My SQL very expensive but great for
handling large databases
Remote desktop- Most people are used to using this to control there
windows servers.
Visual Basics Development - Visual basics is a windows
programming handler
IIS - Webserver for windows the same way apache is for linux but
you can still run apache off of windows.

Exchange Server
We do not offer MS exchange at Hostgator it requires a license that
we do not provide...

Plesk logins will be HTTPS://ip:8443

Plesk User: admin
Site preview: http://ip/$sitepreview/domain.com/

Document Root: httpdocs (non SSL)

                            httpsdocs (SSL)

Files and Folders are NOT case-sensitive ( they are in

Linux)
index.html is the same as InDeX.html

Linux ---  root, reseller    --   cPanel email

Plesk ---  admin, reseller (plesk 9) client (plesk 8&9)
domain, email

all users login to the same URL

https://ip:8443

you can access and modify accounts below your log-in lvl
not above it.

By default the file manager is not enabled in plesk 8&9

you must go to  Domain Administrator Access and enable
Physical hosting management!!!!!!!!!!!

SEO Hosting - Search engine Optimization

Links and where they are from

one waylinks
----->

reciprocal Links
<------
-------->
74.83.15.8
A.B.C.D.

IP ADRESSSES ARE BROKEN UP INTO 4 CLASSES A. B. C. D.

Nameservers on seperate c class ip's

all ips are shared but you can purchase a dedicated ip address
but cannot gaurantee it will be on a the same server

http://searchenginewatch.com-- third party site

css and html validators- w3schools.com
seohosting has no Forms at all.
transfers are limited to how many ip classc purchases example 5
classc ips 5 transfers.
SEO billing system has always been seperate and always will be
sperate
billing.seohosting.com
admin.seohosting.com

VPS
You have to have lvl 3 or above to get your sites transfered
becausebelow lvl3 cPanel is not offered... comes with 2 ip
addresses by default IP's are 2 dollars per month unless there is a
promotion.
we still back up these servers weekly...
24/7/365 support
WHM auto pilot for free but they must pay a 5 dolllar a month
license fee for WHM complete solutions
Unlimited transfers in the first 30 days
we will transfer only if the VPS cost equial too or more than the
plan you are using with us

https://ip:4643  login for VZ panel

root
all vps customers are located in gatorbill ( new billing system)

http://hostgator.com/ticket

Shared Reseller VPS Dedicated

Shared -> Shared Reseller -> Reseller VPS -> VPS Upgrade Anything ->
Upgrade Upgrade * Email Dedicated Upgrade
* Use Online Form * Use Online Form [email protected] * No online form -
* Free1 * Free1 * Free1 Manual Upgrade
* No Server Change * No Server Change * No Server Change * Free content
transfers
Shared -> Shared Reseller -> Reseller VPS -> VPS 1. Purchase new
Downgrade Downgrade Downgrade
* Use Online Form * Use Online Form * Email account
* $10 fee * $10 fee [email protected] 2. Transfer
* No Server Change * No Server Change * Free files/sites
* No Server Change (Free)
3. Change DNS
and wait 72
hours for
propagation
4. Cancel old
account

Dedicated ->
Anything Downgrade
* No online form -
Manual Downgrade
* NO free content
transfers
1. Purchase new
account
2. Transfer
files/sites
3. Change DNS
and wait 72
hours for
propagation
4. Cancel old
account

Shared -> Reseller Reseller -> Shared Anything -> VPS

Upgrade2 Downgrade Upgrade4
* Use Online Form * No online form - * No online form -
* Free (including Manual Downgrade Manual Upgrade
content transfer)3 * NO free content * Free content
* Requires Server transfers transfers5
Change 1. Purchase new 1. Purchase new
* Requires DNS account account
Change 2. Transfer 2. Transfer
files/sites files/sites
3. Change DNS (Free5)
and wait 72 3. Change DNS
hours for and wait 72
propagation hours for
4. Cancel old propagation
account 4. Cancel old
account
VPS -> Anything
Downgrade6
* No online form -
Manual Downgrade
* NO free content
transfers
1. Purchase new
 account
2. Transfer
files/sites
3. Change DNS
and wait 72
hours for
propagation
4. Cancel old
account
1
We will invoice them for the difference between the plans.
2
The customer will need to cancel their Shared account after we transfer everything over.
3
We will transfer their cPanel exactly as it is on the shared server to the reseller server. We
will not split their addon domains into separate cPanels on their reseller account. They
would have to get a quote from our Transfers Department for that service.
4
An upgrade is considered a change to a non-VPS account that costs equal to or the same as
your current HostGator plan.
5
The free transfers are only available when cPanel is purchased with the VPS.

If someone wants to transfer a domain registration

all they have to do is go to url
http://hostgator.com/transfer

Notice:
Please note that the free private SSL is only
available to customers on the business plan.
Along with our free private SSL, we provide you
with the free dedicated IP address which is
required when installing your SSL.
Installation will require an IP change. After
installation, your computer might show the site as
down, as it will be remembering the old IP. Please
keep in mind that this will go away in a few hours
and will affect anyone that has been to your site
recently.

we resell comodo SSL's

Domain Validated --- Positive SSL
Company validated --- Instant SSL

Domain validated -- 50$ per year - free for

business includes installation
Company Validated --- 150$ per year

Validates Domain --
Company Validates WHOIS on: company and
contact info

DV-- Static seal- not interactive- not clickable

CV- Interactive Seal - clickable and displays info

DV- No warranty
CV- warranty 10,000$ -- Up to 1000 for each
transaction
both of these must have a deicated IP address for
2$ a month

4 Steps to 3rd party SSL installs 10$ fee for

installs from a 3rd party

1. CSR Form---
2.we generate an RSA key they take it to there
SSL provider.
3. get the SSL code or TA certificate from the
provider
4. Install SSL form on our website
this 4 step process applies to shared and reseller
this form has to be done each time it is Installed.

every new domain requires request site studio and

your site must be fully propogated with means it
must be pointed to the server or you wont even be
able to log in

chilisoft
allows you to run your asp programs on a linux
server but you must change servers after you
request it
and resellers must pay 5$

Transfer

Notice:
Neither free or paid transfer services carry any
guarantees. We will move the primary domain of
the shared hosting account free of charge within
30 days of signup even if service has not been
used. Additional domains or sub domains are not
included in the free transfer service. The majority
of transfers are completed in less than 24 hours,
however, due to the nature of some transfers and
depending on how many are currently in the
queue, it could take up to 72 hours or more before
everything is completed.
If transferring from a cpanel host, it is required to
have the same amount of free disk space as used
disk space. This is required so that full cpanel
backups can be generated without errors. If this is
not possible, we recommend asking your old host
to generate a full cpanel backup for the account
and placing this in your home directory.
If you have databases to be moved, you must
specifically inform us where and how to access
them in the instructions below.
Do NOT cancel your old hosting account until you
have changed DNS and thoroughly inspected your
site to ensure everything was transferred properly.
We will assist you in transferring the files for the
primary domain on your account. If you require
add-on domains to be transferred, please email
[email protected] for a custom quote.

DO NOT EVER QUOTE A TRANSFER EVER EVER

EVER EVER EVER

10$ fee to activate sub accounts on reseller

account for SSH activation but free for resellers
primary domain.
The customer has to go in and update there
nameservers if you see ns1 or ns2

Why domain transfer would fail

1. Domain is expired
2. The time with the current registar is less than
60 days
3. the domain status is locked(which is done for
the protection of the registrant.
4. Not having update WHOIS info specifically the
Admin e-mail
5. an invalid EPP cose or Authorization code
6. Waiting until the end of the registration because
it takes 5-7 days to complete, because of this we
want our customers to start 3-4 months ahead.

Shared, Private and Dynamic

Account type              Nameserver type                

Examples

shared
            \
                                
shared                                  nsxx.hostgator.com
shared
           
/                                                               
nsxx.websitewelcome.com reseller
                                                                         
    snsxx.websitewelcome.com  SEO
Reseller
 SEO       \
                               
Private                                   
ns1.yourdomain.com
             
/                                                              
ns2.yourdomain.com
dedicated
VPS
                                                                         
    whateva.domain.com
                                                                         
    whatevs.domain.com

Primary nameserver = main shared IP

ex. 72.53.92.21

Secondary nameserver = Main shared IP +1

ex. 72.53.92.22
Private name servers are registered at the
registar-

Some Email Notes

This is perfectly acceptable. You can use HostGator
for your website only, email only, both or neither.

Not working?
Let me check your MX record.
Agent: Check the MX Lookup to see if the customer
has a custom MX record. Check with internal
support to be sure they are on the "local domains"
list normally, and the "remote domains" list if they
have custom MX.

Ports:
FTP:21 -   Industry standard

Root SSH (VPS/Dedicated) : 22

Jailshell  (shared/reseller): 2222
SMTP: 25 or 26

DISABLE AUTOMATIC CHECKING OF MAIL FOR

MAC-MAIL
MAC MAIL USES A PROCESS EACH TIME A MAIL IS
OPENED AND THE LIMIT IS 25 BEFORE AN ERROR
COMES UP

.htaccess file - the name of the file

stands for "hyper text access"
apache always checks the .htaccess for additional
instructions b4 serving your website.those instructions are
called directives. each directive typically goes on its own
line. default directivesm are specified in httpd. conf       
Root access is required to directly edit httpd file.   Instead,
shared enviroment customers use the .htaccess file since
they dont have root admin on a shared server.
trying to view the htaccess in the browser will give you a
403 forbidden error.
Any folder may contain its very own .htaccess . By default,
the public_html folder must always
11. public_html must have one!!!!!! if delete then it will
make a new one.
If one is not present then all you have to do is generate
one  (.htaccess)
this action is applied recursive application
The .htaccess file is recursive, changes made to it will also
effect all the sub-folders around and below it
If a sub-directory has its own .htaccess with new or
differently specified directives
-------------|---------|----------|---------|---------|

public_html / folder1 / folder 2 / folder3 / folder4 /

D1 = A        --->      --->       --->      --->

D2 = W        D2 = E    --->       D2 = B    --->
D3 = K        D3 = F    D3 = H     D3 = J    D3 = X
                        D4 = Y     --->      --->

-------------------------------------------------------
The .htaccess is responsible for the following and more.

● Directory Indexes
● Custom error pages
● Password Protection
● redirects
● Hotlink protection
 ● IP denial on HTTP
● MIME handlers
● Add handlers

Many cPanel icons exist to help edit the .htaccess or other

files. technically, you don't need if you know the right code
needed to achieve your desired results.

It is fun to use a cPanel icon and check changes are made

into the .htaccess file to achieve the results.

Do not lose the customers code. Instead, practice this:

● Comment out problematic lines with the # sign
● Backup the file by copying or renaming it

Tip: DONT EVER just highlight, copy and paste to backup.

 - Information about Comments -

When you comment out a line, Apache will ignore it.

Adding a # to the beginning of a line will comment it.

Do not delete information from a file.

Use comments to ensure that the original code is in tact.

Coding languages use different symbols for comments:

• HTML uses this <!--   COMMENT HERE -->

• PHP uses the # for single lines.

            /* This comments out
               multiple lines */

• Perl uses the /* as well */ No extra lines.

3 causes are bad code- 25 or more connections, 777

We run PHP as CGI not apache

php_ you will want to comment it out
ex. #php_flag register

                                                                         
     
  

Clock in and out for all breaks.

Pay attention to how long you have been on break.

email is [email protected]

45 minutes is maximum amount of downtime

99.9% uptime
24/7 / 365 support

we do not monitor dedicated or vps servers.Problematic Servers are flashing in

orange

No refunds on dedicated servers whatso ever and no 99.9% uptime guarantee

they do get a network guarantee
you have to have a dedicated IP to have a private SSL and you can only have 1
dedicated per cPanel
400,000 dollars paid to affiliates everymonth
shared customers do not have access to whm and are stuck with only cPanel.
email is not allocated its just a limit
the webmail icon in cpanel should not be used.
to check webmail go to domainname.com/webmail and use your email and
password
Hatchling does not come with any add-on domains

PHPlist found in Fantastico instead mass emailing in webmail auto sends sends
emails aproximately every 8 seconds
http://support.hostgator.com/articles/e-mail/how-to-throttle-outgoing-email-wit
h-phplist   ---- is the correct way instead of getting your account suspended
do not use mailing list or webmail in cpanel
csp = comma separated value...
the back-up must be deleted before a second back
and we are the only ones who can restore a backup for a customer and that is free
of charge.
web disk is buggy or unstable and doesnt work for every OS instead tell the
customer to use FTP or File Manager
subdomains are allowed on all accounts. Free does not have to be registered
typically subdomains are used for installing new scripts
for DNS purposes, one day you might want to move it to its own server
A subdomain has a DNS entry (a record) in your zone file.
Addon Domains are fully functional independent websites.
2 completely different websites can be hosted under one cpanel and noone would
ever know

when you create an addon domain

Document root = place to upload files for this domain
only use relative links instead of hotlinks in there HTML
<a href='http://domainname.com/index.html'>Main</a>Hot link
<a href='index.html'>Home</a> relative link

Parked domains must be registered at a regisstar

addon domains must be registared
sub-domains are completely free

3 steps to creating a mySQL database

1: create a database
2: create a username and password
3. Assign priviledges to user. Usually All

Apache Handlers
Apache handlers allow you to control what Apache will do with certain file types.
When Apache sees a file, it has an action built in for that file type, and will perform
that action. If you wish Apache to do a different action, you will need to make a
handler to tell Apache to perform that action. For example, if you use a file type
that requires a special service to run it, such as a file with server side includes
that is not named with a .shtml extension, you need to tell Apache to treat these
files differently.

Index manager can control who sees what on your index of. when you have no index folder

ctrl f5 will do a hard refresh to bypass the cache

Bandwidth policy and prices
Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred to and from your account in one
month. Everytime someone downloads a 10 kB file from your website, they use 10 kB of
bandwidth from your account.

Also, everytime someone visits your site, they are downloading the home page and use that
much bandwidth.

Bandwidth is reset on the 1st of every month.

Shared Web

You do not need to request more bandwidth, as we do not limit this feature for you.

