Ispmanager¶

In this article

• Ispmanager. Key Features
• Ispmanager version
• Deployment Features
• Installation process
• First steps after deploying ispmanager
• Presets
• Create a new user
• Adding a Site to the Server
• CMS Installation and Database Setup
• Connection corporate mail
• Obtain a single (wildcard) certificate for domain, subdomains and email
• Fix for invalid certificate when accessing an address from the webpanel tag
• License Activation
• Ordering ispmanager using the API

Ispmanager. Key Features¶

• Domain management: It allows you to create and delete domains, and change their settings, such as DNS records, redirects, MIME types, and others. You can also view information about available domains, subdomains, and SSL certificates.
• FTP Account management: It allows you to create and delete FTP accounts, assign restrictions on the use of server resources, define access rights to files and directories, and also change passwords.
• Database management: It supports multiple database types such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and more. You can create and delete databases, users, and privileges, as well as backup and restore databases.
• Web server management: It allows you to configure Apache or Nginx web server settings, add and remove virtual hosts, configure PHP settings, and other customizations.
• Mailbox management: Ability to create mailboxes, configure SMTP and POP3 server`s settings, spam filters, autoresponders, and other email-related features.

Ispmanager version¶

• Lite: Suitable for personal or small projects. It includes unlimited accounts and support for up to 10 sites.
• Pro: A good solution for freelancers, web studios and internal marketing teams. It provides unlimited accounts, support for up to 50 sites and Docker integration.
• Host: Ideal for web studios and traffic managers. It allows support for an unlimited number of sites, provided by Docker.

Deployment Features¶

• Installation on:
  • AlmaLinux 8;
  • Rocky Linux 8;
  • Debian 11;
  • Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04;

Installation process¶

• Installation is performed by panel developer script.
• Depending on the distribution (as recommended by the developer), Apparmor or Selinux will be disabled and the server rebooted.
• Script is downloaded to the root folder via wget.

• The previously downloaded script is then executed with the selected application parameters, depending on the distribution and its major release.

• Installation parameters:

  • release stable - indicates that the latest stable version of ispmanager will be installed. If a newer version is available, it will be installed.
  • ignore-hostname - if this parameter is used, the hostname check will be skipped during the installation. Normally during installation ispmanager checks if the hostname matches the domain name of the server.
  • silent - this parameter causes the installation to proceed automatically without prompting the user for any additional information. All required data must be specified on the command line or in the configuration file.
  • no-letsencrypt - indicates to skip the generation of Let's Encrypt SSL certificates during installation.
  • stable - indicates to install the stable version of ispmanager. The alternative option may be beta, which installs a beta version containing new features and bug fixes, but may be less stable.
  • ispmanager lite/pro/host - indicates the license type for ispmanager. The value corresponds to the license type: Lite, Pro or Host.
  • Web server lighttpd - this parameter specifies the web server to be used with ispmanager. In this case it is the Lighttpd server.
• After installation, the Ansible task checks the HTTP response with code 200 against the server URL and terminates if successful.
• To access the web interface, follow this link: https://isp{Server_ID_from_Invapi}.hostkey.in:1500/ispmgr. The web interface will be accessible via both the link and the IP address.

First steps after deploying ispmanager¶

After payment of the order, a notification that the server is ready for work will be sent to the e-mail specified during registration. It will contain the IP address of the VPS, as well as login and password for connection. Clients of our company manage the equipment in the server control panel and API - in the server control panel Invapi.

The authorization data is also located here:

• Link to access the ispmanager dashboard with a web interface: in tag webpanel;
• Login: root;
• Root: in a letter to your e-mail upon receipt of the server.

Presets¶

Before working with the site it is necessary to install software useful for work. You can do it by going to Settings >> Software Configuration, selecting the necessary items and clicking the Install button.

The very first thing to install

• Web server (WWW) - selection of a web server that will host users' sites. Possible options - Apache, Nginx, LiteSpeed. Required to configure performance, caching and security settings.

Once the web server software is installed (the light bulb in the Status column turns green), the rest of the software can be installed:

• Mail Server (SMTP/POP3/IMAP) - configure mail server operation for sending and receiving email by users. Possible options - Exim (default), or Dovecot. It is used to configure anti-spam filters, backup. It is recommended to change the software composition and enable the following options at once:

  • Graylisting
  • OpenDKIM
  • SpamAssasin
  • ClamAV
  • Sieve
  • Roundcube

• Name Server (DNS) - built-in or external DNS server for resolving site domain names. It is used for domain binding and record configuration.

• FTP Server - FTP daemon that allows users to access site files via the FTP protocol. Variants - ProFTPD, vsFTPD. Required for setting access rights and limits.
• MySQL Server - server for running web applications that use MySQL. Used to configure users, privileges, replication, backup.
• MySQL Web Interface (phpMyAdmin) - graphical interface for MySQL database administration.
• Disk quotas - disk space limits for users, websites, mailboxes.

