Avoiding Data Loss: Backup Strategies

In today’s digital age, data has become one of the most important assets for businesses and individuals alike. From confidential documents to cherished memories, data is crucial for both personal and professional reasons. However, data loss can occur due to various reasons. This included hardware failure, natural disasters, or cyber-attacks. All of this can lead to irreversible consequences. Hence, it is essential to have a backup strategy in place to protect and recover valuable data in case of any unforeseen circumstances. In this article, we will discuss the importance of data backup and provide some useful tips and strategies to help you avoid data loss and keep your data safe and secure

DomainKeys and DKIM in Plesk and cPanel

 

DomainKeys and DKIM can help you to increase the reputation of your e-mail server and preventing others to manipulate or fake your e-mails. In this tutorial, we want to show you how you can activate this feature in cPanel and Plesk. Firstly, we have to clarify that Plesk allows you to activate DomainKeys in the web interface and that cPanel is using the newer version called DKIM. Those are both quite similar in many points, but we will use those terms separately. All the images in this tutorial can be shown in a bigger version with all the details, by clicking on them. We will often use the example domain “yourdomain.com”. It has to replaced with your own one, whenever it appears.

Ultimate Guide to SSL

Introduction

In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, the need for secure and private communication on the internet has become more crucial than ever. This is where SSL (short for: Secure Sockets Layer) comes into play. SSL is a fundamental technology that ensures encrypted connections between web servers and browsers. This is archived by safeguarding sensitive information like passwords and protecting users from cyber threats. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the world of SSL, its historical context, and its significance in modern web usage. 

 SSL, first introduced by Netscape in 1994, revolutionized the way data is transmitted over the internet. It provided a secure layer of encryption, making it increasingly difficult for attackers to intercept and decipher sensitive information exchanged between users and websites. Over the years, SSL has evolved into Transport Layer Security (TLS), encompassing newer versions and stronger cryptographic algorithms to enhance security. 

System Rescue CD: First Steps

 

Many of you have already heard about it or even used it once in a while, but most of you have probably not been introduced to it yet: Our rescue system! While hopefully not being needed at all, it provides many possibilities to fix certain problems and to bring the machine back online as soon as possible. When the server is down, every second counts. It is important to know what to do beforehand. Thus, I will provide you with some basic information first:

How to Configure Cloudflare in front of Your Website or Application

Cloudflare is a content delivery network (CDN) that provides a range of services, including DDoS protection, caching, and website optimization. By configuring Cloudflare in front of your website or application, you can take advantage of these services to improve the performance and security of your site. However, setting up Cloudflare can be a daunting task for those who are unfamiliar with the process. In this article, we will provide a step-by-step guide on how to configure Cloudflare in front of your website or application, so you can start enjoying the benefits of this powerful CDN. Whether you’re a seasoned developer or a beginner, this guide will help you get up and running with Cloudflare in no time. 

Create a Cloudflare Account

The first step in configuring Cloudflare for your website or application is to create an account. Go to the Cloudflare website and click on the “Sign Up” button. You will be prompted to enter your email address and create a password. Now check your email inbox to verify your email address. Once you have completed this step, you will be directed to the Cloudflare dashboard which looks like this: 

Add Your Website to Cloudflare

The next step is to add your website to Cloudflare. To do this, click on the “Add Site” button and enter your website URL: 

Cloudflare will then scan your website to determine its DNS records.  

Choose a Cloudflare Plan

Cloudflare offers a range of plans, from a free plan to more advanced plans that offer additional features. Choose the plan that best suits your needs and click on the “Continue” button. 

In this example we will choose the “Free”-Tier. 

Update Your DNS Settings

Once this is done, Cloudflare will display a list of DNS records for your website. If there are already some entries, verify that these records are correct or delete them and then click on the “Continue” button. 

Now Cloudflare will display new nameservers that you need to update on your domain registrar’s website. This is usually where you purchased your domain name. For Contabo customers this can be done via the Customer Control Panel (CCP) at my.contabo.com. Your DNS settings can be updated under “DNS Zone Management”. If you want to learn more about DNS Zone Management, check out this article. If you are with some other provider, you will need to log in to your domain registrar’s website and update the nameserver records with the ones provided by Cloudflare.

 

Verify Your DNS Settings

Once you have updated your DNS settings, go back to the Cloudflare dashboard and click on the “Done, Check Nameservers” button. Cloudflare will then verify that your DNS settings have been updated correctly. This may take some time, so be patient. Cloudflare will send you an email if these DNS settings have been updated. 