Reseller

If you want more bandwidth or disk space you must upgrade or order a second hosting
package.

Dedicated

You can buy extra bandwidth for 30 cents per gig (pre-paid). Please email
[email protected] to pre-pay for bandwidth.

We charge 50 cents per gig for bandwidth overages. Overage reports come monthly from
our datacenter, and you will be automatically invoiced.

LvL 1 support teachings

Replicate the issue and build list of steps.

Attempt to troubleshoot the issue

Search the Knowledgebase for info. Find nada? Email J-Mo.

Spark the Conference room for info & advice.

Spark Internal Support.

Spark Supervisor

Internal Support exists to help you when:

• You simply don't remember the answer or procedure

  - You must ask Conference first.

  - Ask your fellow employee. Level 2 Chat techs.

  - It's okay to ask how.

• You have replicated an error and can't fix it.

  - You must have a list of steps ready.

  - Include preliminary troubleshooting steps.

When someone comes in with a ticket, open it.

Look at the ticket, can you fix this?

Ask IS to review it, include their wait time.

IS will determine if it needs to be escalated.

Ticket ETAs.

Linux Internal Support will answer with of the following:

 • Here is how you fix this issue.

 • You don't have the access, let me fix this for you.

 • Unfortunately, we don't support that.

 • Create a ticket.

When you communicate with Linux Internal Support:

Be Specific.

"They can't login." vs "They can't login to ..."

They can't login vs Their password isn't working for cpanel

Their email isnt working vs They can send, but cant receive

If you get no reply for 5 minutes from IS, spark supervisor

Spark Linux IS with the following information:

First, you must have successfully replicated the issue.

• The user ( cPanel/WHM - Email )

• The server

• The problematic URL

• List of steps to replicate.

   - Include login URLs and credentials.

    - Browser navigation instructions.

   - Any recent changes. (plugins, installs, etc)

• Preliminary troubleshooting information.

Use good formatting and get it all in on one spark.

Put it in notepad or use SHIFT + ENTER.

When sparking Sales Internal Support:

Supply the clearly stated issue and the billing URL.

Sales Internal Support does this. . .

Domain Renewal/Registration

EPP Codes

Domain Password

Redemption

WHMCS License

WHMCS IP WhiteList on thier site.

They can't login to sitebuilder - make sure they requested

Early Invoices

Invoice Adjustment

Billing Cycle Changes

Ticket Escalations

All billing unuspensions until automated

Bryan Wright
Access card: 63842
Phone Ext: 4779
Gatorbill: BWright55 : Wright4351
Gatorchat: bwright : d4xsznp7ow
Ticket System: bwright : d4xsznp7ow
Ursh/Chat shell: bwright : d4xsznp7ow
Forum: Gatorbwright : d4xsznp7ow
Breakq: bwright : d4xsznp7ow
HG Modernbill: mbbwright : d4xsznp7ow
GBadmin Billing: bwright : d4xsznp7ow
monitor: bwright : d4xsznp7ow
Plesk: bwright : d4xsznp7ow
Email: [email protected]

HostGator.com LLC
New Hire Training Manual

Table of Contents

Unit 1: About the CompanySection I: Human Resources WebsiteUnit 2: Overview

of the HostGator Website, Packages and PaymentsSection I: Overview of
WebsiteSection II: The Three Main Types of Hosting AccountsSection III:
Payments and Ordering SystemSection IV: SEOHosting.com and OverviewSection
V: AffiliatesUnit 3: WHM and cPanelSection 1: WHMSection 2: cPanelUnit 4: Our
Terms of ServiceUnit 5: Tools of the TradeSection I: MonitorSection II: Ticket
System - GatorDeskSection III: ModernBillSection IV: DrewHastings.netSection V:
Chat ShellSection VI: Basic Customer IssuesPart A: Password ResetsPart B:
SuspensionsPart C: Social EngineersPart D: SecurityPart E: Stolen Credit CardsUnit
6: Customer Service and Ticket SubmissionSection I: Ticket SubmissionUnit 7:
Scope of SupportUnit 8: Windows, VPS, and SEO HostingSection I: Windows
Hosting and PleskSection II: VPSSection III: SEO HostingUnit 9: Account
Addons/ProceduresSection I: General Account FunctionsSection II: Shared
Account Add-onsSection III: Reseller Account Add-onsSection IV: Dedicated
Server Add-onsUnit 10: DomainsSection I: Understanding Domain
RegistrationSection II: NameserversUnit 11: Email and FTPSection I: Email
TroubleshootingSection II: FTP TroubleshootingUnit 12: Technical SkillsUnit 13:
HostGator PolicyUnit 14: Quality AssuranceGlossaryAppendix A: ChatShell
CommandsAppendix B: Useful Bookmarks

UNIT 1: About the Company

Section I: Human Resources Website

The Human Resources website keeps the employees updated with all the policies,
procedures and benefits working here. The site covers such topics as codes of
conduct, rules for working, the various departments, and the rules governing how
benefits are distributed. This site is located at hr.hostgator.com
As one would expect in a company like HostGator, there are a few rules and
responsibilities to which a technician needs to adhere. These important
expectations are listed on the Human Resources website, and should be consulted
often for changes. Be sure to read the provided Human Resources Handbook and
ask about anything you do not understand.

Unit 2: Overview of the HostGator Website, Packages and

Payments
Section I: Overview of Website

Our website is located at www.hostgator.com. Displayed at the top of the page is

our HostGator Blue Gator logo, and our slogan "We eat up the competition," along
with our twenty-four-hour, toll-free support number. Note that our telephone
number begins with 866, not 800. Skype is available for use by our international
customers.

Our website also shows our customers how many domain names we host. We
currently host over 2.5 million domain names. Please understand that this does
not mean that we have that many customers, or even that many websites. Quite a
few people that we host may not know they have HostGator hosting, as they may
be customers of our resellers. The live chat icon will allow visitors to engage our
live chat technicians. By simply clicking this icon, the livechat session will start up
and will request information from the customer. It will ask for the customer's
name, the desired department, and their domain name. We also ask the customer
to provide an initial question, if they so choose.
The main feature here shows the details of our shared web hosting. We offer this
regular web hosting account for individual customers who plan to host only their
own sites. Take notice of our company's qualifications, and what we offer for all of
our shared accounts. What sets us apart from other hosting companies is what we
have available for our customers in the way of support and guarantees - a
forty-five day money back guarantee, 99.9% uptime guarantee, and 24/7/365
support. We offer three other different types of hosting accounts - reseller, VPS,
and dedicated solutions. To the left you will see a SiteBuilder Demo link. On the
right our site has information for customers coming from other hosts. We offer
site content and domain registration transfers for our new customers.

Section II: Four Main Types of Hosting Accounts

Type 1: Shared Hosting

Our shared hosting URL is hostgator.com/shared.shtml. For shared hosting, we
offer the Hatchling, Baby and Business packages. The Hatchling offers hosting for
only one domain. This means a customer cannot have a second domain hosted,
even as an alias. We do not suggest the Hatchling to start, as it was only created
for customers who do not want to pay for hosting unlimited domains. The
Hatchling account, although the least expensive, comes with a setup fee of one
dollar when purchased in a month-to-month plan. Again, Baby is the starter plan
and is be the best value.

Baby is the most popular plan we offer. It allows unlimited disk space, unlimited
bandwidth, and hosting of unlimited domains. All of these plans come with cPanel
- the industry leading control panel for hosting websites. One of the appealing
characteristics of our shared accounts is the availability of a discount on long-term
hosting solutions.
The Business plan is just like the Baby, as it offers hosting for unlimited domains,
so there has to be something to make it special. First, we offer the free toll-free
phone number. This is a service provided by VOIPo (an independent company) and
is not a unique phone line, but rather a toll-free number that forwards to an
existing phone. Customers can get this toll-free number after they sign up and we
activate them; there will be a link in their cPanel. Business customers also get a
free dedicated IP address and a free private SSL certificate - this will allow for
secure transactions to and from their website.
We do not offer any shared Windows hosting, currently. We are offering a new
ASP.NET BETA version; the Knowledge Base URL
http://support.hostgator.com/articles/hostgator-shared-asp-net-beta gives more
information about this.
Another important point to note is that shared hosting accounts are limited to one
cPanel, one cPanel username, one IP address, and therefore one SSL certificate.
As for SSL certificates, there are two types of SSL on our servers: shared and
private. Shared SSL certificates are registered in HostGator's name. They will
encrypt a customer's site as normal, but the shared SSL does not authenticate.
This will cause browsers to report the failure in authentication, and will typically
cause alarm with viewers of the site - even though the encryption is still occurring.
The benefit of this SSL is that HostGator provides it for free. The alternative is the
private SSL. This SSL is registered in the specific domain name, must be ordered,
and will cause no browser warnings. "Positive SSL," the free private SSL that
comes with Business accounts, is just like the ordered private SSL, except that it
can only authenticate the domain name, and not any whois information.
Type 2: Reseller Hosting
The URL that shows our reseller accounts is hostgator.com/resellers.shtml.
HostGator is the number one ranked reseller hosting company in the world.
HostGator makes becoming a reseller inexpensive and effortless. Many reseller
tools are available to all of our resellers, as well as the same level of support
shared account holders receive. All of our plans allow a customer to create his or
her own hosting company, complete with his or her own packages, pricing and
branding. Reseller customers pay the flat monthly rate for their plan, and then
keep 100% of the profits for themselves.

A quick overview of the Reseller page shows that reseller account holders have
access to a hosting account control panel called WebHost Manager - or WHM. This
panel allows the reseller to create new accounts, which, after inputting all of the
new customer's information, will automatically make a cPanel for the new
account.This is where the reseller's customer will go to administer their website.
Once they are logged into cPanel they can create subdomains, email addresses,
change passwords, and much more without requiring any help from HostGator, or
the reseller themselves. Customers not necessarily interested in reselling hosting
space, but who need to have multiple cPanels or SSL certificates, will find this
hosting solution very useful.
The reseller accounts have many features available, and take less than one hour to
create. Each reseller plan only differs in the available disk space and bandwidth.
The aluminum package is considered the starter package.
Type 3: VPS Hosting
We will discuss this one in detail, later.
Type 4: Dedicated Hosting
Please refer to the URL http://www.hostgator.com/dedicated.shtml. Dedicated
servers are more than just average computers - they are fully-managed solutions
designed to take a business to the next level. All dedicated accounts have cPanel
and WHM available, as well as quick set up time. Typically, our customers' servers
will be provisioned, secured, and available for use within 24 hours of purchase.
Dedicated servers are not bound by the restrictions for shared and reseller
hosting, allowing the customer to push their server beyond the resource
limitations. Having a dedicated server will provide sites with a higher level of
security, speed, and uptime.

There are a few or exceptions to the dedicated server guarantees. The 99.9%
uptime on dedicated servers is more of a network availability guarantee. We do
not monitor or backup our dedicated servers, as this is the responsibility of the
account holder. However, we will ensure that the dedicated server's network is up.
Also, the forty-five day money back guarantee is not applicable to these accounts.
We have to actually purchase a server from our datacenter, and will not be
refunded our money as a company - so to refund the customer's money would be
an extreme detriment. Customers should be fully certain they are ready for and
really do need a dedicated server. In case a customer would need a Windows
server, we have Windows dedicated servers available.

Section III: Payments and Ordering System

Knowing our ordering system is essential to assisting customers in the best way
possible.It is important to know how to provide the best discount available with
our two public coupon codes (the "20 percent off" coupon and the "$9.94 off"
coupon). HostGator would rather lose a small amount of money to provide
extremely great service in making sure that our customers get the lowest price
possible. Customers can utilize many forms of payment - MasterCard, Visa,
American Express, Discover, PayPal, checks, money orders, cash, and wire
transfers. When paying with PayPal, we allow customers to set up a recurring
PayPal payment called a subscription, or just make a one-time payment.

Section IV: SEOHosting.com Overview

SEOHosting.com is a sister company of HostGator. We provide the same support

and service to those customers. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which
is a phrase for putting effort into making a website move higher up search engine
result pages by exploiting typical algorithms used by the search engines
themselves. The setup for the packages are a little different, as the accounts are
ordered based on the number of IPs needed, along with disk space and bandwidth.
These IPs are not just any IPs - this will be explained later.
Section V: Affiliates

Please visit the URL https://secure.hostgator.com/affiliates.shtml.

We allow customers and non-customers the ability to refer people to utilize our
world-famous hosting services. Through our affiliate program, we make frequent
and lucrative payouts to individuals who bring us new business.
Support technicians are not expected to know everything about the affiliate
program, but are required to learn the basic system of payouts and regulations of
the program. Account specific questions involving the affiliate system should be
directed to [email protected].

Unit 3: WHM and cPanel

Section I: WHM

Reseller accounts need a tool for the management of their clients. The WHM or
WebHost Manager is cPanel's solution for this. WHM puts the power of
administration of a web hosting business at the hands of our customers, making
working with multiple websites easy.

The creation of accounts (or cPanels) is what web host managers will do the most
of at the set up of their account, but prior to this, our customer will create
packages. Much like our company has the Baby, Hatchling, and Business accounts,
among others, WHM not only allows, but requires these to be setup. Initially, we
setup the reseller with a very minuscule package which is simply there to allow
the owner to log into WHM. Clicking on packages will bring up another menu, from
which "add packages" will be clicked. Looking at this, one can see "New package
name." This is a personal choice, and the name of the package will have the
username of the reseller added to it, thereby preventing any chance of a
duplicated package name on this particular server.
Underneath this are listed 9 headings, beginning with Quota (MB) and Bandwidth
(MB). Our resellers need to allocate a portion of their accounts available
diskspace, as well as bandwidth. These may not be marked as "unlimited." Since
overselling is not allowed on a reseller account, these values, multiplied by the
number of client accounts using this package must be less than the total amount
of the account purchased by the reseller. The other values are important, and
should be self-explanatory.These may remain unlimited. The settings following
these should be left as they are, unless, perhaps, the reseller knows his or her
customer will need Frontpage Extensions installed.
The next action a reseller would most likely perform is the creation of new
accounts. This is achieved by first clicking on account functions, then "create a
new account."

