This article explains the steps you should take after placing your order
for a dedicated server, to get
it setup and running as quickly as possible.
Introduction
Step
1 - Register your custom nameserver IP addresses
Step 2
- Add new DNS Zone files in the Old server
Step 3 - Setup
your main account
Step 4 - Login
to WebHost Manager (WHM)
Step 5 - Setup your
Packages
Once your dedicated server order is received and verified, we begin work
by building the server you ordered. The server is built, and all
software installed and tested to ensure proper operation. We then
connect the server to our network, and configure it to your
specifications. Your server will be installed with:
We'll create your main web hosting account on your server for you.
This account will have it's own CPanel control
panel, just like all the other web hosting accounts you'll create for your customers.
Note: If you are upgrading from a reseller plan to a dedicated server,
and have existing reseller plans you want moved over to your server,
we'll do that for you. Click
here for more information on upgrading to a dedicated server.
Root WebHost Manager (WHM)
is also installed and configured on your server, which is what you'll use to manage your web hosting business: create hosting accounts, set storage space and bandwidth limits,
suspend/unsuspend accounts, create
reseller hosting accounts, and much more.
Once all this is done, we'll send you a welcome email that will contain all the information you'll need to get started
(username, password, login URLs, etc).
The first thing you should do when you receive your welcome email, is
register your custom nameservers with their corresponding IP addresses.
You must do this with your domain name registrar. If you registered
your domain name with us, then we will have done this for you
already. The IP addresses for your custom nameservers will be included
in your welcome email, and we will have already setup the appropriate
zone files for them on your server... but you still have to register them with your registrar.
Once the nameserver IPs are registered, it will take
24-48 hours for them to propagate (just like domain names), after which time you'll be able to update domain name registrations with your new
nameservers.
NOTE: At this time you should also update your main account's nameserver
settings so that it points to your custom nameservers. This will ensure
your main account starts working as quickly as possible.
This step only applies if you will be using existing nameservers with
your new server. If your custom nameservers are new, then you can skip
to step 3.
You will want to enter new DNS zone files for your new nameserver IPs
in the server you are moving from. The reason for this is because until
your main domain name starts pointing to your new dedicated server
(which it can't until after propagation and after your nameservers are
registered with their new IP addresses), your new nameservers will not
work because there are no zone file entries for them on the old server.
So to help speed up this process, new entries for your new nameserver
IPs should be made in the old server.
If you are upgrading to a dedicated server from a TGHC reseller plan,
then we will do this for you. If you are upgrading to a dedicated server
from another hosting company's reseller plan or dedicated server, then
you will either have to enter the zone files yourself, or get your old
reseller plan provider to do it for you. See our WebHost
Manager section for more help on Editing DNS zones. If you
require further assistance, we will be glad to help.
We'll actually have already added this account in your WebHost
Manager, so you will not have to do that. Instead, you'll want to login to your main account's
CPanel to setup your email addresses, etc. For more information on setting up your main account, consult our
Getting Started Guide for new hosting accounts. Your main account is actually no different than any other account you'll setup in your WebHost
Manager, except that we've setup custom nameservers for your main account's domain name, by editing it's DNS zone files.
Warning: Since your custom nameservers are setup in your main
account's DNS zone files, please never delete your main account
from your WebHost Manager. Doing so will also delete the zone files for
your nameservers, and thus all accounts using those nameservers will go
offline until the main account's zone files are restored.
You can actually login to WebHost
Manager prior to setting up your domain name and nameservers, but it's good to get your domains setup properly right away.... because of the
24-48 hours it takes for those changes to take effect.
To access your WebHost Manager interface, enter:
http://<root IP address>:2086
(where <root IP address> would be for example, 12.123.12.123;
your root IP address will be included in your dedicated server welcome
email.
... then enter your root username and password (which are also
provided in your welcome email; the username is typically root).
Once logged in, take a look around and start getting used to all the different functions available to
you. Don't be discouraged if you are unfamiliar with all the tools
(there are many dozen tools available), because you'll never use the
vast majority of them. Most of the tools you'll use are in the reseller's
WebHost Manager, but their are some other tools in the Root
WebHost Manager that you may want to use, like the Reseller
Center where you can setup
reseller plans for your customers.
At some point you'll want to decide exactly what you want to provide in the web hosting plans you want to sell. You'll have to decide things like:
- How much storage space and bandwidth to allow each account.
- How many email accounts to allow each account.
- How many FTP accounts, Parked domains, Subdomains, Addon domains, and MySQLs to allow each account.
- How much you're going to sell your web hosting accounts for.
Once you've decided all these factors, you should login to your WebHost Manager and setup Packages. Packages make creating new web hosting accounts much easier and quicker, because you're essentially pre-defining all the above variables, so that you only have to choose a package name when creating an account. More information about creating Packages can be found in the
Reseller's WebHost Manager Help Guide.
Congratulations!
That's it, you're ready to use your new dedicated server! If you have any questions, or if anything is unclear, please consult our
Technical Support page. There you can view our support tutorials, send support issues to our support staff, and learn more about your
Root WebHost Manager, reseller's WebHost Manager and CPanel.
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