The Virtual Hosting Packages

The virtual hosting system is made up of a number of packages. Here is a list of them, along with a brief overview of their purpose, and the scripts/configuration files they install, if any.

bytemark-vhost

This package is a meta-package which is responsible for installing the rest of our packages - the package itself does very little.

bytemark-vhost-crack

This package tests for weak passwords in use which have been configured for mailboxes, or FTP access.

Scripts

To see a report on any weak passwords execute: vhost-test-passwords

Configuration Files

None.

Documentation

None

bytemark-vhost-email

This package configures the system for IMAP, SMTP, and POP3 mail handling.

Scripts

There are no scripts a user may run in this package.

Configuration Files

This package has many configuration options which are described in the mail-specific documentation.

Documentation

Email Hosting

bytemark-vhost-firewall

This package allows you to configure a filewall script for yourself.

Scripts

To re-generate, and load, the system firewall run firewall. The script firewall-blacklist will run every five minutes to deny access to your system from machines carrying out dictionary attacks.

Configuration Files

This package is configured exclusively via files beneath /etc/firewall

You may disable the firewall by creating /etc/firewall/disabled, and disable the blacklist script separately by creating /etc/firewall/disabled.blacklist.

Documentation

The firewall script contains a manual which you can read by invoking firewall --manual, more details are available at The Bytemark Firewall? page.

bytemark-vhost-ftpd

This package tests for weak passwords in use which have been configured for mailboxes, or FTP access.

Scripts

The package installs no user-visible scripts.

Configuration Files

The only configuration file used is the per-domain setting /srv/example.com/config/ftp-password, which is described in the FTP documentation.

Documentation

FTP hosting

bytemark-vhost-httpd

This package configures your system to host multiple websites, via the creation of directories beneath /srv/

Scripts

There are no user-visible scripts installed in this package.

Configuration Files

The package installs two configuration files for apache - these should not be edited:

  • /etc/apache2/sites-available/zz-mass-hosting
  • /etc/apache2/sites-available/zz-mass-hosting.ssl

All other configuration is done on a per-domain basis via the directories /srv/example.com/public/htdocs & /srv/example.com/public/cgi-bin` as described in the webserver documentation.

Documentation

Webserver documentation

bytemark-vhost-key

This package contains a GPG key which may be used to validate package integrity.

Scripts

None.

Configuration Files

None.

Documentation

None.

bytemark-vhost-monit

This package tests each expected service is running and restarts them if they've failed.

Scripts

To receive a report on all service status run bytemark-vhost-monit. This script is automatically executed once a minute, with failures being emailed to root.

Configuration Files

The package is configured via files beneath /etc/bytemark-vhost/monit.d, but they shouldn't need to be updated ever.

Documentation

None

bytemark-vhost-mysql

This exists only to install the MySQL database server.

Scripts

None.

Configuration Files

None.

Documentation

None

bytemark-vhost-pam

This exists only to install the cracklib package for PAM. This will prevent a non-root user from setting a system password which is too weak.

Scripts

None.

Configuration Files

None.

Documentation

None

bytemark-vhost-phpmyadmin

This package enables access to your MySQL database via a web browser

Scripts

None.

Configuration Files

None.

Documentation

The PHPMyAdmin documentation is available online.

bytemark-vhost-simple-backup

This package creates local backups to guard against accidental file deletion.

Scripts

There are no user scripts installed in this package.

Configuration Files

The backups are configured via the file /etc/backup2l.conf. Local backups are archived to the directory /var/backups/localhost by default.

Documentation

The backup system

bytemark-vhost-test

This package tests basic system functionality.

Scripts

To receive a report on all service status run bytemark-vhost-test.

Configuration Files

The package is configured via files beneath /etc/bytemark-vhost/test.d, but they shouldn't need to be updated ever.

Documentation

None

bytemark-vhost-tinydns

This package is responsible for creating and uploading your DNS records.

Scripts

The system installs a script into /etc/cron.hourly/create-dns. This script will create DNS records in the directory /root/BytemarkDNS/data and upload those records.

Configuration Files

The package creates the records for hosted domains in the directory /srv/example.com/config/dns for each hosted domain. These records are then copied to /root/BytemarkDNS/data and uploaded. You should not modify anything beneath /root/BytemarkDNS/.

Documentation

None

bytemark-vhost-updater

This package configures your system to receive automatic security and package updates.

Scripts

The script bytemark-vhost-updater is used to test for and install updated packages. This script is invoked once per day via /etc/cron.d/bytemark-vhost-updater.

Configuration Files

The package will disable itself if the file /etc/update-packages.disabled is present. The package will read the file /etc/apt/sources.list.security to know which sources to update from.

Documentation

There is a manual available to you run /etc/cron.hourly/create-dns --manual.

bytemark-vhost-webmail

This package enables system-wide webmail access.

Scripts

None.

Configuration Files

None.

Documentation

The webmail documentation is available online.