The first field is quite important - the domain name. This is the domain name of
the new client's account. The next is the username and password, which the
customer will use to log in to their site. Note that once an account is set up, the
username for that account cannot be used to create any other account on that
particular server. Also, "root" is not a valid username for an account. Finally, the
contact email field should reflect the reseller account holder's email address.
Following this, the next heading says "package". A drop-down box shows all
available packages.The language should remain English, and the DNS Settings
should not be altered. Below this are the nameservers for the website.These will
be the server's nameservers, unless the customer requests us to make it reflect
the private nameservers he or she may register. The area underneath this shows
the account resource information - the quota and bandwidth allocated, and to
which accounts it has been allocated. When a HostGator customer creates an
account, we will send the customer an email with their account details. The
message that appears on successful creation of an account in WHM will look like a
"welcome email", but no email is auto-sent.
Every account is listed in WHM "list accounts" under "account information." This
function shows the domain name first; clicking on this will show the account as
though one typed in the domain's URL. Next to that is the cPanel logo; clicking on
this takes the reseller to this domain's cPanel, logged in as the root username and
password. Next is the IP address to which this account has been assigned; clicking
on this will take the viewer to a window showing the URL of the IP followed by
"~username" - the username being the username in the next box. The contact
email will reflect the email added during setup of the account. Setup date is the
day and time of creation and the partition will say "home." The quota shows the
available disk space as assigned by the package, and disk used is the amount of
the assigned quota being used. The package name is to the right of this, as is the
theme of the cPanel and the owner (which will be the reseller's username).

Entering the cPanel from this menu can be convenient. However, there are some
limitations. The cPanel system will not allow someone who signed in as the main
reseller to access certain functions such as Fantastico or phpMyAdmin.
A web host can suspend accounts via "suspend an account," but to show a
suspended page to a customer, the host must first set up a suspended page in
"modify suspended account page." Although a reseller's client is not our
responsibility, the ChatShell command "suspcheck" can tell a technician the
reason why a reseller's client is suspended. The cPanel icon on the main WHM
page will explain toa reseller how to place their company's designs and logos on
their clients' cPanels.
The skeleton directory is a very helpful tool for a reseller. Anything placed in the
/home/username/cpanel3-skel directory will be on every account created from
that point onward.
A sort of advanced setting under "packages" is the feature manager. A reseller can
create a feature list of various icons or features for a customer and can deny or
allow access to services such as Fantastico or HostGator's website templates. If a
reseller wanted to create an email only account for a client, then the reseller could
remove file manager.
The reseller's version of WHM is limited as compared to a dedicated server
customer's WHM, or our RootWHM. From this limited version, a customer cannot
restart services, terminate multiple accounts, and cannot create scheduled
backups. Also, there is no access to the reseller center - the place where one can
create multiple reseller accounts.

Section II: cPanel

We offer cPanel to all customers. This assists the customer with their hosting
account, offering a complete solution to managing email, domain additions, files,
and statistics. One can typically get to his or her cPanel by using a URL similar to
yourdomain.com/cpanel or yourdomain.com:2082. The cPanel system has themes
- shared hosting account holders have access to our HostGator x3 theme, which
makes everything as easy as possible for customers. The regular x3 theme,
though, needs reviewing - this is the main theme for reseller's clients accounts.
The HostGator theme is similar.
On the left-hand side of the cPanel screen is the theme box. It should read x3 right
now. Other themes in the drop-down box allow for mail-only hosting and other
aesthetic changes to cPanel. Further down the page is a list of statistics for the
website. The first is the main domain name, followed by the domain's home
directory - the highest level of access allowed by this client. Linux does not
actually recognize "domain.com" as where the site is located, but associates
domain.com with the path home/username/public_html. The headings below this
list bandwidth, the disk space used and the limit for the disk space. The rest are
counters for email accounts, subdomains, parked and addon domains, FTP
accounts, SQL databases and mailing lists. Under this is a series of vital statistics
for the server itself, including the name, and versions of cPanel, PHP, Apache and
MySQL. One final statistic of which one should take note is the Dedicated IP
address. This is not necessarily a dedicated IP address, because it can be the
shared IP of this site. At the bottom of this list is the Server Status. Clicking on
this will bring up a list of services and status icons. Green means the service is up
and running, red means the opposite.
Returning back to the main page of cPanel, we see the Preferences heading, with a
change password icon. Unlike WHM (where a reseller can modify any password),
this password changer has limitations in place to assist with security. No
dictionary words or passwords less than three characters may be used when
changing the password in cPanel. "Update Contact Info" is where the cPanel user
can enter in his or her personal email address to allow cPanel to contact them
when there is an issue.

The next area is mail. Clicking on "Email Accounts" will allow the user to set up an
email box, or address, at which mail can be received. Every HostGator customer
should note that there is no default email address set up for them. The email quota
can be set to anything (including unlimited), and is ultimately limited by the disk
space on the account. Clicking "Create" will make the account usable. The "default
email address" is also known as a catch-all, which will re-route all undeliverable
mail sent to this domain to a specified box. This can be set up by any technician
using the catchall command in ChatShell.
The webmail icon should be avoided, and using it to check mail will not produce
the desired results. Customers should refrain from using it and instead use a URL
to check webmail, like domain.com/webmail, ipaddress/webmail, or
webmail.domain.com. Advise customers to use an actual full email address and
password to log in.
The next important icon here is BoxTrapper, which will reply to all email sent to
the address requesting a reply for verifying that the email was not from a
spammer. Spam Assassin simply marks email as spam by making an alert in the
subject line. It can be set to a very lenient setting (10), or the opposite (1).
Setting this to autodelete spam is not recommended. Spam box sets up a folder for
spam. In Spam Assassin configuration, one can also whitelist email, allowing all
emails from this place to be delivered.
Autoresponders allow for a customer to have an email address send an automatic
response to any incoming email. This is where one would set up an "I'm out of the
office until Wednesday" message, or something similar.
A forwarder is a redirect for an email address (also known as an email alias).
Customers will want to know how to forward an email address but not have a copy
remain in their hosting account. This is easy to achieve - simply remove the email
box (if it was ever created initially). None of the options available when creating a
forwarder will allow for this; removing the email box is the only way.
The Default Email Address icon is to assist in managing the aforementioned
catchall. As stated, all undeliverable email will go to this default address when
enabled. This may increase spam. Spammers will send to a dictionary list of
potential usernames, in the hopes that they will eventually find an existing email
address, and their spam will find a recipient. Typically, these are rejected, but with
catchall enabled, the email will go right to the default address. This will also
increase the inodes on the account, which may render the account ineligible for
weekly backups.
Mailman is a mailing list manager that does not work well for our hosting. Since it
emails to what is usually long list of addresses, yet has no throttle settings, using
mailman will always cause a violation of our mail policy.
The MX entry icon allows the user to manage their email records. However helpful
this may be, changing the MX records away from the IP of the server requires an
administrator to change a setting - remotedomains versus localdomains.
Under the Files area, the first icon of which to take note is Backups. This is used
for creating full and partial backups. Full backups literally backup everything for
this account, and we advise that customers would do this before making any
major changes to their site. The backup process may take a while, but an email
will be sent to the user when completed. We will restore a customer's backup to
their site for no fee anytime this is needed. Shared hosts cannot restore their own
backups. The backup wizard will walk the customer through the backup process.

File manager is an important part of cPanel and hosting. This is where a customer
can move files around, rename files, or change the permissions of a file.
Anonymous FTP is where a customer can manage anonymous access. This must be
activated, and is only allowed with a Business account and a dedicated IP. Please
make note that if a customer is ever seeing a pub folder after connecting to FTP,
anonymous FTP is not active. The pub folder is a server folder, and is not a folder
on that customer's account.
The Logs section contains the web statistics portion of the site. Awstats is a
powerful third-party statistics program. Some of the information may be hard to
understand or very specific, and directing the customer to the Awstats webpage is
perfectly acceptable. The error logs icon can also be found here, detailing types of
errors and any information on them that may be available.Raw Access Logs allow
a customer to see who has accessed the site in a stripped-down manner. This is
very useful for when a customer needs to see who is accessing the site easily and
quickly.
Under Security, one can find an icon for password protecting a directory. Setting
up a username and password and choosing a directory will require anyone
browsing it to enter the security information in order to see the site. Protecting
the public_html will require anyone browsing any domain on this account to
authenticate. Hotlink protection allows the user to protect their own bandwidth by
disallowing direct links to content on the site. This would force the other person in
question to download content from a site, then host it on their own servers, as
opposed to simply linking to the customer's and displaying it on their site.
Now, we move on to the domains section. Subdomains allow for the creation of a
unique website that will be hosted in a folder in public_html. A URL for a
subdomain looks like subdomain.domain.com where "subdomain" is the
subdomain and the folder name for the subdomain.
The Addon Domains icon is used quite often. It allows for the creation of a unique
website that will not display the main domain in the URL. By clicking on this icon,
the user can enter a new domain name, the username for the FTP account
associated with the add-on domain, the document root (the folder used for this
domain) and the passwords for the domain's FTP account. As cPanel notes,Addon
Domains will not be functional unless the domain name is registered with a valid
registrar and configured to point to our DNS server. Making sure customers
understand this is important. When complete, the domain information is displayed
at the bottom of this page.
Parked domains are different domain names than the primary domain name, but
the parked domain will show the primary domain's website. This is not a redirect.
A redirect can be set up with the next icon to the right of this one. Always choose
a permanent (or 301) redirect. This is can be removed later from the .htaccess file,
but the "permanent" aspect is read by search engines as a valid redirect.
Although most installations will perform this next task for a customer when
necessary, knowing how to create a fully-functional database is important. In the
new database field, type the database name. There are buttons for checking and
repairing the database in case of corrupted data. Under all of this is MySQL users.
Creating a username and adding it to the database here will allow the database to
actually work. Select the user in the drop-down box, then the corresponding
database in the next drop-down box and click add. There will be a page of
privileges - simply give the user all of them. PhpMyAdmin allows for direct
manipulation of the database, and can be very useful. Remote MySQL has the
settings to allow a direct connection to MySQL from another computer. To assist
customers with this, search the knowledge base for "Remote MySQL connection."
Under advanced, index manager allows a customer to turn off the "Index Of /"
display when there is no default page found. Cron jobs allow for a command to be
run at certain times or intervals. The standard cron job selection guides the
customer in creating a cron, while the advanced does not. Customers should have
a working knowledge of Linux before using Advanced Unix cron jobs.
FrontPage extensions, as mentioned in the WHM section allows for the use of
FrontPage. A customer can uninstall and reinstall extensions there, but note that
this will alter the .htaccess file and all protected directories will become
unprotected until the customer re-protects them.

Unit 4: Our Terms of Service

One of the most important characteristics of any company offering a service is the
terms of service. At HostGator, not only does it outline a legal contract into which
a customer enters upon hosting with us, it also communicates with customer the
appropriate uses of our servers. Our terms of service are listed at
http://www.hostgator.com/tos.shtml. Keep in mind that quite a few of these
terms do not apply to dedicated servers.
Along with the terms of service, the United States government also has
restrictions on commerce to which we must adhere. These embargoes restrict who
we can host. The URL
http://support.hostgator.com/articles/us-treasury-embargo-restrictions lists the
countries, most of which are targeted due to humanitarian issues or terrorism. We
will immediately refund these orders and cancel the account.
There are certain countries HostGator cannot do business with due to Embargo
Restrictions. The current countries that are currently restricted are listed below.
1. Cuba
2. Iran (aka Persia)
3. North Korea
4. Sudan / Darfur
5. Syria
Two important online forms are the cancellation and backup restoration forms.
These forms are located at hostgator.com/cancel and hostgator.com/restore
respectively. These forms are necessary for the two actions to occur. All
cancellations must be initiated by the online form. HostGator will send a
confirmation email, to which the customer must reply, before any cancellation will
occur.
As for the reboot form, it will create a ticket in our Reboot Queue, where we
promise a response to the customer in fifteen minutes.

Unit 5: Tools of the Trade

The management and developers at HostGator realize your job can be involved,
and have made many tools available to assist in solving customer issues
expeditiously. The Server Monitor, Ticket System (GatorDesk), GatorChat,
ModernBill, GatorBill, ChatShell, AutoHotkey and Firefox plugins are all available to
help you work more efficiently. Every cubicle has a phone. To log into phones, plug
in the headset, press the headset button then dial 8888#. A voice will request a
log in, which is the four digit number in the h:\logins.txt. When the voice says
"Goodbye," hang up and prepare for a phone call.

Section I: Server Monitor

The Server Monitor (or "Monitor") is a primary tool for troubleshooting an issue.
Monitor is a near-real time gauge of the performance of the servers HostGator
owns. Included on this page "http://monitor.hostgator.com " is the server name,
uptime, load measurements for 5, 10 and 15 minutes ago, the main IP address of
the server, the status of its disk, and eight dots representing the availability of a
particular service. This page is used to help quickly identify if an error a customer
is experiencing is server-wide. After logging into this system a long list of server
names will appear. Some will be flashing a color varying from orange to red; these
servers are having some sort of issue, and the administrators are aware of the
issue. As we only monitor shared and reseller accounts, you will find no fully
dedicated servers. Administrators must have Monitor loaded and viewable at all
times. Chat and Phone technicians need only to load it as it is needed for
troubleshooting.

Sometimes, servers may have a recurring issue. Customers will ask to move to a
new server, but we will not be able to do that for them. Over time, the servers
become more stable with longer periods of uptime as we remove the
problem-causing customers.

Section II: Ticket System - GatorDesk

The Ticket System is basically our second level of support for our customers. A
customer with an issue can always email our support or sales department, and this
will create a ticket which will allow for direct correspondence with a support or
sales administrator. Also, a technician is expected to escalate an issue they cannot
solve to the administrators via the ticket system on the customers' behalf in the
form of a ticket.