You can also install:

• Fail2ban is an easy-to-use local service that monitors log files of running programs and, based on various conditions, blocks the found intruders by IP. The program can fight against various attacks on all popular services such as Apache, Nginx, ProFTPD, vsftpd, Exim, Postfix, named, SSH, etc.
• Ansible (web-script installation) - used to automate software configuration and deployment.
• PostgreSQL DBMS Server - similar to MySQL, but for PostgreSQL applications.
• PostgreSQL Web Interface (phpPgAdmin) - GUI for PostgreSQL administration.
• Node.js - framework for running web applications that are written on top of it and require it to run.
• Python - language interpreter. The default versions are 3.8 to 3.11 and you can change the software composition by clicking the Change button.
• Docker - interface for installing and configuring software in Docker containers.
• WireGuard - interface for VPN setup

Create a new user¶

If you need only one user with maximum rights in the hosting control panel, you don't need to create this user separately. It is enough to start a website or any other resource on the hosting - and the www-root user with unlimited rights to the file system and database will be created automatically.

Similarly, it is not necessary to create an administrator account in advance if only one user with full access is needed. Just by starting to deploy a website or application on the hosting, you will automatically get a www-root user with maximum privileges. Using a single user simplifies administration - access rights are configured once when that user is created. In addition, all sites, databases, and files are available to this user without restrictions.

However, there are drawbacks to this approach. For example, deleting this single user will delete their home directory, resulting in the loss of all hosted sites and data. There is also no separation of access rights between users.

It is also worth mentioning that it is possible to use templates to grant permissions to multiple users, but if you have a relatively large project or team, you will need to create templates.

To create a new user, you must

1. Go to the Users section of the Control Panel and click Create user button:

   

2. Enter the login and password for the new user:

   

3. Select the checkboxes for the required permissions. You must give the user the right to use SSL and PHP + FastCGI if you are using Nginx:

   

4. Set quotas for users if you need to limit their disk space, number of databases, sites, and email addresses.

5. Specify (if necessary) the domain encoding, PHP handler type, PHP version (PHP FPM), and index page.

6. Press the Next button.

7. Fill in the details to automatically create an FTP account, website, and email domain (optional, this can all be done later).

   

8. Press the Finish button.

   

The new user will appear in the list under Users. You can authorize on behalf of the created user by selecting it and clicking Log in as user:

Adding a Site to the Server¶

To create a new website, follow the steps below:

1. Select the Sites or Web Server tab, depending on the version of ispmanager.

   

2. Fill in the information about the site. The main thing is to specify the domain name, the site directory will be created automatically:

   

3. At the same time, the necessary settings for the web server are made: PHP version and mode, CMS selection and other parameters according to the requirements of your project.

4. Click the Create button.

5. Next, the user will be prompted to issue an SSL certificate for the site. If the certificate is not required, it is better to click the Cancel button. If you click the icon, the certificate will be issued. When issuing a Let's Encrypt certificate, you will most likely get an error until DNS is configured for the site and all records are spelled out. Once the domain record is available, the SSL certificate will either be issued or you can do it manually.

6. Configure the DNS records for the domain to point to the IP address of the server (Domain name (DNS) >> Domain Name >> Change). By default, the IP of your server is specified, but you can change it.

7. Specify NS servers for the domain by selecting Domain name (DNS) >> domain name >> Manage DNS Records.

   Attention

   The ns server name should end with a period, e.g. ns1.hostkey.com..

8. If the SSL certificate has not yet been obtained (or an error has occurred in obtaining it), you must issue it. Detailed step-by-step instructions for setting up and installing SSL certificates can be found in the developers official documentation.

9. After the DNS records are set up and the domain is assigned to the server, the site should be accessible at the specified domain name.

   

CMS Installation and Database Setup¶

If a CMS was not selected when the site was created, it can be added later. To do so, select the desired one in the Sites menu and click CMS button:

You will be taken to the CMS selection page:

After selecting the CMS, all you need to do is click on the Quick Install button. Then, read the license agreement and accept it:

After installing the CMS, you need to specify the user who will manage it, as well as set the login and password of the administrator and specify the e-mail address:

Click on the Finish button:

Connection corporate mail¶

Opening SMTP ports for organizing corporate mail service¶

For security reasons, outgoing TCP ports (25,24,2525, 387, 465, and 587) and UDP port (5060) are blocked by default on all VPS servers. This is to prevent the sending of spam.

To remove the block, follow the steps below:

1. Spell out the domain zone.The A record of the domain must necessarily refer to the IP address of your server in HOSTKEY.

2. Send a request to technical support stating that you need to open outgoing SMTP ports for sending mail and the address of the domain from which (or a subdomain of which) it is being sent.

   Attention

   We reserve the right to ask you additional questions about the domain name and your options for using it.