Connect your Server with your Domain on Cloudflare

After your DNS settings have been updated, it’s time to connect your server with the Domain you set up at Cloudflare. To do so choose “Websites” in the left menu: 

Now click on your Domain: 

And select “DNS” in the left menu: 

To connect your server with this domain, click on “Add record”: 

1. Now leave the “Type” on “A”. 

2. For “Name” enter your Domain (e.g. test.com) 

3. For IPv4 address enter the IPv4 Address of the server you want to connect with your domain (In Contabo this can be found in the Customer Control Panel –> Your Services) 

4. Now click on “Save” 

In our example it looks like this: 

Now it will again take some time to update your DNS settings. Again: It can take up to 24 hours but will usually be done in a few minutes. 

Enjoy the Benefits of Cloudflare

Congratulations! You have successfully configured Cloudflare in front of your website or application. Cloudflare will now provide a range of services to help improve the performance and security of your site, including DDoS protection, caching, and website optimization. 

 Source: https://contabo.com/blog/how-to-configure-cloudflare/?fbclid=IwAR1lMyG8XV3WDRFGx1yIWAcs5D_Hf_VZYKxyoaMQbT1F0o4bENsresttkC4

Welcome to the cPanel ELevate Project

 Goal

The cPanel ELevate Project provides a script to upgrade an existing cPanel & WHM CentOS 7 server installation to AlmaLinux 8 or Rocky Linux 8.

Disclaimer

We do not guarantee the functionality of software in this repository. We provide it on an experimental basis only. You assume all risk for use of any software that you install from this experimental repository. Installation of this software could cause significant functionality failures, even for experienced administrators.

cPanel Technical Support is limited in their ability to support experimental software. You should instead utilize the Github Issues page

Introduction

• Issues can be reported here
• Pull requests are welcome
  • Code contributions are subject to our Contributor License Agreement

This project builds on the Alma Linux ELevate project, which leans heavily on the LEAPP Project created for in-place upgrades of RedHat-based systems.

The Alma Linux ELevate project is very effective at upgrading the distro packages from CentOS 7 to AlmaLinux 8 or Rocky Linux 8. However if you attempt use it directly on a CentOS 7-based cPanel install, you will end up with a broken system.

This project was designed to be a wrapper around the Alma Linux ELevate project to allow you to successfully upgrade a cPanel install with an aim to minimize outages.

How can I prevent my e-mails getting marked as spam?

You have your own e-mail server, but your e-mails are landing in the spam folder or do not even arrive? This can have several reasons. This tutorial will show you the most important tricks and often overseen configuration mistakes. If you have a webspace package, you will only need the point SPF of this tutorial. In this tutorial we will often use the fictional domain server.yourdomain.com and the IP address 1.2.3.4. Please replace them with your own ones when you are doing the tests or configuration.

SMTP banner

The SMTP banner is the label of your e-mail server. When it connects to a different e-mail server, it is introducing itself with it. If you have a server from us, it will, at the beginning, answer with something like this:

m1234.contabo.net

Containers vs Virtual Machines (Cloud Explained Series)

 

Both virtual machines and containers are routinely used for handling cloud workloads. Our previous article described how virtual machines work, today we’re going to focus on their lightweight relative – containers. But before we start with containers, let’s quickly sum up the previous article:

Changing the Partition Layout of Your VPS after OS Installation

 

What are Partitions?

Imagine a laptop with a 500 GB disk and Windows as the operating system. By default, Windows is installed on the 500 GB disk. But what if you want to have both Windows and Linux? That’s where partitions come in. For example, you can create a 400 GB partition and a 100 GB partition on your 500 GB disk. Now your physical disk acts like two separate disks which means you can install Windows on one partition and Linux on the other.

In other words, partitions are logically separated parts on a hard drive that are treated as if they were separate hard drives. That means, each partition can have its own file system on it and they can also be encrypted.

Setting Up WordPress with Cloud-Init

 

WordPress is the most used open-source content management system – and it’s totally free. More than 40% of the websites on the internet are powered by WordPress*, both small blogs and large websites. WordPress is extremely customizable and beginner-friendly, but is also suitable for large and complex websites.

Automate the Setup Process with Cloud-Init

Setting up new WordPress instances is easy, but in order for WordPress to run you need a webserver and a MySQL database. Setting all of this up can take a lot of time, especially if you’re doing it on a large scale.

However, if you want to add WordPress to your existing server, head over to this guide on setting up WordPress manually.

Cloud-Init can be used to automate the installation and setup process of your server by following a specific set of instructions you define. So in this guide, we will take a look at how the installation process looks and create a Cloud-Init config for it, so it can be automated.

Benefits of using Cloud-Init

The true power of Cloud-Init is not only automating the initial installation, but replicating it on multiple machines – automatically. This is a huge time-saver in case of a disaster, where you need a new server running and configured as fast as possible. For more details about Cloud-Init itself, we’ve written a whole article about the benefits and how to use it.