Each ticket has a special ID, consisting of 3 letters and 7 or 8 numbers

(HBV-7155171), referred to as a ticket number. When searched for in the ticket
system, a ticket number will show the email history of that ticket - it may also
contain notes about the customers, such as billing or verification information.
Technicians are also able to search by ticket content or the email address used to
send the ticket.
Please go to gatordesk.hostgator.com:7777/#struct_ticket. This is the structured
ticket form and is required to be used when you submit tickets to escalate issues.
All of the starred fields will need to be filled out as thoroughly as possible, and the
non-starred fields need as much information as you have gained from chatting or
speaking with the customer.

Section III: ModernBill

ModernBill is the billing system we currently use. Customers log into ModernBill to
pay, and a technician will log into ModernBill for troubleshooting accounts. From
here, a technician can determine a plethora of information: when a customer
started their account, their IP address, server name, primary contact email
address. For most issues, a technician will refer to ModernBill - usually to
determine if an account is actually active. ModernBill has a useful search system
which you can use to locate accounts.

In ModernBill, a technician can locate accounts with a domain name, an email

address and many other forms of information listed in the drop down box at the
bottom of the page. Once this is done, information about the account can be
viewed - take note of the Client Information section, Invoices due, and the Renew
Date, as well as the email address. These are all very important parts of the
troubleshooting information.
Listed at the top of the page is the customer's client ID, full name and email.
Customers will not usually know their client ID, so we ask for the domain name or
email on his or her account. Click the Edit link next to the orange email address.
This section allows you to update any of the customer's personal information, but
please ask customers to change this data themselves. Once signed in, the
customer can update this same information. There is one exception: the customer
cannot change their billing method. This billing method must be set to CC Batch in
order for the customer to add a credit card for automatic payments.
The Client Information on the previous page is the same information that was just
edited. Just below this is Billing Information which displays the customer's
payment method. Use this information to verify ownership of accounts.
Verification of ownership of an account is very important. Only the account owner
can authorize changes and have access to sensitive information about their
account. A customer is "verified" as the owner of an account if they can provide
the last four digits of their credit card that matches the ones listed here in the
billing system. If the customer pays by PayPal, then ask them for their most
recent PayPal transaction ID. We provide you with a tool to match their
transaction ID to our records; this will be discussed in detail in the following
section.If the customer has a different form of payment, then call the customer at
the phone number listed in the Client Information Section. Whoever answers at
this number is verified as the owner. Finally, if a customer cannot verify, suggest
that the customer email [email protected] for help verifying that they are the
owner.
Listed below this section is Login Information, which will expand when the plus
sign is clicked, showing a raw password. This is the customer's billing password.
Make note of it and the customer's email address for the next exercise. The last
section is Other Information. Here you will see a Fraud Guardian report. This helps
our Pending department determine if a new account will need further verification
of a customer's information. If a customer's billing information does not match up,
if the distance from their IP's location to the customer's billing address is more
than 100 miles, or if the initial order totals over $100, the account will be flagged.
On the right-hand side of the customer's account page in ModernBill is Invoice
Approval Status. This will show the percentage and amount of approved, declined,
and problematic transactions for this account. Unfortunately, since the customer's
credit card company, not us, approves a credit card transaction, we will not have
the reason for failed transactions. A customer will have to contact their credit card
company. If the funds are sufficient, then it may be simply that the CV2 number of
the card is needed for each attempt. Because of legal requirements, we cannot
keep the CV2 information on file; the customer will need to use another card.
Next is the number and amount of invoices paid. This is the same link that
customers can see in their billing.HostGator will issue an invoice on the due date.
A customer will have ten days (a grace period) from the issuance of the invoice to
pay it. If payment is not rendered within the ten days, then the account is subject
to suspension and a $10 late fee. Below this, is Invoices Partial and Invoices due.
These should be $0.00 or the customer has an unpaid invoice. We will generate
invoices on their date due, and allow customers ten days to pay the invoice. Again,
if this ten day period lapses with no payment, the customer will be eligible for
suspension and a $10 late fee may be applied to his or her account.
Below this is a listing of credits for this customer. If the number next to the
amount is zero, then this means they never had any credits with us. If a quantity
is listed, then that is how many times we have granted a credit. There is also a
dollar amount next to the number, indicating how much credit the customer has
left. If the dollar amount is zero, then the customer has no credit left. The
customer's side of ModernBill does not show the credits available - only we have
this information.
Lastly, in this section, the drop-down box next to the update button is here to
make known the current billing status of this account. There are five possible
statuses that this box could show. Active is the normal setting - the account is up
and running. Fraud means the account is flagged for verification. A status of
Pending means the account is new and needs processing. If the customer has
been waiting for longer than one day, then please contact pending on his or her
behalf to retrieve further information. Inactive is not used. Finally, the canceled
status signals that a customer has successfully terminated all hosting plans
associated with their particular account. A customer can continue using this
primary email address and account, but will need us to change the status back to
active.
The next section is Packages, which is a listing of the plans a customer has
purchased. Every hosting plan has a unique identification number for internal use -
a customer will not know this number. Below this is the domain name associated
with this package.

Typically, the domain name is used to identify a customer's account. Just to the
right are the start and renew dates. If the start date is today, then the account is
new, and may not be fully set up yet. The billing cycle is also listed here, and can
be changed by sparking Internal Support - Sales. Some very critical information is
present here - the IP, username, password and module. The password is the last
known password, but if the customer has changed it, this password will be
incorrect. The module is the server name as seen in Monitor.
The IP address is important because it is the address for the site. No matter what
domain name is used, one can always look at the website by utilizing the IP
address followed by a slash, a tilde, and the username for the site. For example:
74.59.65.120/~useruser/
Also, one can access the cPanel and WebHost Manager by appending a forward
slash (/) and the specific service to the URL. 74.59.65.120/cpanel or
74.59.65.120/whm
The customer's side of ModernBill is different. Even a technician can log in as a
customer to assist in troubleshooting, but it may have to be done from a different
browser. Customers log in with their email address and password and have a
limited view of their account. Customers are able to make manual payments here -
just click on "My Finances" then the number next to Total Now Due. This will bring
up a full-page invoice, complete with amounts, dates, and the reason for the bill.
The top right contains manual payment methods.The customer can update their
own personal information. At the top, look for the My Info button. Here the
customer can see their personal information, update that information, and change
their billing password.Under the My Sites, you can see the hosting plans they have
purchased. Under My Finance, the customer can see their invoices history, and can
add a credit card for automated payments with Update Credit Card. (Remember
you must change the billing method to CC Batch first).
We may need to login as the customer if they claim to see something that we
would not expect.Because of the sensitive nature of this type of information, we
are not allowed to take payments or update credit card information from
customers. We also do not have the ability to send out copies of invoices; instead,
customers can print them from the website.

Section IV: DrewHastings.net

This proprietary tool was developed to assist with responsibilities once reserved
for Internal Support. DrewHastings.net can resend a sparse version of our
welcome email. Just sign in and click General, then click Send Welcome Email.
Entering the package identification number of the account, then clicking new
password will generate this email. Clicking the check box will have it reset then
resend the password. Do this only after verification.

This tool also allows technicians to get the details of a PayPal transaction. While
signed in to DrewHastings.net, simply click on General, then Search Transactions.
Enter the identification number under Transaction ID then click Get Results.
Check domain ownership is another tool that all agents may use. It indicates
whether or not a domain is owned by us.

Section V: ChatShell

ChatShell is another proprietary tool that uses a command-line interface which

allows simple commands to perform repetitive or lengthy, yet common, processes.
The most common command is "help." This displays a list of other available
commands. Ownerinfo is an example of a command in ChatShell. It will show
detailed information about a domain. Appendix A lists all the commands with
complete instructions on their use.

Section VI: Basic Customer Issues

Part A: Password Resets

One of the most common issues with which customers will need assistance is
having their password reset. The easiest way to handle this, if possible, is to verify
that the customer requesting the change is the owner of the account, and then
follow the instructions in section IV. However, a technician should really make
sure that the password is the end issue.
First, check the status of the account by checking the temporary URL of the site. It
may be suspended, or not even created. The latter shows a 404 error, which will
be a separate issue. Next, attempt to login to cPanel or WHM with the temporary
URL and use the username and password listed in ModernBill. If this works, then
simply use GatorBill to resend the welcome email. If the password does not work,
then reset the password. Verify the customer's ownership of the account and
follow the instructions in section IV to send out a new password.
ModernBill password resets are different. Initially, a customer would attempt to
use the Forgot Password link at the hostgator.com/billing URL. Failing this, check
ModernBill for the status of the account. This basic troubleshooting process can be
continued if the account status is either Active or Pending. Ask the customer which
email they are using to login. If incorrect, then ask if they believe it could be
another address. If they are using the correct email, then direct them to the
Forgot Password link. Finally, if the customer still cannot get in, verify them as the
owner, and then relay the correct email address and password to them.
Domain name registration passwords are the third kind of passwords that are
encountered. To reset them, first attempt to log into hostgator.com/domains.
Enter the domain name with no prefixes (just domain.com, not www.domain.com
or some other variant), and any passwords. If the login fails, then a "Forgot Your
Password" link will appear. If all else fails, verify the customer's ownership of the
account and contact Internal Support - Sales.
Part B: Suspensions
Suspended accounts are inevitable. However, before telling a customer why they
are suspended, their ownership needs to be verified. Load the domain name URL
of the potentially suspended site, and find out if the URL actually delivers a
suspended message. If it does, then open ChatShell and log in. The command
'suspcheck' will determine the reason for the suspension. If the result is "This
User is not currently suspended," then most likely the account has simply
exceeded the bandwidth allowance. Other responses could include:
Processed_via_AutoPilot: This suspended account belongs to a reseller's customer
and the account was suspended by the AutoPilot billing system, most likely for
non-payment. Only the reseller can fix this issue.
Server Audit, Non-Payment, unknown, (blank): These results indicate the account
is suspended for billing reasons. First, check the primary domain name in billing.
Check the billing status - if is it listed as Fraud, then the account will be suspended
until the customer verifies with the Pending department. If this is not the reason,
then Spark Internal Support - Sales and have the account audited.
If the results return a ticket number or note from security, then the account has
been suspended by the Security Department. Look up the ticket number for more
information. Typically, the only option available to the customer is to reply to the
ticket. Technicians may also Spark a supervisor or Security Administrator if more
clarification is needed.
Part C: Social Engineers
Social engineering is the practice of attempting to achieve access to information
via manipulation and exploiting cognitive biases. As a customer service
representative, the most common technique engineers use is called pretexting - a
creation of a scenario by the engineer to persuade a victim to perform an action.
This may be done by a person posing as either a customer, as a public authority
figure or even a supervisor or co-worker. They may also act:
a) pathetic and hopeless and annoying, attempting to get any information,
b) frustrated, ready to terminate their account,
c) angry, demanding, and threatening to have someone fired,
d) cordial, however unable to verify at this time (claiming they are not nearby the
information).
Social Engineers have many reasons for their actions. However, the reasons can
typically be reduced to either theft or spite and malice. What technicians must
remember is verification is necessary before giving out any information. If a
customer cannot verify, then no information can be given out.
Part D: Security
Knowledge base entry
http://support.hostgator.com/articles/abuse/what-security-measures-are-used-t
o-protect-my-server shows our server security. Keep in mind that all other
methods not listed here are confidential. Anyone requesting more information
than what is listed on this page may be more interested in how to compromise our
system than being protected by it. Also, a URL is listed here that gives more
information to our customers. The next article to view is located at
http://support.hostgator.com/articles/abuse/abusive-customer-what-to-say.
This article gives an overview of how to respond to very abusive customers. A
simple rude response or intense conversation does not mean the customer is
abusive. This is reserved for actual abuse, not rudeness or yelling.
Part E: Stolen Credit Cards
Some customers will call to report a billing error, and say something similar to
"You charged me money, but I don't know who you are." or "I have an
unauthorized charge from you on my credit card." Please just assure the customer
we will return the money. The process to receiving this refund is to have the
customer email [email protected] along with the last six digits of the credit
card, the type of card, the name on the card, the amount charged, and the date
charged. Also, promise that we will refund the money and cancel the account that
was purchased.

Unit 6: Customer Service

The most important key to HostGator's survival is a good reputation and customer
loyalty. We not only have to impress new customers, but we must give our
existing customers a reason to stay and recommend us to others. To accomplish
this, we must provide great customer service to every person who visits our live
chat, phone support, and email ticket support. This Customer Service Guide will
give helpful tips and suggestions, as well as some common rules, so that
technicians can interact with customers successfully and make a positive
contribution to our success.
Please read along on the HR website.

Section I: Ticket Submission

Since some issues are unsolvable by technicians, learning how to submit a ticket
properly is important. Submitting a ticket for a customer is one of the best ways to
ensure a smooth customer service experience and a happy customer. When a
technician goes the extra mile by submitting a ticket for a customer (even if you
could not resolve their issue), the customer will appreciate it.
When submitting a ticket on behalf of the customer the following information is
displayed in the ticket field. The ones with a * are required and the others should
be filled out if applicable.
* Customer's Email
* Department
* Ticket Subject
Notes (will be added as a note to the ticket that customers cannot see)
Chat ID (if in chat)
Verified
Relevant Logins
Other Notes:
Ticket Contents (will be seen by the customer!)
* Affected URL
* Customer's Primary Domain Name
* Description of Issue
* Steps to Reproduce the Issue
Additional Information:
Some steps and suggestions for submitting tickets on behalf of customers:
1) Submission of a ticket is the responsibility of a technician - not a customer.
Except for rare circumstances, submitting a ticket without trying to help the
customer first is unacceptable and against company policy. Even then, a technician
should still fully explain why you have to submit the ticket and not dismiss the
customer.
2) This will occur only after following the Chain of Support as set forth by the
Supervisors - sparking a Level 2 Chat Technician and then awaiting further
instruction.
3) Use the word escalate or elevate. Customers are reassured whenever a
representative says they are going to "escalate this issue to an administrator." Do
not promise to escalate the issue, notify an administrator, or anything else if the
promise cannot be delivered.
4) Placing the customer on hold is acceptable. Relay to the customer "This may
take a few moments. Thank you for your patience." as the ticket is submitted.
Always get the customer's permission if you want to place them on hold. If the
ticket takes a while, then make sure that the customer is not left on hold for
longer than three minutes before checking back in. When completed, thank the
customer for their patience.
5) Use the structured ticket form, per Unit 5, Section II.
6) The more information you can provide to the administrators, the faster the
issue will be resolved. Always ask the customer for relevant information. These
notes should be saved in the ticket notes that only our technicians and
administrators will see.
7) To avoid confusion, read back the ticket to the customer before submitting it,
and clarify any possible miscommunication.
8) Giving the customer an approximate time frame is not acceptable. Customers
prefer honesty rather than inaccuracy. Just tell the customer whether they can
expect to have an answer quickly or will need to wait patiently. We do need more
time to investigate and solve issues, and some tickets require more than 24 hours
to solve.
Remember, it is important to submit tickets for customers in any situation when
troubleshooting has previously occurred is important.

