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Hotlink protection gives you the ability to protect certain files on your server from being directly linked by another site. For example, if you have images that are published on your site and are very popular, you can prevent other sites from using those images with an <img> tag pointing to your domain.

This will not prevent people from downloading your files. It is merely a measure to stop remote linking, which can unnecessarily eat up your bandwidth, especially for very popular content.

To configure hotlink protection in cPanel, follow these simple steps:

1. Login to cPanel, and in the “Security” section, click “HotLink Protection”
2. If it is currently disabled, click the “Enable” button to activate it
3. In the “URLs to Allow Access” box, enter any URLs that you want to give special permission to hotlink to your site. NOTE: If you own multiple domains on your server, you may want to keep all of them listed in the box.
4. Enter any specific file types you want blocked from hotlinking, even for sites that have hotlinking allowed. NOTE: Certain streaming audio and video files, such as Quicktime, may require hotlinking to be allowed.
5. Check “allow direct requests” if you still want users to be able to enter the direct URL of  a file, such as an image.
6. In the “Redirect requests to this URL” box, enter a custom page that you want users to be redirected to when they attempt to access a file that has been invalidly hotlinked.
7. Click “Submit” to finalize the settings.

If you later decide to disable hotlink protection, simply return to the settings and click “Disable” at the top. For more information about hotlink protection or cPanel in general, consult the online documentation.

How to Setup Hotlink Protection in cPanel

(The Hosting News) – Legislation currently making its way through the U.S. Congress has caused considerable controversy regarding free speech rights on the internet.

Bills intended to cut down on anti-piracy such as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) have been strongly opposed by those in the Internet community. And some of the strongest opposition has come from web hosting companies.

On Tuesday, popular web hosting control panel provider cPanel discussed why it’s opposed to the bills, signaling that it believes the legislation would have a devastating effect on the hosting industry.

“First, these bills will legally destroy the Internet’s basic organizational structures by attacking the domain name system, service providers, financial providers, and hosting providers by inhibiting their ability to generate revenue and access to advertising,” cPanel stated.

Continuing, cPanel said, “Armed with only a mere accusation of infringement, under the current vague language of these bills a U.S. Attorney can obtain a court order requiring web hosting providers, Internet service providers, financial transaction providers, advertising services, and search engine sites to block access to accused websites.”

And the negative effects don’t end there, according to the company. Other potential consequences include discouraging potential online startups, Internet free speech restrictions, going against current “safe harbor” safeguards, and more.

In addition to discussing its opposition, cPanel has gone into action, donating five thousand dollars to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an influential online rights organization.

Meanwhile, the Save Hosting Coalition, an organization representing a variety of web hosting providers against the bill has been steadfast in its opposition. Last month, the group announced that it had received 300 industry executive signatures for a letter sent to U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s chairman and ranking member.

Consideration on the legislation from Congress is expected to continue when lawmakers return from their current winter recess. To view cPanel’s press release on the matter, visit: http://www.cpanel.net/2012/01/anti-sopa.html

cPanel Talks Anti-SOPA Stance, Announces Donation

(The Hosting News) - Popular web hosting control panel creator cPanel is recommending that its users update Windows Server control panel platform Enkompass.

cPanel is suggesting the move following a removal of unnecessary “upgrade code” that will help guard against any potential problems during later update processes.

For future upgrades on Ekompass, users will need to be running version 2.2.0.15 or above. In fact, the company specifically recommends version 2.4.0.43.

cPanel has set a deadline for the 20^th of this month for users to have completed the update process.

Meanwhile, cPanel has provided easy directions for Enkompass updates here (cPanel.net). As a Windows Server control panel, cPanel maintains that Enkompass helps users with scalability, flexibility, reduction of costs, and more.

cPanel Pushes Enkompass Upgrade

Unless you have a web hosting deal with unlimited disk space, you have likely been concerned about conserving disk space at one time or another. Even if you do have unlimited disk space at your disposal, it is still sometimes helpful to know how much space your websites are using and which sections in particular are taking up the most space.

For dedicated server and VPS users, there are several ways to check disk space, but a shared hosting user may be limited to the web-based control panel. Fortunately, cPanel provides a disk space usage section that is integrated with the control panel’s file manager tool. With it you can view your total disk space usage and also look at how much space each sub-directory within your home directory is using.

