KnownHost Knowledgebase Requests & Suggestions

KH-DavidL

KH-DavidL

Abuse & Documentation Specialist
KnownHost Community,

We've got some great news! Our tremendous team is putting forth efforts to revamp, update, and provide new and useful articles in the KnownHost Knowledgebase!

Already, we've reorganized, trimmed and updated existing articles, and even thrown some new ones in the mix!

We are reaching out to the community, (you), our members to ensure we're providing the information you want and need!

This thread is going to be used for:
  • Updates/lists of new articles published in the Knowledgebase
  • Recommendations/Wanted article(s) and/or topics
  • Suggestions about ease of use
Make sure to let us know your thoughts and/or wants so we can deliver the best results for everyone!

 
  • Like
Reactions: Dan
You guys have been busy! Looks good!

However in the "I cannot access sites or server. Looks like my IP address got blocked on server. What can be done?" Can the user connect to SSH if they are blocked?

I see more people using (and I'd recommend) Filezilla rather than Win-SCP. Perhaps add that in addition to Win-SCP.

I take it the "Most popular articles" and "Newest articles" at the bottom are still being categorized?

Will think about things I've had issues with/had to deal with and get back to you with more ;)
 
Huge improvements. Clearly a massive overhaul and it's fantastic.

I don't know, the bases have been covered pretty extensively. If there's one section I'd expand, it'd be Security. Properly making use of your server's security configuration(s), further hardening SSH, perhaps a few articles on how to tweak CSF's more advanced capabilities. Obviously security-related matters vary on a per-customer basis, but maybe just a bit more on the standard, equally important measures that should be taken by everyone.

Like Dan, I'll dig deeper and see what I can suggest. Veeeery nice job thus far.
 
Dan said:
You guys have been busy! Looks good!
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Thanks Dan, it's all a constant effort to ensure quality for the KnownHost community!

Dan said:
However in the "I cannot access sites or server. Looks like my IP address got blocked on server. What can be done?" Can the user connect to SSH if they are blocked?
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Dan, quite confusing, right? In the article it references the need to stop the server's firewall temporarily via the Power Panel. This will allow connectivity until the user is able to remove their IP from the block list. Once complete, it's essential to ensure they restart it. - Let me know if you see issues with that.

Dan said:
I see more people using (and I'd recommend) Filezilla rather than Win-SCP. Perhaps add that in addition to Win-SCP.
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Absolutely correct, that's on the to-do list, as well as updated software (eg. email clients: Thunderbird, iOS's Mail, etc.) - Definitely need user input like yours though, thanks!

Dan said:
I take it the "Most popular articles" and "Newest articles" at the bottom are still being categorized?
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I'm pretty sure that's got to be re-indexed properly within the support platform, some one else may be able to confirm that for me shortly.

Dan said:
Will think about things I've had issues with/had to deal with and get back to you with more ;)
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<THUMBS UP> - Thanks!

Chris.M said:
Huge improvements. Clearly a massive overhaul and it's fantastic.

I don't know, the bases have been covered pretty extensively. If there's one section I'd expand, it'd be Security. Properly making use of your server's security configuration(s), further hardening SSH, perhaps a few articles on how to tweak CSF's more advanced capabilities. Obviously security-related matters vary on a per-customer basis, but maybe just a bit more on the standard, equally important measures that should be taken by everyone.

Like Dan, I'll dig deeper and see what I can suggest. Veeeery nice job thus far.
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Great advice. The Security section is definitely a priority and we'll be working on that too! Thanks for the kind words and comments!
 
Personal opinion, but selecting "Require explicit FTP over TLS" for the encryption option in FileZilla's Site Manager results in a faster-than-SFTP connection. Of course, if you want to use FTP as root, SFTP is your only option. Which leads to...

Here's a suggestion for the KnowledgeBase: a how-to for creating and using key-based authentication. That would allow users to disable password authentication and significantly increase the security of their (virtual) server.
 