Unit 7: Scope of Support

We support HostGator's direct services, including hosting, billing, and assistance
with our control panels. We cannot support third party scripts, website design, or
coding.
If a customer is asking for help with something outside our scope of support,
please set the correct expectation upfront.
"I apologize for the inconvenience, but I cannot offer support for services
provided by another company. However, I am pleased to help you find the
resources you need, or point you in the right direction."
If you decide to help with something outside our normal support, please set the
correct expectation for your customer.
"I happen to have some knowledge that can help you, but please understand that
this is outside HostGator's normal support, and the other technicians may not have
this information."

Unit 8: Windows, VPS, and SEO Hosting

Section I: Windows Hosting and Plesk

Windows hosting is different from our typical hosting. Our shared and reseller
hosting is currently running on Linux servers, and at the time of print, Windows
Shared Hosting is available only through our beta testing program for existing
customers. Most customers do not really want or need Windows hosting, and a
Linux solution is perfectly acceptable. However, if a customer needs to use a .NET
environment, have access to MSSQL, utilize remote desktop or wants to develop in
Visual Basic, Windows hosting is the only way to have all of this.
One limitation of our Windows hosting is that we do not offer Exchange Server.
Exchange Server requires a license, user CALs and would be very expensive to
maintain for all customers at the price of our dedicated servers.
Purchasing a Windows dedicated server is just like buying a Linux Dedicated
server.A customer can purchase a Windows server from our website and it will be
provisioned in 24 to 48 hours. All Windows servers include our administrators'
management.
The following URLs are important to Windows hosting customers.
Plesk Login page. https://ip:8443/
Site preview URL: http://serverip/$sitepreview/domain.com/
Plesk Username:admin
Webmail: http://webmail.domain.com
Pop Mail: mail.domain.com(or server ip)
Please note that the only acceptable way to log into the Plesk control panel is with
https://. A customer will also have to add the exception to their browser by
following the on-screen information when they first attempt to log in.
The customer will not see any icons relating to hosting upon log in until an actual
domain name account is created. After doing this the icons will appear, including
File Manager. A quick glance at this will reveal a difference between Linux and
Windows hosting - there is no public_html. The website documents are held in the
httpdocs folder. Another difference between the two is the presence of a separate
folder for secure website documents, which is the httpsdocs folder.
Otherwise the interface of the control panel is basically the same as the cPanel,
but with different names and icons.

Section II: VPS

VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting is the perfect bridge between shared
enviroment accounts and a dedicated server. With a VPS the customer will have
full root access to your operating system, just like a dedicated server, but without
the prices of a dedicated server.
VPS is considered a shared enviroment, as your VPS is on the same physical server
as other VPS accounts. Using a program called Virtuozzo, the physical server can
be split up into seperate sections. Each customer will have their own 'slice' (aka:
container) of the server, with its own operating system installation. This allows
the user to customize the operating system how they need, installing
modules/code/programs that would normally only allowed with a dedicated
server. This makes VPS hosting the perfect solution for customers who need install
specific programs, but their traffic doesn't yet warrant a dedicated server.
Our shared/reseller/dedicated servers are much more powerful than our VPS
hosting accounts, due to the fact that VPS plans are very limited on the amount of
CPU, memory (RAM), and disk space they can use. We would never want to
recommend VPS to a customer who has outgrown a shared/reseller account due
to traffic or load. In those cases you would want to recommend a dedicated
server; if a customer has maxed out the load on a shared or reseller server, they
will definitely have similar load issues on their less-powerful VPS account. Instead
of standard packages, the VPS accounts have different levels. Depending on the
level, you will get more disk space, bandwidth, and memory.
No matter which level is selected, the VPS will come with VZ (Virtuozzo) Power
Panel. The VZ Panel is a very simple control panel and only allows basic
commands. For example, you can start, stop, reboot your specific slice.
Unfortunately there is no live demo of the VZ Panel, but you can view screenshots
of panel at:
http://www.parallels.com/products/virtuozzo/screenshots/virtuozzo_vzpp_01/.
When a customer first purchases a VPS account, they will actually have to log into
their VZ Panel and boot up their VPS for the very fist time before they can use it.
With the exception of Level 1 and Level 2, all VPS accounts have the option to have
cPanel/WHM installed on their slice for an additional monthly fee. Having cPanel
purchased for your VPS changes the level of service received in terms of server
administration and transfers (which you will learn about later).
For our Virtual Prive Servers that do not include cPanel we currently offer
semi-managed support. Semi-Managed means that our administrators will handle
any hardware, operating system, or basic configuration issues which may arise
with your server. Some examples of issues our administrators will assist with on a
semi-managed server may include but are not limited to:
● Load issues or sluggishness.
● Basic website related issues (Internal Server Errors, 404s, etc).
● Network related problems.
● Failure of server to restart.
● Hardware failure.
● Package install via package manager (yum,rpm).
● Basic named configuration for 1-2 domains.
● Troubleshooting pre existing configurations.
● Basic task automation.
● Basic firewall setup/troubleshooting. (iptables)
● And more.
For our clients that decide to add cPanel to their Virtual Private Servers we offer
fully managed support. Fully managed support means that we will handle just
about any issue or configuration request you may have with your server outside of
custom software/script installations (ex: ffmpeg+mplayer+mencoder). Some
examples of things covered by our fully managed support may include but are not
limited to:
● Security audits.
● Load problems or sluggishness.
● Network related issues.
● Failure of server to boot.
● Hardware failures
● Package installations via package manager (yum,rpm).
● DNS Configuration
 ● Troubleshooting script configurations and/or website errors.
● Task automation.
● Firewall setup & troubleshooting.
● E-mail configuration.
● Software upgrades & migrations. (php, mysql).
● Custom apache configurations (mod_python, mod_ruby, mod_wsgi)*
● Perl/PECL module/extension installations.
● Backup configurations.
● Google Apps setups.
● And much more.
If you have a specific question or require clarification on something which is not
listed here please consult Internal Support.
The standard terms of service apply to VPS accounts as well, with the VPS
following most of the same rules as a dedicated server. For example, they would
follow the exact same mail policy as the dedicated server mail policy. Though VPS
accounts have a special addendum that can be viewed here:
http://www.hostgator.com/tos/vps-tos.php
VPS accounts have the same guarantees as our shared/reseller hosting, including
the 45 day money-back quarantee. All VPS accounts, including those over the
inode limit, will still be included in our weekly off-site backups.

Section III: SEO Hosting

As mentioned in the first unit, we have a sister company that caters to those
customers who are interested in taking advantage of the algorithms that search
engines use to rank websites. Called SEOhosting.com, the hosting accounts here
are reseller-style accounts that can make use of what are called "separate C-Class
IPs." An IP address has 5 possible classes, named after letters, and is divided into
4 sections called octets.
Here is a C-class IP: 74.200.34.128
The octets are as follows: 1st.2nd.3rd.4th
To prevent website owners from gaining rank from symbiotic or reciprocal links, or
overusing keywords, search engines will look for a quantity of links to a specific
site from other sites. Theoretically, a website owner could create a number of sites
and link to their main site, thereby increasing its rank. Usually, these sites will be
from the same IP as the main site, or something very similar - having a difference
only at the fourth octet.
Search Engines combat this by looking for an IP address which has a different
first, second or third octet, and ignoring any difference in the fourth octet,
assuming that a site with such a similar IP would belong to the same owner. If the
first, second or third octet is found on the site linking to the main site to be
different from the main site's IP, this is considered a favorable link and the page
rank is increased.
The hosting plans at SEOHosting.com offer a minimum of five IPs, all with at least
different C-classes. The customer can assign his or her different sites to different
IPs and interconnect all of them with links, and could, quite possibly, increase
their rank in a search engine. The IPs for the nameservers can be any of the IPs
provided with the account and would not really follow the shared hosting pattern
of "IP and IP plus one."
We do offer tips and tools for search engine optimization. The tools which are
offered are generic search engine optimization tools, the same ones anyone can
find at other web sites.One does not have to be a customer of seohosting.com to
use the SEO tools.
There are some restrictions on these accounts, however. The number of cPanels
are limited by the number of IPs purchased - a five IP account will yield only five
available cPanels. While SEO accounts are indeed reseller accounts, they are not
optimal for reselling due to this limitation. A customer also will only receive one
content transfer per IP address. Also, there are no online forms associated with
these accounts. For sales issues and inquiries, customers must
[email protected], and [email protected] for support issues. Live
chat and phone support are still available for SEO hosts.
The seohosting.com billing system is separate from the hostgator.com billing
system and is located at http://admin.seohosting.com/. The billing software is not
ModernBill, and you will have a unique billing system login for the backend.

Unit 9: Account Addons/Procedures

Section I: General Account Functions

In an attempt to make certain processes easier on customers, HostGator has made

online forms available to customers for account addons. Our support URL is
http://support.hostgator.com/. After this, click on the Account Addons link. Here
are links to every account addon we have available. The General Account functions
list is already open; these are requests that can be made for any account.
The upgrade account link is listed first. When clicked upon, the browser shows the
form for an upgrade. Though the form itself is straightforward, there are some
special rules to remember about this form. A customer can use it to upgrade
among the shared packages, or from a shared to a reseller account. It cannot be
used to move from a shared account to a dedicated account. To achieve that
upgrade, the customer must be directed to buying the dedicated server first, then
filling out our transfer form. Next, the customer must change their nameservers to
the ones for their dedicated servers. After propagation, the old account may be
canceled. As for shared-to-reseller upgrades, the customer needs to know that we
will transfer all the content, but will not break their addon domains up into
separate accounts. Also, since a server change occurs, the customer will need to
replace the old nameservers with the new ones we will send out.
The downgrade form is second in the list and can only be used for
shared-to-shared or reseller-to-reseller downgrades, and is a $10 fee. Any other
downgrade requires the purchase of a new account of the desired package. The
customer will then be responsible for transferring their own content, re-pointing
their domain, and canceling their old account. The one exception to this is if the
customer is within the first thirty days of signing up, then the customer can take
advantage of their available free content transfers.
Shared Reseller VPS Dedicated

Shared -> Shared Reseller -> VPS -> VPS Anything ->
Upgrade Reseller Upgrade Upgrade Dedicated Upgrade
* Use Online Form * Use Online Form * Email * No online form -
* Free1 * Free1 [email protected] Manual Upgrade
* No Server * No Server m * Free content
Change Change * Free1 transfers
* No Server 1. Purchase new
Shared -> Shared Reseller -> Change account
Downgrade Reseller 2. Transfer
* Use Online Form Downgrade VPS -> VPS
* $10 fee * Use Online Form Downgrade files/sites
* No Server * $10 fee * Email (Free)
Change * No Server [email protected] 3. Change DNS
Change m and wait 72
* Free hours for
* No Server propagation
Change 4. Cancel old
account

Dedicated ->
Anything
Downgrade
* No online form -
Manual Downgrade
* NO free content
transfers
1. Purchase new
account
2. Transfer
files/sites
3. Change DNS
and wait 72
hours for
propagation
4. Cancel old
account

Shared -> Reseller Reseller -> Shared Anything -> VPS

Upgrade2 Downgrade Upgrade4
* Use Online Form * No online form - * No online form -
* Free (including Manual Downgrade Manual Upgrade
content transfer)3 * NO free content * Free content
* Requires Server transfers transfers5
Change 1. Purchase new 1. Purchase new
* Requires DNS account account
Change 2. Transfer 2. Transfer
files/sites files/sites
3. Change DNS (Free5)
and wait 72 3. Change DNS
hours for and wait 72
propagation hours for
4. Cancel old propagation
account 4. Cancel old
account
VPS -> Anything
Downgrade6
* No online form -
Manual Downgrade
* NO free content
transfers
1. Purchase new
account
 2. Transfer
files/sites
3. Change DNS
and wait 72
hours for
propagation
4. Cancel old
account
1
We will invoice them for the difference between the plans.
2
The customer will need to cancel their Shared account after we transfer
everything over.
3
We will transfer their cPanel exactly as it is on the shared server to the reseller
server. We will not split their addon domains into separate cPanels on their
reseller account. They would have to get a quote from our Transfers Department
for that service.
4
An upgrade is considered a change to a non-VPS account that costs equal to or
the same as your current HostGator plan.
5
The free transfers are only available when cPanel is purchased with the VPS.
The most important idea to remember is that, unless a dedicated server is
involved, or if a reseller is downgrading to a shared account, the forms can be
used. Otherwise, the new account must be ordered online.
The next two links, "update billing information" and "register / transfer domains"
are links to our billing system and Registry Rocket, respectively.
The following link is for domain name registration transfers. We will transfer one
domain name registration to us within 365 days of the account's creation. The
following steps must be followed to achieve this successfully:
1. Make sure the WhoIs information is up-to-date.
2. Make sure you have access to the email address stated in the WhoIs
Information.
3. Update name servers to the HostGator name servers prior to initiating transfer.
4. Unlock the domain.
5. Retrieve the EPP Authorization key from your current registrar.
6. Fill out the HostGator domain transfer form.
Finally, the previously viewed restoration and cancellation forms are listed.