3. After analyzing the domain name we will make a decision about opening ports for SMTP operation and inform you.

Creating a mail domain and mailboxes¶

Before setting up the e-mail server, you need to create a mail domain. This is done in the Mail section - just click on the Mail Domains button and then Create mail domain:

Then set the desired domain name, specify the owner and server IP address. Here you can also configure actions regarding e-mails to non-existent mailboxes - either send an error notification or delete such e-mails:

You should also enable the following components for your email domain, without which most email services will not accept mail from your addresses, and spam and viruses will get to you:

• Activation of Graylisting
• SpamAssists activation
• Enable virus scanning
• Enable DKIM for domain
• Enable DMARK for domain

DKIM and DMARC technologies can increase email trust and deliverability, protect a domain from phishing and spoofing, and protect the sender's reputation. These technologies add a digital signature to emails and verify that they were actually sent from a specific domain, confirming the authenticity of the sender.

We also recommend that you issue an SSL certificate for email. To do this, tick the Secure SSL connection checkbox and set the following parameters:

• Alias for the certificate: mail.<you domain\>
• SSL certificate: New Let's Encrypt certificate
• E-mail: your admin e-mail address.

After filling out each section, you should click on the Create button. Now you can start creating a mailbox.

In the Mail section you should press Create a mailbox. Then you need to set the name of the box; you can add aliases or alternative addresses for this box:

Useful options include forwarding copies of e-mails to another address and limiting the maximum mailbox size. These actions will help to avoid overloading your disk with mail data.

We recommend that you enable spam protection immediately by ticking the following options:

• Greylisting. When this service receives a message from an unknown sender, it does not accept it immediately, but returns a temporary denial of service (error code 4xx). A legitimate mail server will retry delivery after some time (usually 5-10 minutes) when it receives such an error. Spam servers usually do not retry to send messages when errors occur so as not to waste resources. This is how spam is weeded out.
• Spamassists. It is an effective spam filtering tool based on the interaction of key components - an evaluation service, a transport agent and a database of email templates.

Setting up a mailbox¶

After creating mailboxes, you can set up access to them via mail clients on your devices. All you need to connect is in the control panel in the Mail section. It is enough to select the required domain, click Edit and get the parameters from the Settings for mail clients section.

Web-based mail interface¶

To work with mail, you can use Roundcube's web interface, which is already built into the Panel (if Mail Server (SMTP/POP3/IMAP) was selected during software configuration). It can be accessed via the link https://<IP address>/roundcube or https://<your domain>/roundcube or via the button Mail client in the Mail section.

Obtain a single (wildcard) certificate for domain, subdomains and email¶

You can purchase a single certificate for your domain and use it when adding subdomains and email. To do this, when you select a Let's Encrypt certificate, you'll need to tick the Enable SSL certificate checkbox as well as the Wildcard certificate checkbox. Next, enter the domain username, the domain name itself, the name of the certificate (we recommend making it {domain}_wildcard), the domain name ({domain} www.{domain}). Leave the key length at 2048.

You will then be asked to add the TXT validation record to the DNS record (at your host or in the HOSTKEY server settings, depending on which DNS servers are required for the domain). Once you have done this, wait 15 minutes to 2 hours for the certificate to be issued.

• TXT

Once the certificate has been successfully created in the SSL Certificates section, it will be set to the Existing type. You will also need to specify this certificate when creating mail or subdomains. To do this, click Cancel when the SSL Certificate Issue window appears. Then, after selecting a domain in the Sites section, click Edit >> Edit and select your wildcard certificate in the SSL Certificate field.

For mail, the certificate is connected for the mail domain (Mail >> Mail address >> Mail domains >> domain name >> Edit) in the SSL Certificate field.

Fix for invalid certificate when accessing an address from the webpanel tag¶

When you add a site and bind a domain with a Let's Encrypt SSL certificate (or bind your own certificate) to the same IP address as the control panel address, such as https://isp{Server_ID_from_Invapi}.hostkey.in, the browser may display a No Certificate error. To solve this problem, you need to add your domain to the Panel settings. To do this:

1. In Settings >> System Settings, change the server name to <your domain name>.
2. In Settings >> Panel Settings >> SSL Certificates, click the Add button.
3. In the window that opens, select
   • The type of certificate (select Let's Encrypt or enter your own);
   • The domain name of the certificate (enter the name of your domain/site);
   • Click the Create button.

The Panel will then be available at both the address from the webpanel tag and the address <your domain>:1500/ispmrg. Launching the mail client and database management clients will also work correctly.

License Activation¶

To activate the paid version, you need to go to the account management menu >> section Licenses:

Press the button Order a new service:

Specify the period:

Specify the name and IP address for the license:

Pay for the order. After payment is received, the license will be activated automatically.

To activate an existing license, go to the account management menu >> Licenses >> Use a certificate:

Enter the certificate code:

Ordering ispmanager using the API¶

To install this software using the API, follow these instructions.