The first item in the bar graph will show you “files in the home directory”. That includes all files in your account. The second refers to files in hidden directories (those with a “.” before their name). It then lists several of the directories in your system, including the directory containing your website files. It will also show you the total disk space usage for your MySQL databases and mailing lists. Finally, at the bottom, it shows total disk space usage, and below that, it will show your quota. If you have unlimited space available, the quota will be “999,999.00 MB quota limit”

For any of the directories listed, you can click on their name to open your file manager in a new tab/window. The file manager displays individual directory and file sizes. For more information about the disk usage feature or other components of cPanel, see the cPanel documentation.

How to View Disk Space Usage in cPanel

(The Hosting News) – Popular web hosting control panel creator cPanel has launched the latest version of its Apache configuration script EasyApache.

Version 3.8.2 makes some major changes to the platform. The most major of which is added support for mod_ruid2, a module that allows for increased PHP speed.

Despite overall compatibility with mod_ruid2, it doesn’t necessarily work on all of the script’s modules, something cPanel emphasized when recently discussing the update.

Those that will not work with mod_ruid2 include ModMono, modcache, FastCGI, moddiskcache, and modmemcache.

Other features of EasyApache’s latest release include updates to “third-party libraries and tools” and “CloudLinux ARP patches.” There’s also added operation compatibility with the FastCGI module.

Meanwhile, cPanel is urging server admins to “rebuild their EasyApache profile.” This can be accomplished through an Apache Update option in admistrators’ WHM accounts. Admins can also choose to keep their current configuration.

Previously in August on cPanel’s forums, the company indicated that it had been looking into adding support for mod_ruid2 on an updated release of EasyApache. For further information on the matter, view release notes by cPanel here (cPanel.com).

EasyApache 3.8.2 Launched by cPanel

(The Hosting News) – Web hosts interested in adding more mobile website options via their cPanel control panels now have just that. On Monday, dotMobi, the company behind popular mobile website platform goMobi announced the application’s availability through cPanel services.

Among a variety of functions, goMobi allows users to build mobile sites, manage content, add widgets, and examine analytics.

“We are pleased to have goMobi in the suite of tools cPanel users can offer their clients. Web hosting companies are seeing a daily increase in the demand for a solid, but simple, mobile Web solution. And that is exactly what dotMobi offers with its goMobi service,” commented cPanel VP of Operations Aaron Phillips in a press release.

“It’s a cost-effective way for any business to create and manage a mobile website while giving hosting companies a profitable way to help those customers,” Phillips continued.

Without a doubt, users connecting to the internet via mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are increasing in numbers.

dotMobi COO Eileen O’Sullivan discussed the importance of businesses having a mobile presence. “Mobile has changed how customers interact with businesses. Only businesses that are able to provide a great mobile experience will be successful in this new market. We are delighted to be partnering with cPanel as we roll out goMobi to the hosting industry,” O’Sullivan stated.

Just earlier this year, in September, a study conducted by the International Data Corporation (IDC) expected mobile internet access to outnumber wired access by the year 2015.

Meanwhile, there are also expanded capabilities that come with goMobi’s inclusion on cPanel’s platform. Such added functions include “the ability to create custom forms,” embedding of videos, additional templates and more.

In addition to that, there’s the platform’s compatibility with m-commerce. Such solutions account for popular online transaction platforms Google Checkout and PayPal. For more information on the matter, view a press release by dotMobi here (mtld.mobi).

Mobile Tool goMobi Launches on cPanel

MySQL is an open source relational database management system that is among the most popular on the web. Typically, web hosting users access MySQL through their web-based control panel or through a free web application, such as phpMyAdmin. More advanced users may also manage MySQL from the command line via SSH.

A third option for MySQL management is remote administration. With this method, you can access MySQL from software on a remote computer. Some web development tools include an option for remote MySQL administration, and MySQL WorkBench also provides this functionality. Another reason to allow remote hosts to access MySQL is when you have a web server on a different IP address than your database server.