Section II: Shared Account Addons

The first link here is to redeem the free SSL offer for Business accounts. The free
private SSL offered with the business plan will remain free as long as the customer
has the business plan. Each year, we will renew the SSL for free. If a customer
desires to downgrade/upgrade to another plan, the free SSL will be movable to
the new plan or hosting provider, however, once it expires it will no longer be free.
Second is the "Update your Primary Domain name" form. On this form there is a
warning at the top of the page which reads, "WARNING: Changing your domain
name requires that the desired domain name is removed from the server. Please
confirm the new primary domain name does not exist on the server as its own
account, sub-domain, add-on domain or parked domain." The customer must heed
this warning and follow the instructions. It should be known, however, that
removing the addon, parked or sub-domains will not delete any data from the file
manager. The folders will still be present and all data intact. Once the primary
domain name change is complete, the customer may re-add the original primary
domain as a new addon or parked domain.
Listed next is the Purchase SSL certificate form. As a note, we do not allow the
Hatchling plan to use Private SSL.If a Baby plan account holder purchases an SSL
from us, then we will provide them with the required dedicated IP address for
free.
Following that is our SSL Installation link. This is used for SSL certificates
purchased from other companies. The full process for achieving this installation is
as follows:
1.First, the customer must fill out the "Generate CSR Form" and give the result to
their SSL provider.
2.The SSL provider will give him or her the "SSL Certificate" and the "SSL CA
Certificate".
3.Next the customer must fill out the "Install SSL Form". The "RSA Private Key" is
given as a result of filling out the "Generate CSR" form.
There are some special restrictions for the third-party SSL certificates. A Private
SSL cannot be installed if private registration is enabled on the domain name. This
is because the SSL certificate needs to verify your domain's WHOIS information. If
the customer moves to a different server by upgrading or downgrading, the SSL
will need to be reinstalled and we will charge again for the installation. Only
dedicated server customers may install their own SSL certificates. SSL certificates
may be installed on the primary domain or an addon domain. If a customer wants
to install an SSL certificate to a subdomain, then the customer must sign up for
another account with the subdomain so that the subdomain will be the primary
domain.
We also offer forms to gain access to the free Sitebuilder and SiteStudio accounts.
For shared clients, the preferred sitebuilding software is based on aesthetics. A
customer may sign up for both and try them out. Since the whole site is saved on
the server that hosts the building software, publishing over pages made in either
builder is easy. Remember that these building programs may not import
templates; all templates available are accessible through the building software.
One major difference though is that Site Studio requires that the domain used is
fully propagated. If the domain is not propagated to the server, then the customer
will be unable to login to Site Studio.
The next link is for customers to request their account be moved to the Chilisoft
ASP server. For shared customers, only the Business plan may request ASP.The
ASP which is offered is not ASP.NET, it is classic ASP only.Only specific servers
have Chilisoft ASP installed on them and after ASP is requested, a nameserver
change is necessary.
Our customers can request a dedicated IP address with the next link. Each cPanel
may only contain one dedicated IP address. However, getting a dedicated IP
address will not change the IP address from which email is sent. To achieve this,
the customer must purchase a dedicated server.
Account transfers are covered with the next form. For shared customers we will
only transfer the content of the primary domain of their account. Neither free nor
paid transfer services carry any guarantees. We will move up to one account with
shared hosting free of charge within 30 days of signing up. Extra domains are not
included in the free transfer service. The majority of transfers are completed in
less than twenty-four hours; however, due to the nature of some transfers and
depending on how many are currently in the queue, this could take up to
seventy-two hours or more before everything is completed. Let the customer know
that if he or she has any specific items needing transfer, then the field labeled
"instructions" needs to be filled out with that information.
Next to last, the CSR form is for generating a necessary component for the
previously mentioned third-party SSL certificate installation.
Lastly, the SSH activation form is listed. This form is not to be recommended by
employees. For shared accounts, we will activate SSH immediately without
verification. The form on this page should not be forced on to customers. The form
only exists in case the customer does not want to contact hostgator.com via live
chat or telephone and finds the form on their own. When someone requests SSH to
be activated, a technician should use ChatShell and activate the jailshell. The
account being given jailshell must be checked to determine if it is either on a basic
webhosting account or is the primary domain of a reseller account.This is because
we do charge $10 activation fee per each cPanel under a reseller to which we give
jailshell SSH access.

Section III: Reseller Account Addons

Some addons for resellers are similar to those for shared accounts, but behave
differently. There are also a number of reseller-specific addons, as well. Initially,
the first two forms are for the two billing systems we offer for resellers - WHM:
Complete Solution and WHM: Autopilot. Autopilot is typically more
customer-friendly, but WHMCS is newer. Both systems allow soon-to-be clients of
a reseller signup for an account, pay for it, receive account information, and be
using the service without ever contacting the reseller.
The Update Domain form is for the reseller's primary domain only, not for their
clients.
The Purchase SSL Certificate is for any domain the reseller is hosting. If the form
is being filled out on behalf of a client of a reseller, the reseller is responsible for
making sure the whois information is correct on the client's domain. SSL
Installation follows the same format as shared hosting does, except the reseller is
charged a $2 fee for the necessary dedicated IP address.
The form listed as "eNom Account" allows a reseller to set up a domain name
reseller account offered through eNom. This allows the reseller to purchase
domain names for $9.45, and sell them to their clients for whatever price they may
choose. By default, the reseller account is set up as a retail Enom account.The
account can be upgraded by [email protected]. Just have the customer
provide the eNom username/password and requesting the retail account be
upgraded to a 'reseller' level account. The differences are in how the domain
registrations are processed. The retail account's domain names must be registered
and paid for at the time of registration with a credit card. No eNom reseller tools
are available, and HostGator has full access to the domains.
The reseller account, however, requires a $100 deposit, from which the fee of
registrations are removed. The eNom API is available, and the reseller can set the
default DNS and whois information to be used upon registration.
Site builder and SiteStudio are free to all reseller clients. However, Site builder
allows for the creation of a Reseller Site builder account, where resellers can make
Site builder accounts instantly for clients. SiteStudio requires forms for each
client.
A reseller client's account can be moved to the ASP servers just like a shared
account. However, that specific cPanel will no longer be a part of the WebHost
Manager, and will be hosted on a completely different server. This also costs the
reseller $5 per month.
Dedicated IPs can be purchased for any cPanel the reseller has with the next form.
The cost is $2 per month per site.
HostGator offers the transfer of thirty accounts for resellers. Simply filling out this
form will initiate said transfer. The thirty-day limit and other restrictions still
apply, though, just as with shared hosting.
CSR Generation is done with the next link.
A reseller can request SSH activation for their account as well as a client's
account. The difference is that each activation for a client costs $10.

Section IV: Dedicated Server Add-ons

As with the last section, some of the add-ons are repeated here. The first form to
take notice of is the Addition RAM form. The prices are listed on the form for the
RAM. This (along with hard drives) are nonrefundable and are not transferable
between servers.
SSL certificates work the same for dedicated servers, except that dedicated server
accounts come with a bank of free dedicated IPs. If those have not been used up,
then a new dedicated IP will not need purchasing.
The rvSkin form is for dedicated account holders who want to offer alternative
languages in cPanel. While available for free on reseller accounts, a dedicated
server customer would have to purchase this. Installation is included.
MS Expression Web is a website builder exclusively for Windows Hosting.
MSSQL Upgrades are available for a fee to Windows dedicated customers.
The Smarter Tools link is to allow customers to upgrade SmarterMail,
SmarterStats, and SmarterTrack. These are fee-based upgrades.
The final dedicated server-specific form is the previously reviewed Reboot Request
Form.

Unit 10: Domains

Section I: Understanding Domain Registration

Domain registration (buying a domain name) is done with a company called a

registrar. The registrar can be different than the hosting company. Many domain
name registrars are resellers for a larger company. This is the case with
HostGator; we are resellers of Enom. ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers, is a non-profit organization which is the main regulator of
domain name registrations. Their website, along withwww.internic.net are both
excellent resources for domain name registration and the regulations in place for
it.
HostGator can host any domain name, as long as the domain can be pointed to our
domain nameservers or DNS. However, we cannot register every domain name.
The Knowledge Base has a list of Enom Top-Level Domains for sale, and the prices
we offer to register them. The URL for this article is
http://support.hostgator.com/articles/which-domains-can-hostgator-register-do
main-name-prices.
One of the issues in dealing with domain registration is the due dates. Domain
names are typically registered for one year, and if not renewed in time, the
domain will expire. When expirations occur, the domain is pointed back the
domain registrar's nameservers, and will not show the customer's site until he or
she pays and the domain is pointed back. Enom gives a twenty-nine-day grace
period where the domain name can be renewed. If the registration is not renewed
during this time, then on the thirtieth day the domain goes into "Redemption."
Enom (not HostGator) will require a payment of $250.00 along with the domain
registration price. Though we cannot waive those fees, HostGator can offer to
simply register a different domain name. Renewing the domain name a month
before expiration will ensure that no problems will occur.
Domain registration can be transferred from one company to another. The transfer
needs to be initiated with the new company. Failure of a domain registration
transfer can occur due to:
a) an expired domain name
b) the time with the current registrar is less than sixty days (an ICANN regulation)
c) the domain status is locked (which is done for the protection of the registrant)
d) not having up to date whois information (the administrative email must be
active)
e) an invalid EPP code or Authorization ("Auth") Key
f) or waiting until the end of the registration to transfer the domain - companies
may fail to authorize the transfer (sometimes in an effort to still keep the domain
under their control), and then the domain will expire.
Again, as with renewals, customers need to make sure all domain transfers are
initiated one month before expiration. The same obstacles are an issue when
transferring away from HostGator as well.

Section II: Nameservers

Normally, nameservers are said to tell a domain where email and website are
hosted; however, this is highly simplified.
However, nameservers actually direct the domain to DNS Zones which then direct
to hosting.

A records and MX records do not need to resolve at the same host, meaning, mail
can be hosted by another company.

Shared account customers can use the 'Simple DNS Zone Editor' in cPanel. This
only allows them to change CNAMES and A Records. Resellers and above, though,
via the WebHost Manager panel, can make the changes to any type of DNS zone
entry. All customers can make DNS changes from within their cPanel/WHM.
However, we can also make the changes for them. Just verify the customer, and
make a simple request to Internal Support - Linux to have them changed. We
require written documentation of the request. If a customer comes to live chat or
submits a ticket to have these changes made, the customer is documented.
However, if the customer is using our phone support system, the technician will
need to submit a ticket on behalf of the customer, and then spark Internal
Support.

Since changing DNS zones can be difficult and have a critical effect on the account,
chat technicians may not advise a customer on the changes.
The A record points the domain to an IP address (mydomain.com to 75.28.23.109)
The CNAME record points a subdomain to another domain name
(www.domain.com to domain.com)
The MX record controls where emails are received. If a customer wants their email
to go elsewhere, then this is the record to change. We also need to change their
domain to the remotedomains list.
Changes to these records take time to update. This is listed as a TTL or "Time to
Live." The value is in seconds, and will help to illustrate why changes to records
require a period of wait time commonly referred to as propagation.
There are tools to determine the A record and MX record of a domain name. The
information from this section will be used to help troubleshoot customers' issues.
Note that a customer can have HostGator nameservers, but have all of his or her
records pointing elsewhere. The inverse is also true.
There are other records involved in DNS zones that our administrators can set up.
The PTR and SPF records are two of these. You can search these terms at
http://support.hostgator.com/ for more details on these records. The important
concept to remember is that the PTR requires a dedicated server.
Each shared and reseller server has two nameservers, each with their own IP. The
IP listed on the Server Lookup Tool is the main IP, which is the IP for the first
nameserver (ns1.hostgator.com, for example). The IP for the second nameserver
(ns2.hostgator.com) is the first IP with one added to the final quantity. For
example if ns2129.hostgator.com is at IP 74.52.23.129, then
ns2130.hostgator.com would be 74.52.23.130.
These IPs are important for many reasons, one of the reasons being private
nameserver registration. Resellers have the option of using these, as they mask
the fact that the reseller is hosted though us. Private nameservers appear as the
primary domain name of the account (ns1/ns2.resellerdomain.com) as opposed to
showing HostGator's domain. These private nameservers are registered at the
domain registrar, not the host. The old nameservers must be removed and the new
ones added. Resellers have the option to use the private or HostGator
nameservers whereas dedicated servers must use private nameservers.

Unit 11: Email and FTP

Section I: Email Troubleshooting

Email troubleshooting, at first, will seem nebulous and confusing. HostGator has
provided assistance to troubleshooting these issues:
http://theneedful.hostgator.com/addons/email.html - the email Troubleshooting
Guide.
First and foremost, become familiar with the email policy in our Terms of Service.
Important restrictions are listed here that may help narrow down issues. The
predominate rule is the "500 emails per hour per domain rule." If a customer
violates this issue by exceeding the limit, or attempting to send out many email
messages at one time, then outgoing mail will not work. Typically, an email will
bounce with the header mentioning the 500 email limit.
Other basic troubleshooting techniques apply to email, just like websites.
Primarily, one would check to see if the domain is actually pointing here. Checking
pings and whois information is, great; however, with webmail an even easier way
exists. Simply browse the domain and append port 2095 (example:
domain.com:2095). If a webmail login does not appear, then the domain is not
pointed to HostGator. Also, determining the status of the server on which the
domain is hosted is the next step.A down or troubled server will end the
troubleshooting process.
Finally, for preliminary procedures, determine the customer's IP address. If they
do not know it, ask them to go to hostgator.com/ip.shtml and get that number
from them. In ChatShell, run the command checkfire (syntax: checkfire <IP>
<server>) to determine if our firewall (the IPtables and the routing tables) is
blocking the IP. A IP block will prevent email from working; contact Internal
Support - Technical to have the block removed.
Most errors are encountered in a mail client (such as Outlook or Thunderbird).
These could be errors due to the mail client itself, so all troubleshooting should
begin with Webmail. Customers may try domain.com/webmail or
domain.com:2095. Additionally, webmail.domain.com is a secondary URL one
could use to log in, if port 2095 is blocked. If the customer can log in and send or
receive here, then determine the issue with their mail client. This will be covered
shortly.
A necessary component if the customer cannot send and receive here is the actual
email and password for the customer. As with anything else, replication is
necessary. If logging in to webmail is not successful, the customer's email
password will need resetting. This is done inside cPanel as previously covered.
If the log in is successful, then attempt to send from the cubecitytest email
addresses to the customer's email address. Do not use a personal company email.
If sending fails, then check the IP of the MX records using MXlookup. If the IPs do
not match, then the domain may need to be put on the remote domains list.
However, if receiving fails, check the disk quota and mail quota in cPanel. If disk
quota is the issue, then this will have to be changed by an upgrade in package. If
mail quota is the problem, then the customer can change this in cPanel under Mail
Accounts.
Some basic settings in Outlook (and other mail clients) can cause issues with
sending and receiving, even if troubleshooting webmail ends in success. If
receiving is still failing here, then quotas are the issue. If they are not, then
escalation may be needed. Before that, just make sure the customer is using the
correct ports (143 for IMAP and 110 for POP3) even though mail clients usually
have these set by default.
As for sending, there are a few settings to check. Primarily, "outgoing SMTP
requires authentication" must be checked. Usually if a customer receives an error
message, this will be in the error message. This is found by going to Tools →
Accounts → Properties → Advanced Settings in Outlook (this may vary from
version to version).

