Ramprage's newbie guide looks fantastic! I'm sure it will be a critical resource for me and tons of other folks. For those who need it:
http://forum.rackshack.net/showthread.php?...&threadid=21619

But I'm not quite there yet. I'm still on page 2 of the CPanel/WHM setup wizard called "Setup Server Information." I've used CPanel for a couple years, but only as a reseller. And I'm just not familiar with a lot of these terms & settings. Wondering if someone can help me understand the best settings to use?

Here's a list of the requested fields:
Default Home Directory: /home is the default, just leave it, right?
Home Directory Prefix: What does this mean? It says "the prefix you wish to match other user partitions with."
Hostname:
Main Shared Virtual Host IP:
Default CPanel5 Theme:
Apache Access Log Style:
BIND Version:
CGI Script Alias: What does this mean?
Minimum Uid: Just any random number above 500?
Master Nameserver: To start, just use Rackshack's DNS? Can be changed later, right?
Server Contact E-Mail Address:
Master Cluster Server: What in the world?
Alternate Main Ethernet Device: Should I care about this?
Server Contact AIM:
Server Contact ICQ UIN:
Server Contact Pager Address:
Primary Nameserver: Is this the same as HOSTNAME?
Secondary Nameserver: Or are these just the Rackshack DNS to start?
Third Nameserver:
ns4: ?
ICQ UIN:
ICQ Password:
AIM Username:
AIM Password:

Any responses to this could really help me (and others) a lot. I earnestly appreciate it. I hope I have more luck than DavidB, who had the same types of questions:
http://forum.rackshack.net/showthread.php?...&threadid=22495

Thanks a TON guys!

*takes a deep breath*




[quote]Default Home Directory: /home is the default, just leave it, right?[/quote]

Correct you usually only change this if you have an additional harddrive.



[quote]Hostname[/quote]
This is the "hostname" of the server also the "box name" its just what the server calls itself. This should be able to dns resolve.



[quote]Main Shared Virtual Host IP:[/quote]
Main ip that the name based sites will be created with.



[quote]Default CPanel5 Theme: [/quote]
Default theme that is used for cpanel panel.

[quote]Apache Access Log Style: [/quote]
Logging can be done in different methods and this just lets you choose.

[quote]BIND Version[/quote]
Select which version you wish to run


[quote]CGI Script Alias: What does this mean? [/quote]
This is normally cgi-bin this is the default "cgi-bin" for the server. If you change this users will complain If you set to cgi then all cgi scipts will be acessed via domain.com/cgi


[quote]Minimum Uid: Just any random number above 500? [/quote]
Each user, or account, is givin a user id you want to put this above 500 because below is typically used for system related stuff. Each additional user will just raise this number.


[quote]Master Nameserver: To start, just use Rackshack's DNS? Can be changed later, right? [/quote]
Correct


[quote]Server Contact E-Mail Address[/quote]
So when stuff goes wrong it knows where to email you of notices


[quote]Master Cluster Server: What in the world?[/quote]
Cpanel lets you group, or cluster, multiple servers. You can share all sorts of things. But with only 1 server this does not matter.


[quote]Alternate Main Ethernet Device: Should I care about this? [/quote]
Each ethernet device, or nic card, is given a ethX. If you have a 2nd nick it would be eth1. Your box will only have a eth0 so does not matter.

[quote]Server Contact AIM: [/quote]
Aol instant messanger, your account that it can login and send a message TO


[quote]Server Contact ICQ UIN: [/quote]
Same as above but for icq


[quote]Server Contact Pager Address: [/quote]
So you can always be in touch, pages you with info.



[quote]Primary Nameserver: Is this the same as HOSTNAME? [/quote]
No this will usually be ns1.host.com OR ns1.rackshack.net. When domains are added the NS records will be added to reflect this.


[quote]Secondary Nameserver: Or are these just the Rackshack DNS to start? [/quote]
^^

[quote]Third Nameserver: [/quote]
^^ same with the 4th. The more NS are for redunancy. If one fails the domains can still work.


[quote]
ICQ UIN:  
ICQ Password:  
AIM Username:  
AIM Password:
[/quote]
Accounts in which the server can sign on to in order to send the message TO you on the accounts listed above.



*gasp*
Well I think I got all your questions good luck.

Glad that was actually posted. I typed it right before the forums got hacked and got the you have been hacked page when I submitted it. They must have only replaced that one page.

Yes eth00! I'm glad it was posted as well. Very glad.

The incident wiped out my username on this board and I had to re-register. You can see the evidence in that it appears this post was started by 'nobody'.

Can someone direct me to a glossary of very basic "This is how you run your own server" information? I've biult a hundred websites and stuff, but this technical server stuff (ssh, telnet, kernel, resolver, BIND, up2date, etc etc etc...) is over my head. I just need some basic definitions and a description what it all does. Any ideas where I might learn it?

spank you very much.

#How to use SSH on Windows PC's
#Using VI text editor
#Direcory of Linux commands
#Linux resource websites

Thank you very much Foggy. That helps a lot! Especially the VI text editor. I was using pico because I didn't realize the risks!

Now... Can someone tell me the benefit (or lack there of) in using 3 IPs... I received one directly from RS upon sign up and read somewhere that I need 2 more. Why 2 more, and not 1 more?

Is this really this difficult for everyone, or am I just extra dumb?

People typically put nameservers on dedicated ips, so thats the 2 extra that they are probably talking about.


Later on you might need more for secure sites, additional nameservers, anonymous ftps and a few other things. Because ips are getting scarce they just try and limit it to what you actually need not just give everybody lots of ips.


oh yea and vi is a great editor

Ok, so if I understand you correctly I should have an IP for each of the following:

(1) Server Hostname
(2) NS1.MYSITE.COM
(3) NS2.MYSITE.COM

Right?


Finally, how do I configure it so that it knows where to look for the websites? Uh...it's tough being so clueless... What I mean is when someone types in www.oneofmysites.com, how will the server know to automatically direct them to /home/oneofmysites/public_html ?

Thank you for your continued patience.

Yes on those 3 ips

As for that other stuff, cpanel automatically handles that so no worries!

Thank you for the affirmation, eth00!

One more question and I'll let you go back to your merry life...
I want to ensure that all my scripts and MySQL databases will function properly once the IPs propagate. The old server is running the same version of CPanel, but that's about all I know. So how can I check to make sure everything on my new server is setup the same way it was on my other one? Actually...not just how, but WHAT should I check. I'm sure there are a myriad of things.

OH! And I see you're running an OSCommerce site! That was a challenge to setup, huh? Great, terrific, robust product though! Looks like you've done a very nice job with it. I may have to look you up for one of your "Offshore" solutions one of these days.

Thanks again.

Try using the transfer options to move over the old accounts. That allow will save some work. Next look at the tweak settings and server settings and adjust as needed.

Finally you may have installed some additional software. You can look at old server and manually add the old ones, but I would just add as you need the stuff.

Do make sure and change the auto-updater, if you use it, to only the most stable releases.

Wow just found this thread, PMing me or e-mailing me would have been a good way to get my attention as well

Has everything been answered?