How to Run a Bitwarden Server on a VPS

 

In today’s digital age, passwords are more prevalent than ever. Many of us use social media, online banking and much more. All these accesses are secured with passwords, among other things. Ideally, you should use a different password for each platform, which is also long and contains special characters and numbers. With all these passwords, it is easy to lose track of them. This is where password managers come into play.

Bitwarden is a popular password manager, which is open source. There is a free as well as a paid version hosted by the company behind Bitwarden, or you can host a Bitwarden instance yourself. We will show you how to do that today.  

There are two ways to install a Bitwarden instance. If you plan to run only Bitwarden on a given virtual machine you should pick Bitwarden standalone variant. If you also want to use the server for a different purpose you need to use a “modified” Rust-written variant of Bitwarden. You can read more about “Vaultwarden” here.

Table of Contents

• Installing Bitwarden Server (Standalone)
  • Requirements
  • Preparation
  • Downloading the installation script
  • Running the installation script and installation
• Install Vaultwarden Server (Bitwarden)
  • Requirements
  • Preparation
    • Create a Virtual Host
    • Activate required modules
    • Install SSL certificate
  • Download and run Vaultwarden

Connect to remote VPS on Linux

Introduction

One of Linux's most appealing features is the ability to skillfully use a computer with nothing but commands entered into the keyboard—and better yet, to be able to do that on computers anywhere in the world. Thanks to OpenSSH, POSIX users can open a secure shell on any computer they have permission to access and use it from a remote location. It's a daily task for many Linux users, but it can be confusing for someone who has yet to try it. This article explains how to configure two computers for secure shell (SSH) connections, and how to securely connect from one to the other without a password.

Terminology:

When discussing more than one computer, it can be confusing to identify one from the other. The IT community has well-established terms to help clarify descriptions of the process of networking computers together.

How to Use SSH Keys with Your VPS?

What are SSH Keys?

Linux servers are by default secured by a password. However, this type of authentication is not ideal from a security standpoint because your server can be vulnerable to Brute-Force-, or dictionary attacks. SSH Keys are like a “keycard” to access your server without a password.

Table of Contents

• What are SSH Keys?
• SSH Keys vs. Passwords
• SSH Key Authentication Explained:
• Generate SSH Keys:
  • Linux
  • Windows
  • Key Comments Explained (optional)
  • Key Passphrase Explained (optional, recommended)
• Uploading Public Keys to the Server:
  • via FTP
  • via Console
• How to Use Your Private Key with PuTTY:
• How to use your Private Key with Pageant:
• Testing SSH Key Authentication and Disabling Password Authentication:
  • Testing SSH Key Authentication
  • Disabling Password Authentication
• Removing SSH Key Authentication and Re-enabling Password Authentication:

Difference and Choose the Right Storage for You

The hardest part of choosing a new server, whether it’s a dedicated server or virtual private server, is the selection of the right hardware that will fit your needs. If you’re like most people, then you try to purchase maximum CPU cores for your budget. You also check how much RAM you’ll get. You’re cautious about having enough storage capacity. But there is one crucial element that most people forget – the storage type.

Not all drives are made equal. There is a huge difference in price and performance between NVMe, SSD and HDD storage. In this article, we’ll guide you through different types of drives so that you can pick the best one for you.

HDD, SSD, NVMe: From Spinning Platters to Lightning-fast Express Drive

HDD: Hard Disk Drives

The oldest of them all, hard disk drives (HDD), is the only one of three based on moving parts – spinning platters and moving needles, recording data on different sectors of the metal disc. The technology itself goes way back to the 50s, when it was introduced by IBM. Although cheapest on the list, they’re also slowest when it comes to read-write operations. Most HDDs can’t exceed maximal S-ATA II speed of ~270 MB/s. HDD is the ultimate solution in case you want to store your data for as little money as possible. But you’ll have to wait more when reading/writing data. Although slower, they’re still popular. Our customers can still encounter HDD drives in Storage VPS or while configurating Dedicated Servers.

Capacity of storage varies greatly, but most drives range somewhere between hundreds of Gigabytes to few Terabytes. In case of virtual instances, we at Contabo offer hard disk space starting from 300 GB.
Home users are sometimes concerned about HDDs’ sensibility to outside shocks or sudden movements. But that’s not really a concern in the case of data centers, because servers are fixed to racks or shelves and not moved around.

How to use VNC to connect to your VPS and VDS

 

What is VNC and how does it work?

VNC or Virtual Network Computing is a platform allowing you to control a remote computer, server or other device. It’s typically used to control your remote instance via graphical interface, meaning you use your local keyboard and mouse to work on a remote computer. One example could be a customer support technician repairing a computer remotely, using customer’s graphical interface.