Secondly, some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) do not allow certain ports to be
used. When a customer of certain ISPs want to use their website host for sending
email, they may not allow mail to be sent on port 25, the typical port for SMTP.
Either the customer would need to use the ISPs servers to send mail, or switch to
port 26. This tends to cut down on spam being sent.

Other settings can be altered to assist in making mail work. One is to set the mail
servers from mail.domain.com to the IP address. A domain name requires one
more step in resolution after the IP address - this just reduces one more chance in
error.

Finally, just have the customer remove their mail client account and re-add it, with
the settings listed in the email troubleshooting guide.
Another issue that may be occurring with a customer email account is a rejected
password. The password may need resetting, which has already been covered. If
the customer, however, is violating the "thirty POP checks per hour from
connecting IP" rule, our mail system will reject the password until the hour has
passed.
By this point in time, enough information should have been gathered to determine
where the problem lies. If the problem is not with HostGator, then assistance
needs to be given to the customer to help them with problems on their end. Of
course, checking our firewall is the initial procedure. Secondly, have the customer
remove all firewall and anti-virus programs. Next, have the customer close any
open programs. If this does not correct the issue, then request that the customer
connect directly to the Internet instead of to a router, if possible.
If the customer still has problems, request the results of a multiple trace route. A
customer can get these results by running winMTR, a downloadable program, or
from tracert at the Windows command prompt. Unfortunately, these results must
come from the customer's own computer and IP address - we cannot run it for
them, and the results cannot be gained from a website.
Section II: FTP Troubleshooting

To go along with this tool, we have also created another flow-chart style tool for
FTP troubleshooting. The URL for this is
http://theneedful.hostgator.com/addons/ftp.html. Knowing the steps to
troubleshoot FTP in real-time is very helpful, though.
Most importantly, as with email, FTP has a series of preliminary checks to ensure
that there is actually a problem with FTP. First of all, our servers only allow a total
of eight connections via FTP from one IP address. A customer can ensure all of
them are closed by going into cPanel and using the FTP connection control tool
there. Secondly, did the customer recently publish new content? The old site may
be displaying due to the browser or ISP caching the site. Publishing to the
incorrect location may also be an issue - ensure that the customer has published
to the public_html folder and that all paths are correct. When a customer designs
a site in a specific web design program, utilizing that program's publisher is the
best option. If the browser displays the "Index Of /" page, there may be no
default page published here, or the file as been capitalized (example: Index.html
versus index.html).
Now, with actual FTP issues, request that the customer give the precise settings
he or she is using to login to the FTP client. This information needs to match the
same information given in their welcome email. Have the customer use the IP
address listed in the email as opposed to the domain name. If this fails, then
attempt to log into the customer's cPanel with the username and password. The
password will need to be reset if this does not work.
If the customer is using a specialized designer as mentioned above, then there
may be program-specific settings that need troubleshooting. With Dreamweaver,
have the customer attempt to publish with Passive Mode both on and off. Also, if
the directory to publish is blank, then have the customer type in /public_html/ .
Ensure that all firewalls, anti-virus programs and other programs are closed. If the
issue still persists, in light of previous troubleshooting procedures, have the
customer attempt to publish with Windows Explorer, or a different FTP program
like CoreFTP, SmartFTP or FileZilla (or any other FTP program for which we have a
tutorial).
Some of our customers still use the publishing program Front Page. Although this
is a completely outdated program that Microsoft itself will not support, people feel
very familiar with this program. It may be easy to use, but sometimes there are
FTP issues. If a customer cannot successfully FTP to a site, then have the
customer open his or her FrontPage and look in the top menus. Click "File" and
choose "Publish Web".If extensions are installed, then the publish destination will
be http://domain.com or http://(ip.address). If they are not installed, replace
"http" with "ftp." The user/author name must be the cPanel name, and the
password is the cPanel password. As with other troubleshooting, if this does not
work, ask the customer to disable any firewall or anti-virus programs and then all
other programs.

One final suggestion is to have the customer use Windows Explorer (not Internet
Explorer). From the desktop, open My Computer. In the Address bar type
ftp://username:[email protected] . Press enter, and the files should appear.
Finally, if this does not work, have the customer give us the results of a multiple
traceroute.

Unit 12: Technical Skills

Aside from pre-sales questions, a technician's other responsibility to customers is
to troubleshoot issues with their accounts. One of the primary issues a technician
will encounter is file permissions. Each file in a Linux system has a series of
permissions, determining whom can read the file, write to the file, and execute the
file. The "who" in this question is the user, group or world. An easy way to
visualize permissions is in a simple three-by-three matrix.

These permissions are visible in the file manager in cPanel. The same style matrix
is viewable by right-clicking on the file and selecting "Change Permissions."
Alternatively, by simply clicking on the numbers, the numeric value of the
permissions can be entered.
Altering a PHP file's permissions to 777, and then browsing to it will cause a 500
error. Changing the file permissions to 777 will cause the 500/Internal Server
Error because our servers' security settings do not allow group or world write
privileges. Also, changing a file to permissions 600 will cause a Forbidden error, as
the group and world permissions to read (or view) the file are not set. This file
permissions setting is useful for ensuring that no one can browse the file.
In the public_html folder (the folder where all of the files that can be browsed are
located), the only valid permissions are 755 and 644. Permissions of 444 are
necessary for some configuration files, and this is acceptable. However, no
changes will be saved to a file with 444 permissions - no one can write to it.
Changing the file permissions of the actual public_html folder will cause an issue
as well. Setting them to 600 will cause a forbidden error when the domain is
browsed to. Changing the file permissions to 777 will cause the 500/Internal
Server Error as well. The point to remember here is that the public_html is the
folder referenced when someone browses domain.com. If the actual folder has
invalid permissions, then one cannot browse the site.
An important file on our servers is called .htaccess (read as "dot h-t-access"). This
file gives directions to Apache to activate certain processes. Although certain parts
of code for this file will be reviewed, our technicians are not expected to code a
customer's .htaccess file.
The first one of these directions we will look at is the DirectoryIndex command.
This bit of code tells Apache to load a specific file for the default page or
homepage. The syntax of the command is as follows:
DirectoryIndex file1.ext
One could also add multiple files here, such as:
DirectoryIndex file1.ext file2.ext file3.ext
This will tell the browser to load file1.ext first. If it does not exist, then file2.ext
will load, and so on. If none of the files listed in DirectoryIndex exist, then the
browser will show an "Index of /" page - a list of all of the files in that directory.
Even without knowing how to code an .htaccess file, a user can alter it. In cPanel,
when a redirect is created by using the redirect tool, it will add the redirection to
the .htaccess file to the last line of code. This may cause a slight issue if code was
added by hand to the file and a carriage return was not placed at the end. Each
.htaccess code needs to be on its own line. Some other .htaccess code altering
procedures are the IP Deny in cPanel and Index Manager. The IP deny will do just
that - deny a specific IP or range of IPs from accessing the site. The Index
Manager will show a 403-Forbidden Error instead of the "Index Of /" page,
thereby protecting the files when the index file is not found.
Though this may seem confusing, valid commands for the .htaccess file may differ
from one type of server to another. Due to phpSuExec environment on our servers,
php is run as CGI. This means that certain Apache commands dealing with php will
not work. The most common one is php_flag (as in php_flag register_globals_off)
and php_value. Some customers come from servers where Apache was serving
php. The best way to remedy this is to determine the corresponding php code, and
place it in to a php.ini file - the file that directs PHP on phpSuExec servers. The
phpSuExec environment also does not allow the 777 permissions, and PHP cannot
run as 'nobody.' The only way to host with us and not have this environment is to
host on a dedicated server.
A php.ini file that will be placed in the customer's home folder and "symlinked"
(by .htaccess coding) throughout the customer's domain can be created by using
ChatShell. The command for this is:
createini <domain.com> <server>
The php.ini file is very user-friendly, explaining certain directives in the file, and
how to alter them. In the previous example of register_globals, all the customer
has to do now is to go their home folder, find php.ini, open it in an editor, and then
find register_globals. To determine the current settings for PHP, a file called
phpinfo.ini can be created. This is a simple PHP file with the following code:
<?php
phpinfo();
?>
Uploading this to a server and browsing it will show all the PHP settings for that
domain.
Customers will come in often asking if we supporta certain script. Typically, they
are asking whether or not a script will run on our servers. Sometimes they want to
know if we will troubleshoot the script's errors and correct their mistakes. The
latter is rarely, if ever, the case. Third-party script support is not our
responsibility, and we should direct them (as professionally as possible) to contact
the provider or programmer of the script in question. To determine whether or not
a script will indeed run on our servers, the script's requirements must be known
and can usually be found by asking a customer outright, or finding the script's
website. We have compiled a list inside our knowledge base of the most inquired
about programs. If a program in question is not in the list, simply contact Internal
Support - Technical to find out.
We offer access to quite a few scripts via Fantastico DeLuxe in the cPanel. This is
easily found by its icon - a big blue smiley face. After clicking on this, the customer
is offered up a list of easy-to-install scripts such as WordPress, Joomla and Drupal
(a full list is available at http://www.netenberg.com/fantastico_scripts.php)
These are full installations that will create a database for the customer, and link
its installation and user to the database, thereby passing up many changes for a
faulty installation. One of the most important components of the installation is the
database configuration file (usually config.php or some other diminutive of
'configuration'). Since this connects the installation to the database, the
information in this file is very important. The connection string lists a host,
database name, username and password. The format for these are the following:
Host = localhost (this is actually "localhost", not a placeholder)
Database name = (cpanelusername_databasename)
Database username = (cpanelusername_databaseusername)
Database password = (password)
Altering any of these settings will not allow the connection to work. Also the
database username should not be the cPanel name. If the cPanel password is ever
changed without editing the password in this connection string, the connection
will break. Beyond these types of errors, customers typically remain responsible
for their installations. A customer needing website design assistance can refer to
hostgator.edit.com. This site has designing services for a fee.
Customers may ask about editing the main .htaccess file for the server, or the
httpd.conf file for the server. For shared and reseller accounts, this is not allowed
due to security reasons.
Another error that is often encountered is the 404-File not Found error. Although
this can be caused by badly programmed rewrites in .htaccess (therefore not our
responsibility to correct), typically this is simply that the file does not exist, or the
path to the file is incorrect.

Unit 13: HostGator Policy

This information for this unit is contained within the HostGator Human Resources
website. This can be found by browsing to http://hr.hostgator.com/ and clicking
on "Rules for Working." These are more than mere polite suggestions - these are
company policy.

Unit 14: Quality Assurance

We now have a quality control department, and you will be expected to follow the
guidelines found in our knowledge base.
Please read along at
http://support.hostgator.com/articles/employees/quality-assurance-requirement
s

Glossary
Ad Server - An ad server is a computer server, specifically a web server, that
stores advertisements used in online marketing and delivers them to website
visitors.
Background Process - A background process is a process independently running of
the current process. It may create files on its own without input/output from the
main program.
Chmod - The chmod command changes file permissions on the server. This can be
done manually in FTP or SSH.
Chown - The chown command changes a file's owner. A server administrator will
have to make this change.
CMS - Web content management systems are used to create powerful websites
with a user friendly interface. They help setup and manage your site content.
Examples include Joomla, Drupal, and WordPress.
Daemons - A daemon is a long running process that you wouldn't normally
stop/start. Sometimes they provide kernel services. If you look at Unix, anything
ending with a 'd', such as httpd, is a daemon.
Dictionary Attack - A method often used by spammers. They send various emails
or passwords to a domain hoping that one will succeed.
GNU - The GNU General Public License that is attached to Unix and Linux OS.
GUI - A graphical user interface or GUI is a type of user interface which allows
people to interact with a computer and computer-controlled devices. Instead of
requiring typed commands, the GUI offers graphical icons, visual indicators or
special graphical elements called "widgets".
LAMP - Lamp stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP.
Mailer-Daemon - Mailer-daemon is email server software responsible for message
delivery. Messages from mailer-daemon @example.com usually indicate a problem
with the recipient's mail server or address. For example, a common problem that
causes a mailer Daemon message is sending a message to an incorrect email
address. If you send legitimate email to a valid account and still get responses
back from mailer-daemon , your domain may be on a blacklist.
Overselling - Overselling refers to the ability to sell more bandwidth and disk
space than you physically have.
Payment Gateway - Another name for a Merchant Account. This allows you to
accept credit cards and other electronic payments.
PDF - The Portable Document Format (PDF ) is the file format created by Adobe
Systems. PDF is used for representing documents with text, fonts, images, and 2-D
graphics. Common uses are to distribute copies of books and owner manuals.
Pointer Record - A pointer record is a common name for a PTR record.
Propagation - Propagation is the process where your new DNS information is
spread to all the computers in the world. This process can take up to 72 hours to
complete. Until propagation is complete, your domain and emails will not work
consistently.
PTR record - A PTR record lets anyone receiving your email to verify that it
originates from the expected location. If no, then the email is likely spam.
Queue - (pronounced kyoo) A queue is a list of requests that are waiting to be
answered.
Reverse DNS - A Reverse DNS Lookup is when someone searches your IP address
to match it to your domain. A reverse DNS record is a common name for a PTR
record.
SSI - Server side includes. A scripting language used to get information from the
server and include it on your webpage. It can also be used to include other files
from the server.
SPF Record - An SPF record is an entry added to the DNS zones for a domain. This
record verifies that a user has permission to send mail from that domain. This is
used to prevent spoofing.
tty - TTY means teletype, which is a text phone. So, a TTY is any device which
accepts messages via text. TTY is also a Unix command that outputs the name of
the current terminal.
Urchin Stats - A statistics program like AW Stats.
Web Application Framework - A web application framework is software that aims
to reduce server work associated with common activities used in Web
development. For example, many frameworks provide libraries, templates, style
sheets and anything else that can reuse code.
Whois - A whois search finds the registration information on a domain name. The
whois information is the domain owner's contact information. The best place for
whois lookup is network-tools.com

Appendix A: ChatShell Commands

ChatShell, or URSH (Your Shell), is a very helpful tool which will allow you to gain
access to information within an account or make changes to an account that
otherwise you would have been unable to do.

apachegrep <server> <search keywords> - grep the last 5000 lines of the Apache
error log. Grep is a command-line, text-search utility for Unix.

apachelog <domain.com> <server> - show last 100 Apache error messages for
this domain.
This command is helpful because you will not need to gain access to the cPanel to
see the cPanel error log. This will enable you to diagnose common website errors
quickly.

apachetail <domain.com> <server> - tail the global Apache error log. ctrl-c to
quit.
The apachetail command will show you the global Apache error log. This means
you will be viewing Apache errors that happen to all users on the chosen server.
This log will constantly update as errors are encountered. You can stop this
updating by pressing ctrl + c.

catchall <domain.com> <server> - toggle catchall setting for a user.

