Thesis Hosting – Page 4 – Down & Dirty Tech Resource

WHM SSL Certificiates

You can install regular SSL certificates to replace the self-signed copies that come with WHM (and therefore eliminate error warnings the customers receive using Webmail, cPanel, etc.).

In WHM to install your cert for WHM/cPanel services, you will need to use the link “Manage Service SSL Certificates” under Service configuration in your WHM. This will allow you to install certificates to different services such as mail and WHM.

These SSL Certificates won’t require a unique IP address because they are stored in a different area that the other security certificates.

Quickie – Disable WordPress Comments Temporarily

Very handy if you’re moving a WordPress blog during DNS propagation time. This is best suited to remove the ability to comment on their blog without changing the comment status of posts in their database. See the alternative SQL method to turn off comments and pingbacks on a WP blog in hosting transition here.

From http://www.theblog.ca/wordpress-temporarily-disable-comments:

1) Turn off the display of the comment form in your Comments file in your template. To do this, go to “Presentation… Theme Editor…” then edit the Comments file.

You’ll see something like this.

<?php if ('open' == $post->comment_status) : ?>
 <h3 id="respond">Leave a Reply</h3>

Replace it with something like this:

<?php // if ('open' == $post->comment_status) : ?>
 <p>Comments are temporarily disabled</p>

Note: I see no need for the author’s suggestion of renaming the wp-comments-post.php file because we don’t need to worry about the spam comments accumulating during a hosting move.

Moving WordPress With No Downtime: Resources

Helpful Technical Guides to Moving WordPress installations, and particularly Command Line/SSH instructions.

Step-by-Step SSH Guide
http://uncorrupted.net/technical-articles/move-wordpress-with-no-down-time/

WP Codex on Moving WordPress
http://codex.wordpress.org/Moving_WordPress

Moving WordPress via SSH
http://technosailor.com/2007/04/06/wordpress-faq-how-do-i-move-my-blog-to-a-new-host/

WordPress Installation via Command Line
http://guvnr.com/web/web-dev/wordpress-subversion/

Testing Your Website on the New Web Host Before Switching Domain Records

From Uncorrupted Hosting Blog: ((Emphasis added.))

You can test everything by editing the hosts file on your PC

Go to: C:WindowsSystem32driversetc and open up the hosts file with a text editor, go to the end of the file and type the IP address of your new server, press tab & type your domain name, save the document, close your web browser, and clean your DNS cache (click start, click run type ipconfig /flushdns & press enter). Next, open your browser and go to your site – everything should work. When you’re done testing, delete the lines you added to your hosts file and then save/close it.

At this point, all that’s left to do is change the DNS servers for your site and point them at the DNS servers provided by your new host.

Using this approach, you can test a database driven site (like WordPress) on a new host before officiallygoing live at the new host. Always allow overlap between your old hosting account and new hosting account to make the move more seamless!

For my Mac friends, find your host files in the /etc folder. To access this file in Finder to to Go > Go To Folder, and type in /etc. ((Thanks to Mac Tips & Tricks for the info.))

When you’re done, delete that entry in your hosts file, and you’ll see what everyone else does when going to that domain.

Putty: Setting up SSH Keys to New Server

When setting up a new server, you’ll want to set up your SSH Keys so you can remotely access without having to type in root password. Info for using putty, the simple, lightweight, open source SSH client.

Download Putty and the keygen tool here | Instructions for generating keys here

Use Putty Keygen to create a public/private key pair and save locally. Make sure you use RSA keys, SSH2, and DO save a passphrase.
Log into WHM -> Security -> Manage SSH Keys -> Import Key
Paste Public and Private Key Pair into boxes provided. Add your pass-phrase and import.
Make sure putty is set to use your private key, and connect to your server. (See image below)
Log in as Root and use passphrase, which will be required to log in.