Dion said:
Personal opinion, but selecting "Require explicit FTP over TLS" for the encryption option in FileZilla's Site Manager results in a faster-than-SFTP connection. Of course, if you want to use FTP as root, SFTP is your only option. Which leads to...

Here's a suggestion for the KnowledgeBase: a how-to for creating and using key-based authentication. That would allow users to disable password authentication and significantly increase the security of their (virtual) server.
Click to expand...
Great suggestion(s) Dion, thanks. I'll definitely work on getting a Key Based Authentication article up as soon as possible, however it's important to remember, currently at this time, the Support Department requires password authentication to the VPS for tickets. We are working to modify this, however it's something to remember and note when choosing this method of security.
 
I just had a support ticket completed, and what I did was provide the id_rsa private key to use for login. Perhaps you/KnownHost could add a textarea box on the support request form so users can provide their private key. You're already asking for the root password; a box underneath that shouldn't be too difficult to add...
 
Dion said:
I just had a support ticket completed, and what I did was provide the id_rsa private key to use for login. Perhaps you/KnownHost could add a textarea box on the support request form so users can provide their private key. You're already asking for the root password; a box underneath that shouldn't be too difficult to add...
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Certainly understand and agree with you here. As previously stated, we are working to implement a similar feature, however it's a work in progress. Definitely appreciate the feedback and suggestions!
 
Alright, a few additional potential suggestions:
  • More information on the migration process if a customer chooses to move from one DC to another (versus the process of transitioning from, say, a traditional VPS to an SSD VPS in the TX facility).
  • Making the transition from a VPS to a dedicated server. Not necessarily the technical details, but the steps that must be taken with sales/billing in order to make it happen. Sorta-kinda similar to my first suggestion above.
  • More details on making the switch from Apache to LiteSpeed. Common examples of when it may prove to be beneficial, and how to go about requesting the upgrade (for newer customers, or those not familiar with the upgrade process.)
The last suggestion is more technical, and I'm not sure how often you actually receive assistance requests for this one:
  • How to properly configure multiple servers to work with the same domain name. server1, server2, and server3 working with domainxyz.com. How to manage the additional nameservers, A records, etc.
On an unrelated note, have a great birthday, David. :)
 
Chris.M said:
  • More information on the migration process if a customer chooses to move from one DC to another (versus the process of transitioning from, say, a traditional VPS to an SSD VPS in the TX facility).
  • Making the transition from a VPS to a dedicated server. Not necessarily the technical details, but the steps that must be taken with sales/billing in order to make it happen. Sorta-kinda similar to my first suggestion above.
  • More details on making the switch from Apache to LiteSpeed. Common examples of when it may prove to be beneficial, and how to go about requesting the upgrade (for newer customers, or those not familiar with the upgrade process.)
Click to expand...

All very good suggestions. Added to the to-do list.

Chris.M said:
How to properly configure multiple servers to work with the same domain name. server1, server2, and server3 working with domainxyz.com. How to manage the additional nameservers, A records, etc.
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I'm not sure on what level you mean here. As in a DNS cluster, or just be able to use the same root domain for multiple hostnames properly? Can you elaborate a bit?
 
KH-Jonathan said:
I'm not sure on what level you mean here. As in a DNS cluster, or just be able to use the same root domain for multiple hostnames properly? Can you elaborate a bit?
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Absolutely not! I will not elaborate!

You bet. Actually, either of them would be great, but I was more or less referring to the latter. Only if it's likely to be beneficial, though - I don't know how often you're asked about those setups.
 
Chris.M said:
Actually, either of them would be great, but I was more or less referring to the latter. Only if it's likely to be beneficial, though - I don't know how often you're asked about those setups.
Click to expand...

We can do that. It will more or less end up being a guide on creating an "A" record which may end up being a tutorial of it's own and then linking to it from the multiple hostnames on a single domain article.
 