This command will enable the "Default Address" feature within cPanel.  The
default address is also referred to as the "Catch-All" feature.  We disable this
feature on all shared and reseller accounts by default due to spam issues. You do
not need to verify a customer to enable their catch-all/default address. This is
because when you enable the catch-all, you are not applying any settings, instead,
you are simply allowing the feature to be used.

checkbackup <domain.com> <server>  - see if we have backups for this user.

This is an important command to use when considering customers that are asking
for backups of their accounts.  Using this command will prevent you from giving
the customer false expectations of what we can deliver. There are several reasons
that would cause a backup of a shared/reseller account to fail to generate. Some
of those reasons include suspensions and inode abuse.  If you are suspended or
have over 50,000 inodes, your backup will be skipped. If a backup exists for the
customer, then they must fill out the online restore form to request it.

checkfire <IP> <server> - checks for a customer's IP in the firewall. Partial IP's
accepted.
Sometimes, a customer's IP address may become blocked by the server in the
Firewall ( IPtables ) or the routing table that the server is using.

checksql <domain.com> <server> - show current mysql usage for a user.

If you need to check the MySQL connections for all databases under a specific
domain, you should use this command.  This command is good for if the customer
has hanging sql processes or if they would like to know how busy their MySQL
usage is.

clear  - clear your screen.

Clear is a command that is commonly a part of any shell.  The clear command is
used to remove all previous commands and output from consoles and terminal
windows in Unix-like operating systems. After the clear command has been issued,
all that remains on the display screen is the command prompt in the upper left
hand corner of Chatshell. Removing previous commands and output can make it
easier for you to focus on and understand subsequent commands and their output.

countproc <domain.com> <server> - check current number of processes for a

user.
When a shared or reseller cPanel reaches 25 simultaneous processes, they will
receive an internal server error 500 on all of their pages.  If you are experiencing
an ISE500 and you have checked the apache log, permissions and .htaccess, then
perhaps the customer is experiencing an issue with processes.  If they have a
script which connects to MySQL a lot and has poorly written queries, then they
may have queries that never find anything and also fail to disengage.  This will
cause the processes to stack up and will result in an ISE500. Also, FTP and IMAP
hold constant processes open for each session until you close the program or end
the session. Due to processes like this, customers may experience intermittent
ISE500s. To kill processes, please see the "killproc" command.
couriertail <domain.com> <server> - view email messages arriving for
POP/IMAP.

createini <domain.com> <server> - create a modifiable php.ini in the users home

dir.
This command is very helpful for if a customer needs to disable register_globals or
magic_quotes or wants to make changes to the behavior of php within their
account. This command does not simply create a php.ini for the customer to
modify.  The php.ini file is placed into the home folder of the cPanel and the
.htaccess within the public_html folder is set up to symlink the php.ini to apply to
all folder and files under the public_html. It is not reccomended and is a security
risk to place a php.ini into any publicly accessible folder. This is why it is placed
into the home folder. Also, a php.ini file is not recursive like a .htaccess file. That
is why the createini command will symlink the php.ini file to apply to all folders
under the public_html.

dns <domain.com> - show dns information about a domain.

The dns command will show you which DNS a domain currently has at their
registrar and also which nameservers are set up for that domain on the server
within the zone file. If the name servers at the registrar match those on the
server, then most likely the domain is OK.

eximgrep <server> <keywords> - find email messages which were not delivered
and why.

eximtail <domain.com> <server> - view email messages entering the queue.

fantfix <domain.com> <server> - fixes "script already installed" bug in fantastico

for a user.
Sometimes Fantastico will malfunction and return an error when installing a script
that states it may not more than one instance of a script into a directory.  This
used to be an issue that required an administrator to help or a ticket to be created
to have this issue resolved.  However, now you have access to fix this.

ftplog <domain.com> <server> - parse /var/log/messages for ftp information.

This is very helpful if you need recent information about FTP activity on an account
such as uploads, downloads, deletions, file sizes and session information.

getenable <domain.com> <server> - enable curl, GET, wget and lynx for a user.
By default, all shared and reseller customers are unable to use cURL, GET, WGET
and lynx.  These commands are used in cron jobs and in JailShell. When these
commands are used the customer will receive a "Permission Denied" error. You
cannot enable only one of the commands, if you run getenable on a customer's
account, they will be added to the get-users group and will have access to utilize
all four commands.

ipid <IP to check> - gives information regarding an IP.

If a customer gives you an IP address, you can use this command to discover if the
IP address is one of Hostgator.com's IP addresses and if so, what type and where
it is located. This does not work for dedicated servers.  If you enter the shared IP
address of a server, it will tell you that the IP address is shared and for what
server it belongs to.  If you enter a dedicated IP address, you will be told that the
IP is dedicated and on which server the IP is on.
jailshell <domain.com> <server> - toggles jailshell for a user.
If a customer would like JailShell enabled for their account, you can use this
command to do so.  You do not have to verify the customer before you enable the
JailShell.  You must be careful when enabling JailShell for customers because we
do charge a one time $10 activation fee for each sub account of a reseller.  If this
is requested, the reseller must fill out our online form.

killproc <domain.com> <server> - kill all current processes for a user.

When the customer has 25 current processes running and is receiving an internal
server error when viewing their website, you can kill all processes with the
killproc command. If you have anyone viewing their IMAP e-mail or connected to
FTP at the time you run the killproc command, they will be disconnected.

mailperm <domain.com> <server> - fix the mailbox permissions for a user.

Sometimes, you will be contacted by customers that are unable to send or receive
e-mails due to a permission errors. This will be highly evident if the customer uses
webmail to send e-mail because the error will specifically state that the issue is
with permissions. This command will fix the error so no ticket will be necessary.

motd - show the motd.

Motd is an acronym for "Message of the Day" and is a standard UNIX command. 
When you login to Chatshell and you see the artistic Chatshell logo, you are
looking at the MOTD of Chatshell.  If you use the motd command, you will see the
logo once again.

ownerinfo <domain.com> <server> - shows detailed information about a domain

from the server.
Ownerinfo may be used to discover the primary domain which is hosting the
domain name in question.  This is especially useful when customers do not know
their primary domain name. The important piece of information which you are
given is the primary email address on file.  You can use that information to look up
the primary account in ModernBill.

passwd - change your password.

This command is very simple, it will allow you to change your password to access
Chatshell. 

permfix <domain.com> <server> - resets permissions on public_html and all

subfiles/folders for a user.
Permfix will automatically set the permissions of all files in the customer's
filemanager to the appropriate and correct permissions. This is helpful when the
customer has uploaded their entire site with FTP and the program set all of the file
and folder permissions to 777.  There are a lot ways that permissions can be set to
invalid values on accident because many scripts have installation notes and
directions that claim you must use 777 on certain files. This command has a large
effect on customers' accounts due to the fact that so many file permissions will be
changed. Make sure you verify the customer

ping <domain.com> - ping a domain 5 times.

The ping tool will allow you to ping a domain name 5 times. This will help you to
understand which IP a domain is on, how much latency is between the Chatshell
server and the server you are pinging, if there was any pakcet loss during
transmission and if
popcheck <domain> <user> <pass> - check a POP/IMAP login for a user.

pwreset <domain.com> <server> - changes password for a user to a random

password.
You will use this command to reset the cPanel or WHM password for our shared
and reseller customers. When the password is reset, you are given the password. 
When this command is used, no welcome email is sent out.  You should verify the
customer before you reset the cPanel or WHM password. It is a good idea to use
GatorBill to reset cPanel and WHM passwords as GatorBill will also send out a
welcome email. That way you do not have to contact internal support or a
supervisor to have a welcome e-mail sent.

pwsync <domain.com> <server> - sync ftp/cPanel passwords.

When a customer logs into JailShell and uses passwd to change their password,
the FTP password is not updated also. This can be frustrating for our customers
because they will be unable to log into FTP, but will be able to login to cPanel. 
When you run the pwsync command, the FTP password is synchronize to match
the current cPanel password.

pwtemp <setuser|unsetuser|setmail|unsetmail|setwp|unsetwp>
<username/email/database> <server> - will set a temporary password for either
a cpanel/ftp/ssh user or e-mail address or a WordPress Admin and then allow you
to restore the users original password afterwards.
This will allow us to be able to enter cPanel or an e-mail address on any of our
shared accounts as the user without ever asking them for a password.

The users password will automatically revert to their original 30 minutes from the
time the temporary password was set, however please make sure you run the
appropriate restore command when you're done with your work and do not rely on
this feature so that our clients are not locked out of their accounts for unnecessary
time.

Also when you change a users password with the pwtemp command it will log
them out of their cPanel session. This serves the additional purpose of making
sure that only we are working on their issue at that particular moment.

quota <domain.com> <server> - check current quota for a user. (includes inodes)
This command will show you if a specific user is over their quota in diskspace and
will also show their current inode usage.

retrace <IP> <server> reverse traceroute, must include server.

rldomcheck <domain.com> <server> - allows you to find out whether a clients

domain is currently in our localdomains or remotedomains access list on their
respective server.

scoreboard <domain.com> <server> - check concurrent apache connections for a

server.
This command will show you the load on the server, the SQL load on the server,
how many requests apache is processing per second, how much data per second is
being sent, how large the average apache request is, how long apache has been up
and which domains have the largest amount of apache requests.
secinfo <domain.com> <server> - check a domain for mod_security blocks.
Our servers have mod_sec installed. When a webpage breaks a rule of
mod_security, the customer will receive a 403 Forbidden error instead of the
requested resource. In this case, you can run this command to discover which
mod_sec rule IDs that the website you have checked is breaking. The domain will
need to be whitelisted for the rules that are displayed in the result of the mod_sec
check. You must tell internal support, a chat admin or a supervisor of the result
you receive from the check so that the 403 Forbidden error may be removed.

suspcheck <domain.com> <server> - see why a domain is suspended.

This command is very helpful for discovering why exactly an account has been
suspended. Chatshell will check the documented reason on the server and give you
that information as a result. In the result you receive, you will be given the reason
for the suspension and if a ticket is available on the issue, you will be given the
ticket ID.

themeset <domain.com> <theme> <server> - set theme for a user. options: x x3

rvskin.
The themeset command will allow you to change the theme a customer is using
quickly and on the fly.

traceroute <domain.com> - traceroute to a domain from wizard.

This traceroute will only show you the route taken to get to the desired resource
from the server running wizard on it.

whois <domain.com> - whois a domain.

Chatshell allows you to run WHOIS lookups on domains right in shell.
Appendix B: Useful Bookmarks
http://gbadmin.hostgator.com/
HostGator's NEW billing system (GatorBill), which currently holds all VPS
customers and new Shared/Reseller accounts.
http://hostgator.com/billing
This is the URL for ModernBill.
http://drewhastings.net/
The is the URL for the former 'GatorBill' program.
http://admin.seohosting.com/
SEOHosting's billing system can be found here.
http://monitor.hostgator.com/
The server monitor is located here.
http://gatordesk.hostgator.com:7777/
Our new ticket system is here.
http://theneedful.hostgator.com/
This is our knowledge base (or FAQ), currently.
http://theneedful.hostgator.com/addons/nameservers.php
This link gives servers names, IP address, nameservers and Shared SSL Paths for
our servers.
http://timeclock.houston.hostgator.com/(personal use)
Check this often to ensure that timeclock punches are correct.
http://www.pagewash.com/
A proxy site - useful for assisting in troubleshooting a possibly blocked IP.
http://mxtoolbox.com/
This will help troubleshoot mail issues.
http://breakq.com/
Sign in to this system to go on break.
http://hr.hostgator.com/
As mentioned early in training, this is the Human Resources webpage.
http://translate.google.com/translate_t#
A translator, useful for aiding in non-English chats.
http://internetsupervision.com/
This very helpful site shows connections to a particular domain from nine different
world cities.
http://host-tracker.com
This is another Internet monitoring site.
http://www.miraclesalad.com/webtools/md5.php
This is a hash generator - an encryption tool.
http://w3schools.com/
Customers can be directed to this site for assistance with coding and design.
http://theneedful.hostgator.com/chat/
The Supertool is located here. Bookmark this as a sidebar, and have it loaded all
the time.
http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/
Another oft-used proxy site can be found here.
http://support.hostgator.com/articles/From-Search/7/can-i-see-some-of-the-we
bsites-you-host
A knowledge base entry that shows us and customers examples of the sites we
host. Feel free to give this to customers who ask.
https://secure.hostgator.com/ssl-trust-logo.shtml
Though this may seem trivial, this link always seems to be hard to find when its
needed most. Bookmark this and that will not happen.