PHP Script Security

Here at NextGenHost we are all about security. Below are a few tips to help keep your site secure.

1. Rename the "admin" directory of your web script or secure it with .htaccess
2. Remove the "install" directory of your web script.
3. CHMOD your config file to 444 (not possible with every script, check with the creator).
4. Keep all folders as restricted as possible. CHMOD 755 whenever possible and

cPanel Guide to secure folders with .htaccess.

Password Protect Directories

For cPanel version 11.30

Password protecting a directory restricts access to certain parts of your website by requiring visitors to enter a username and a password. This password process is also referred to as a type of "authentication" process.

While using this feature, navigate the directories by clicking the folder icon located next to the name of the directory. Clicking on the name of the directory will select the directory for password protection.

Note: Any subdirectories inside the selected directory will also be password protected.

Password Protect a Directory

To password protect your directory:

• Select the directory in which you wish to begin working in the pop-up window.
• Click the Go button.
• Select the directory you wish to protect from the list.
• Using the Name the protected directory field, assign a name to the password protected directory. (This is the name visitors will see. It can appear as anything, no matter what the directory is called.)
• Click Save.

After you complete this process, you will need create a user and password using the Create User section of this interface.

Create a User

• Enter the username, new password, and password confirmation in the appropriate boxes.
• Click Add/modify authorized user.

Note: The new user's name will be added to the listbox under the Authorized Users heading, where it can be removed later.

Remove a User

To delete password protection for a user:
Select the desired account name in the listbox beneath the Authorized Users heading.
While the name is highlighted, click the Delete User button to delete the account.

Remove Password Protection

To remove password protection from the directory, uncheck Password protect this directory.

Email Accounts [Under Construction]

Here is a detailed explanation to adding Email Accounts in cPanel

• Table of Contents
• Add an Email Address
• Changing a password
• Change the quota
• Delete an email
• Configure an email client
• Access webmail

Adding an Email Address

1. Enter the address of the email to be created in the Email field.
2. Type the password in the password field.
3. Retype the password in the next password field.
4. Type the quota in the quota field.
5. Click "Create Account"

NextGenHost Making Backups

Backup Wizard

The Backup Wizard is a user-friendly interface for creating a backup of the entire site, a partial backup, or allowing a site restoration from the last backup saved. This tool may be useful to new users.

Using the Backup Wizard, you can back up and save your entire website or a portion of your website. You can also use the Restore link to select files to restore portions of your site. To begin, first select whether you would like to back up or restore your website.

Back up your entire site

To create a full backup:

1- Select Backup from the first page.
2- Select Full Backup from the second page.
3- Select the destination for the backup files. You have 3 options:
3- You can store the files in your home directory on your web server by selecting Home Directory from the pull-down menu.
cPanel can also utilize FTP or SCP to store the files to a remote machine. To do this, fill in the appropriate information and select the method for file transfer from the pull-down menu.
- If you wish to download the file to your computer, skip to the next step.
4- Click Generate Backup.
- If FTP or SCP was used, an email will be sent to the email address that you specified at the beginning of the process.
5- To download a copy of the backup file to your computer, click the filename under Backups Available for Download.

The date the backup was created appears in the filename (which begins with backup-MM-DD-YYYY). The file will be stored as a "tar ball" or compressed data file, with the filename extension .tar.gz.

*Note: You cannot use a full backup to restore your site via the cPanel interface. The file must be downloaded and decompressed prior to restoration. Once the file has been decompressed, you will be able to upload and restore individual pieces of your website contained within the full backup.

Create a partial backup

To back up a portion of your site:

1- Select Backup from the first page.
2- Select the portion of your site to back up by clicking Home Directory, MySQL Databases, or Email Forwarders & Filters.
3- Click the appropriate link or button on the following page to store the required information to your computer or web server.

*Note: The type of the backup file will depend on what portion of your site you are saving to your computer. For a list of backups and their corresponding file types, see the table below.

Restore a portion of your site

To restore a portion of your site:

1- Select Restore from the first page.
2- Select the portion of your site you would like to restore by clicking Home Directory, MySQL Databases, or Email Forwarders & Filters.
3- Select the file from your computer that should be used to restore the portion of your website that you have selected.
4- Click Upload to finish the restoration process.

*Note: The type of the backup file will depend on what portion of your site you are restoring. For a list of backups and their corresponding file types, see the table below.

NextGenHost Tutorials

Accessing cPanel

To access cPanel:

1. Type: https://IP:2083 into your preferred Internet browser.
- IP is meant to stand for your website’s IP address.
- Approximately one week after setting up your website, you will be able to access your cPanel interface by replacing the IP address with your domain name.
2 .Enter your cPanel username into the Username field.
3. Enter your password into the Password field.
4. Click Log in.

You will be greeted by a cPanel startup page on your first login. We strongly recommend completing the Getting Started Wizard.

*Note: A colon symbol following an IP address or domain name denotes a specific port number. These port numbers are responsible for guiding data packets transmitted between 2 computers to specific processes taking place on either machine.

Changing the cPanel interface's language

As of cPanel 11.32, you can select the language in which the interface should appear from the login page. This change will only apply to the specific browser session. Selecting a new language from the login screen will not change your account's default language (set using the Change Language screen).

*Note: If your browser's Accept-Language header is set, then the login screen will attempt to display the corresponding locale. If the locale requested by the browser header is not available, the login interface will appear in English.