The transmission itself uses open-source Remote Framebuffer protocol, compatible with operating systems such as macOS, Windows and Linux. Remote Framebuffer protocol was built as an easy solution to a wide variety of systems and configurations, allowing greater capability than older protocols.

Although easy to set up and use, VNC is lacking in security in comparison to mainstream protocols, such as SSH or Windows Remote Desktop. That being said, VNC can be invaluable in a situation when you can’t connect to your server using standard methods. Our customers can use VNC when working with their virtual instance, VPS or VDS.

Changing the partition layout of your VPS and VDS after installation

Sometimes, it is necessary to change your partition layout in order to create new partitions or extend an existing partition, for example after a VPS / VDS upgrade.

This tutorial shows how to easily change your partition layout on your VPS or VDS.

Please be advised to perform a backup of all important data before proceeding ! Changes to the partition table always bear the risk of complete data loss.

Linux

Step 1:

Boot your VPS / VDS into the rescue-system, this can be done within your customer control panel.

You will need to connect through VNC.

After you have established a connection login as “root”.

Step 2:

To perform changes on the partition easily we are going to use gparted.
To start the GUI type “startxfce4” within your VNC console and wait a few seconds until the graphical interface appears.

How to run Auto-SSL manually

A free SSL certificate for your domain can be installed at any time within cPanel. Your website will receive automatically a free SSL certificate after 12-24 hours, however requesting the certificate manually will install it immediately.

In case your browser shows the following warning when accessing your website via https:// the SSL certificate might not be installed yet.

In order to request the certificate manually you need to login to your cPanel account, the login information was sent to you via E-Mail before.

Configuring additional IP addresses to VPS

 Upon ordering a Dedicated Server or VPS you will receive one IPv4 address and one /64 IPv6 subnet. As an example, this could be the IPv4 address 192.51.100.10 and the IPv6 subnet 2001:0db8:2a02:c200::/64.

Your server comes pre-configured with this IPv4 (192.51.100.10) and one IPv6 address (2001:0db8:2a02:c200:0000:0000:0000:0001). Additional IPv4 addresses can be ordered by contacting us at support@contabo.com or through our homepage when placing an order for a new server. These additional IPv4 addresses will not be added to your system automatically but will have to be configured manually.

The following will give an overview on how to configure additional IP addresses on the most popular operating systems. The server used in these examples has the primary IPv4 address 192.51.100.10 and will receive the additional IPv4 addresses 192.51.100.42 and 192.0.2.23. As a general rule we recommend configuring these addresses with a netmask of 255.255.255.255 (/32) and /64 respectively and without adding a new gateway.

Arch Linux

The network configuration file of Arch Linux is stored under /etc/systemd/network/eth0_STATIC.network. For configuring additional IPv4 addresses, it is sufficient to add further Address= entries at the end of the file.

#/etc/systemd/network/eth0_STATIC.network
[Match]
Name=eth0
[Network]
Address=2001:0db8:2a02:c200:0000:0000:0000:0001/64
Gateway=fe80::1
DNS=2a02:c207::1:53
Address=192.51.100.10/24
Gateway=192.51.100.1
DNS=213.136.95.11
DNS=213.136.95.10
Address=192.51.100.42/32
Address=192.0.2.23/32


Further IPv6 addresses can be added similarly:

#/etc/systemd/network/eth0_STATIC.network
...
Address=2001:0db8:2a02:c200:0000:0000:0000:0002/64
Address=2001:0db8:2a02:c200:0000:0000:0000:0003/64
...

To apply the changes, reboot your server.

Install Webmin | Virtualmin on Ubuntu Server 20.04

This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to install Webmin and Virtualmin on Ubuntu 18.04 | 20.04 LTS servers.

If you’re reading this post then you probably know a thing or two about web hosting.

For those who don’t, Webmin and Virtualmin are open source tools that allows anyone be a web host provider.

These tools take the complexity out of managing Linux servers. Instead of managing each individual server and service, Webmin and Virtualmin provide a simple web interface to help manage and provision a virtual web host, manage domains email server, databases and more.

For more about Webmin, check out its homepage.

Cara Install aaPanel Hosting Control Panel

aaPanel adalah perangkat lunak control panel web hosting, mendukung distribusi Linux CentOS, Ubuntu, dan Debian. aaPanel menggunakan web server stack LAMP (Linux Apache MariaDB PHP) atau LNMP (Linux Nginx MariaDB PHP). aaPanel memakai lisensi open source dan bisa didapatkan dengan gratis.

0. Install aaPanel

Install aaPanel di distro Linux (CentOS, Ubuntu, Debian) yang masih kosong, belum terpasang aplikasi server LAMP/LNMP.