Chris.M said:
Alright, a few additional potential suggestions: ....
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Stellar! That's what I'm talking about, thanks a lot. Jonathan got these added to our to do list, I'll try to prioritize these.
Chris.M said:
On an unrelated note, have a great birthday, David. :)
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Thank you, thank you. Feelin' old man.

--

Side note, has anyone had a chance to glance at the "Latest Submitted Articles"? I'd love some feedback/critiquing on those from the members as well.
 
KH-DavidL said:
Side note, has anyone had a chance to glance at the "Latest Submitted Articles"? I'd love some feedback/critiquing on those from the members as well.
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For the FTP/SFTP article, I suggest you mention that while SFTP is slightly more secure than FTP/S (and both are much more secure than regular FTP), SFTP is more limiting. It is slower than FTP/S, it is locked into a single FTP account, and it is not possible to limit the account to specific directories in the user directory tree. For example, if a user has multiple websites and wants jailed FTP accounts to manage each website, SFTP cannot be used.

I'd also suggest showing people how to use key-based authentication for SFTP. It seems strange to go to the effort of setting up SFTP and not enabling its most powerful security feature. I understand why key authentication for root can (currently) cause support issues, but those issues don't apply to non-root key authentication.
 
KH-DavidL said:
Dan, quite confusing, right? In the article it references the need to stop the server's firewall temporarily via the Power Panel. This will allow connectivity until the user is able to remove their IP from the block list. Once complete, it's essential to ensure they restart it. - Let me know if you see issues with that.
Click to expand...

LOL I completely breezed right over that! To be honest I actually thought that the firewall in the Power Panel was a higher level firewall than that in my VPS :) Good info!

KH-DavidL said:
Just posted a FileZilla S/FTP article. Check it out and let me know your thoughts. How can I configure FileZilla to upload files via S/FTP?
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For use with a cPanel account that looks great David! I followed it step by step and had no issues :D

I would either append onto the end or perhaps you want to make it a separate article about connecting as root which would require port 2200 and SFTP.

I believe that this SSL installation tutorial is now deprecated by the new one.

I would change the title of this post to "Do you offer custom VPSs" (also in the post itself). I would also add information about the extensive options/upgrades as stated in this post.

A question: I'm reading through some of the tutorials now and am wondering if you want to be notified about typos or improper wording? Autocorrect is great but it's not always right ;)
 
Dan said:
LOL I completely breezed right over that! To be honest I actually thought that the firewall in the Power Panel was a higher level firewall than that in my VPS :) Good info!
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;) Easily overseen.

Dan said:
For use with a cPanel account that looks great David! I followed it step by step and had no issues :D
I would either append onto the end or perhaps you want to make it a separate article about connecting as root which would require port 2200 and SFTP.
Click to expand...
Glad to hear that, and noted!

Dan said:
I believe that this SSL installation tutorial is now deprecated by the new one.
Click to expand...
Fixed, thank you.

Dan said:
I would change the title of this post to "Do you offer custom VPSs" (also in the post itself). I would also add information about the extensive options/upgrades as stated in this post.
Click to expand...
Also fixed, thank you.

Dan said:
A question: I'm reading through some of the tutorials now and am wondering if you want to be notified about typos or improper wording? Autocorrect is great but it's not always right ;)
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Uh oh, I'm scared. However, yes, definitely would like to be notified of misspellings or typos. However, I think it may result with this thread being over flooded. I'd appreciate PM's about typos, or even emails. (See sig.)
 
KH-DavidL said:
Uh oh, I'm scared. However, yes, definitely would like to be notified of misspellings or typos. However, I think it may result with this thread being over flooded. I'd appreciate PM's about typos, or even emails. (See sig.)
Click to expand...

Nothing to be scared of David! For the amount of typing you've done there's surprisingly little that I saw in my quick run-through :D

Happy to shoot off an email although it may be a day or two before I can do so.
 
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