By default, no remote machines are allowed to access MySQL. This is a security measure. If a computer that is not on localhost attempts to access it, that computer will be denied. Fortunately, cPanel makes it easy to add trusted hosts to the list of accepted MySQL administrators. Just follow these instructions:

1. Login to cPanel and scroll down to the section labeled “Databases”
2. Click the button labeled “Remote MySQL”
3. Enter the IP address or domain name you want to give access
4. Click “Add host”

In addition to a full IP address, you can also use a wildcard. For example: 192.68.0.%. Any IP addresses that fits that wildcard will be allowed, so be careful with it. Also, if you are trying to access from home and have a dynamic IP address, you will need to change this setting whenever your IP address changes. Moreover, if you are accessing the database from a website on a shared hosting account, it may share its IP address with other sites. In that case, use the domain name.

How to Setup Remote MySQL in cPanel

Using a  website may provide you with your first opportunity to use a Linux-based operating system. For the most part, Linux accomplishes tasks in a similar fashion to Windows or Mac OS X, but there are some important filesystem differences that you will need to know. One of them is how Linux recognizes hidden files.

If you use Mac OS X, you are already familiar with the Unix hidden file method. Often called dotfiles, these files are hidden because of the dot or period that precedes the file name. As long as that dot is there, the file stays hidden. Remove it, and the file instantly becomes visible.

Generally, only a few files are hidden on a website. The .htaccess file is one of the most common. The main purpose of hiding certain files is to prevent users from accidentally removing important data. If, however, you are comfortable with your file system, you can safely enable viewing of hidden files to make it easier to work with them.

In cPanel, the file manger will ask you if you want to show hidden files in the preliminary “File Manager Directory Selection” popup that appears when you start it. Simply check the box next to “Show Hidden Files (dotfiles)” and click “Go”.

If you have disabled the above-mentioned popup and need to enable hidden files, you can get the popup to appear again by clicking “reset all interface settings” at the bottom of your main cPanel administration page. You can then proceed using the same instructions mentioned above.

Hidden Linux Files and How to View Them in cPanel

There are many reasons why you might want to block a user from your website. They could be trying to gain access to passwords, sending spam, or harassing users on a forum or comments section of your site. One way to stop them is to block their IP address. It is not fool proof, as some people may have dynamic IPs or use a fake IP address. Still, it may be a good temporary solution.

cPanel provides a tool that makes blocking IP addresses very easy. To use it, do the following:

1. Login to cPanel
2. In the security section, click “IP Deny Manager”
3. Type the IP address into the box
4. Click “Add”

That IP address will stay banned as long as you have it on your list, so you should make sure that it is one that you actually want to ban. You can also ban entire ranges of IP addresses like the following:

11.12.13.14-11.12.13.18
or
11.12. (implies everything in 11.12.*.* will be blocked)

In addition to IP addresses, you can also ban fully qualified domain names (FQDN). Whenever you want to unban an IP address or domain, simply click the “x” button next to the address under the “Remove” header.

As stated above, the effectiveness of an IP ban largely depends on the stability of the address. If you are sure the user will continue to have that IP address, the ban will be effective. Otherwise, it may only be a temporary solution to a problem that necessitates more creative security measures.

How to Block IP Addresses with cPanel

Anonymous FTP (file transfer protocol) is a type of FTP connection that does not require the user to login to the server. For security reasons, this is generally a bad idea, as it gives unknown users access, even if it is limited, to your system. In some situations, however, the benefits may outweigh the risks.

If you must have anonymous FTP, cPanel makes it easy to get it up and running. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Login to cPanel and scroll down to the section labeled “Files”
2. Click “Anonymous FTP”
3. To allow users read-only access, check the first box labeled “Allow anonymous access to ftp.yourdomain.tld”
4. If you also want users to be able to anonymously upload files (a really bad idea), check the second box labeled “Allow anonymous uploads to ftp.yourdomain.tld/incoming”
5. Click “Save Settings” to finish
6. Optionally, add a welcome message for anonymous users and click “save message”

After you have given anonymous access, any files you put into your /pub directory will be available for user downloads. This is useful if you host a mirror for free software or provide other free download servers for your users.

Users will be able to download files from within their web browsers, from FTP clients, or from desktop file managers that support the FTP protocol. Windows Explorer, Mac OS X Finder, and most Linux file managers (Nautilus, Dolphin, Thunar, etc) all have FTP support.

Because of the potential for security problems, you should only use anonymous FTP if you absolutely need it. If you do not, you should check your settings to make sure it is disabled, as some hosts may enable it by default.

How to Setup Anonymous FTP with cPanel