sub dom IP/multihost probs

[pgtips]

Hi,

I'm struggling with support to make head or tail of this so figured it might be easier to post on the forum.

i wanted to set up multi host to a domain but as soon as I change nameservers i lose all email settings from my external domain control panel.

This is not ideal, I just want to get the name to resolve to the multihost set up for my sub dom i.e display the page, but keep control of setting email. I don't think i am the only one who has experienced this.

I have a fixed IP for my semi ded server.

Can i just amend the cname or a records and leave nameservers as is to preserve email settings or is there an .htaccess rule i can apply to solve this. Is internal redirect forced with the P flag. (not fully clear on this but it was one solution I found on google).

I want the name to resolve/display the sub domain without forwarding or frames/cloaking but retain control of email externally as I cannot set up multiple forwarding.

struggling with this if anyone can help.

Thanks

[jason]

You would want to preserve your current MX (Mail eXchanger) record settings when you change to the JPC DNS servers. Mail servers look at your MX records to determine where to send mail.

Your current provider should be able to tell you what to use as an MX record, which you can then pass on to support.

--Jason

[pgtips]

Hi,

I'm not too hot in this area but are you saying that change nameserver and at the same time give JagPC my mx record info (as this is currently already in place and operational) then it will still work using my existing domain name control panel.

Or can I use my MX settings on current mail server, set the name server and then just pass JagPC the info required to use my own server for email.

I don't want to pass too much work onto Jag support who are good but I don't want to take advantage of their help.

many thanks for helping me get closer to the solution.

Kevin

[jason]

Since you said that you have a semi-dedicated account then I assume that you are using JPC's DNS servers for your domain. Am I correct? If so then you can't update the DNS records yourself and support will have to do it for you. This will only take support a few minutes to set up.

The MX record is a line (or several lines in some cases) that tells other mail servers how to route mail to your domain. When a server gets an message to send tou you@yourdomain.com it lookups of the MX record for yourdomain.com to determine the server what server to pass the message on to. It is a setting in the nameserver (DNS), not the mail server itself.

--Jason

[pgtips]

Hi Jason,

I'm not currently using Jag PC nameservers but have to when I need a domain to resolve to a multihost that I set up for a domain.

The problem stems from the need to have a bit more flexibility in email forwarding. Catch all is ok in some cases but sometimes i need multiple forwarding i.e bill@name.com forwards to say an AOL account, john@name.com goes to a tiscali account.

Sometimes I might need to change an email address on a website if it is getting spammed heavily so catch all is not right for this.

And if I have lots of domains I don't really want loads of POP boxes so multiple forwarding is my best option but not supported under JPC cPanel but it is under my domain registrar panel hence I want to keep using their service for email but have the domain name display the multihost website (but without forwarding or frame cloaking etc)

I'm still wondering if I am barking up the wrong tree in looking at cnames and A records etc but these invariably need an IP. If I have a fixed IP for my semi ded could this have sub IP (bit like sub dom) possibly?

many thanks
kevin

[jason]

The problem stems from the need to have a bit more flexibility in email forwarding. Catch all is ok in some cases but sometimes i need multiple forwarding i.e bill@name.com forwards to say an AOL account, john@name.com goes to a tiscali account.

See "Forwarders" in cPanel--it'll do exactly what you want.

And if I have lots of domains I don't really want loads of POP boxes so multiple forwarding is my best option but not supported under JPC cPanel but it is under my domain registrar panel hence I want to keep using their service for email but have the domain name display the multihost website (but without forwarding or frame cloaking etc)

I'm not sure what you mean by "multiple forwarding." Do you mean that you want to point many addresses at one mailbox, or do you want to mail coming to one address to be sent to multiple mailboxes. Either way, this can be done in cPanel. For the former, set up one POP account and point all the forwarders you need at it. For the latter, separate the recipient addresses with commas when you set up the forwarder, or just enter the forwarder address multiple times with a different recipient each time. If you have a lot of recipients then you may also want to consider setting up mailing lists.

I'm still wondering if I am barking up the wrong tree in looking at cnames and A records etc but these invariably need an IP. If I have a fixed IP for my semi ded could this have sub IP (bit like sub dom) possibly?

Yes, you are barking up the wrong tree. DNS resolves names to IP addresses, period. It can't say, for example, go to 123..45.67.89 if you are sending connecting to the web, 123.45.89.67 if you want FTP, etc. The exception is the MX record, wich allows you to route mail to a different address than the main trafic for a site, but it is all or nothing--either all of your mail goes to the remote server, or all of it goes to JPC's server.

The mail handling abilities that you get through CPanel are actually quite powerful. I'm not really sure that I understand what you wnat to do. From my understanding of what you've said so far, everything you wnat to do should be supported.

--Jason

[pgtips]

It looks as though you are right, I think possibly i can do everything I want here, it's just a completely different interface to what i am used to.

Terms from my old set up are differnet, i.e default email is what I knew as catch all.

If I change my domain name servers does this then become what's known as a parked domain?

Thanks again,

Kevin

[jason]

In JPC lingo, a parked domain is a second name that resolves to your main site. A multihosted domain is a second name that resloves to a subdomain of your primary site. Changing the nameservers won't affect what the site is called, but what's in a name, anyway.

I'm glad to hear you are figuring things out. Let me know if you need more help.

--Jason

[pgtips]

What an absolute nightmare I've had today.

Support wiped out my client settings after 2 days of urls resolving to the wrong place.
I've really had it up to the back teeth with this 'support' so far and my client still doesn't have emails.
I've had to fight tooth and nail to get something done as all support team want to do is backchat why something doesn't work when all I want to do is get it fixed and discuss after.

This is all around multi hosted domains which is the primary reason i signed up to JPC.

On the one hand I'm told it is great and does what it says on the tin, whereas in practice no one seems to know what they are doing and settings are reset without any thought of the impact it might have. I have lost a significant amount of goodwill to my customers.

So exactly how do you set up multihosting because I need to know, I get different (conflicting) answers from support personnel here and I always have to pay for mistakes.

I cannot move my primary domain name across until all domains I host are set up as multihosted domains. I have a fixed IP address.
What support appear to be doing is setting up various sub domains which was fair enough, I was asked to use support to get multi hosting working so I did and if that is how they do it then they know what they are doing.

Now however I am also being told I must pay for this which leads me back to one of my first support queries, "how do I do this to avoid burden on ythe support team"

I will do the work myslef but I am being told it doesn't work. How can I do this or have I been mis sold a product ?

I'm a bit weary as you can tell having had to battle support personnel for most of the morning in order to get my customer websites working, it is more stress and greif than I wanted. I just want the total gospel truth on how to get this working before my primary domain moves over. It must also work on a third folder down level, not one under root.

Thanks in advance for repsonses.
Kevin

[jason]

I've set up three multihosted domains on my site and I've never had a problem getting it done. The first one I did before support for them was was added to cPanel--as per the SOP, I created a subdomain for the site and opened a ticket, and the multihosting was working within an hour or two. The second one was a site I was moving from another host and the cP method didn't work, so I did the same thing as the first: created a subdomain and asked support to link the domain name. The third domain was a brand new one, so I did it all through cP and it worked fine.

Prior to the Longhorn plan's release last spring there was a limit of 5 free multihosted domains per account. Additional domains required a one-time $15 setup fee. Now the Longhorn page says unlimited multihosted domains and I see nothing about a fee for the service, so I would clairify that with support or sales.

Unfortunately, unless the nameservers for the multihosted domain are JPC-controlled then you can't use the cP interface. I understand the need to do this to prevent someone from hijacking a domain, but it is an inconvenice when moving sites because it means there is no way to set up new domains without going through support or taking the site off line beforehand.

--Jason

[pgtips]

The problem I am hitting Jason is that different support staff do it different ways. I've had problems with one guy who is being quite difficult and I am unsure he really knows what he is doing...and I will be honest I have found his attitude towards me quite offensive.

This isn't the place to air my dirty washing, here I just want to know exactly what I am supposed to do to get multi hosting working at a 3 level down folder without having all my clients email settings wiped out along and website urls displaying the wrong websites etc, it's a nightmare. I need someone to sort it out but support is killing me, my customers mean a lot to me and I can't let them down like this.
Maybe Greg will read this and sort it out, I have tried to email him.
Thanks

Kevin

[jason]

Greg is usually good at replying to email, although it sometimes takes him a little while to respond. He'll want to know any problems or inconsistancies that you're having with support, though, so its good that you've contacted him.

Generally speaking sub- and multihosted domains are set up one level below public_html. Of course, the actual directory used is configured in the httpd.conf file and it can be anything, so that should not be a problem. First-level techs may not have the authority to make non-standard changes to the Apache config, though, so your request may have to be elevated to someone higher.

--Jason

[pgtips]

Cheers Jason, I hope so re Greg.

Kevin