Getting Started

Getting Started

1. Access Your Reseller Account  

H-Sphere offers simplified reseller concept which means more convenient way to work with both the Reseller User account (hereinafter referred to as Reseller Billing) and the Reseller Master Admin account which is now created automatically once reseller account is created. Each of the above accounts has its own CP design.

The new approach allows resellers to switch between accounts easily without having to log out/into accounts as if they worked with one CP. Both Reseller Admin and Reseller Billing interfaces are provided with respective links (menu items) to switch between reseller billing account and reseller admin account CP's. They will open in one and the same window.

To switch to Reseller Billing CP:		To switch to Reseller Admin CP:

Second way to access Reseller Admin CP is to log into your Reseller Admin CP from Reseller Billing interface. In this case, however, Reseller Admin CP will open in the new window.



There's also a third way to access Reseller Admin Section: via Reseller CP URL which can contain either Reseller CP alias or registered domain name. Enter URL into the address bar and when the login page is loaded, enter Reseller User (billing account) login and password. H-Sphere will send you to the Reseller Admin CP. However, we don't recommend doing so for privacy/security reasons.

Reseller can have several Admin accounts but only one Reseller Master Admin Account. According to that, switching between the Reseller Billing and Reseller Admin is possible only via Reseller Master Admin. Minor Admin accounts can't find and log into the Master Admin Account, therefore switching panels is security safe.



2. Create a DNS Zone
   Related documentation

   Now that you have entered the admin account, you need to setup your DNS:

    
   
   1. Go to DNS Manager -> E. Manager > Add DNS Zone.
   2. Enter all necessary information on the page that appears, where:
      • Name: the name of your domain without the "www" part.
      • Admin e-mail: your e-mail address with ' .' instead of '@'
      • Allow third level domain hosting: check this box to let your customers register domains like customerdomain.yourdomain.com.
      • Master server and slave 1: Leave as is.
   3. Click Submit.


3. Create an Instant Alias Template
   Related documentation

   The instant alias template is required to generate instant aliases. They provide immediate access to your customers' sites while DNS servers get updated.

   To create an Instant Alias Template in your admin account control panel, do the following:

    
   
   1. Select DNS Manager in the E. Manager menu.
   2. Choose DNS zone and click the Edit icon under the Action field.
   3. At the top of the page that shows, click the Add instant alias link.
   4. In the form that appears, enter "u" or any other letter for prefix and leave the shared IP tag value as it is. Click Submit.
   5. You will now need to go to your domain registrar and create the name servers that are associated with your domain name. Use the IP numbers that were assigned to the name servers.


4. Add Server Aliases
   

   If you, as a reseller, don't need your own DNS servers, skip this step.

   Server alias is your own name for the parent host. Once you set up the server alias, it will appear everywhere in place of the real server name. In other words, the parent host will become totally transparent to the end customers, and you will look to them as a totally independent hosting provider.

   To add server aliases, do the following:
   
   1. Select Server Aliases in the E. Manager menu.
   2. Set your server aliases for each host in the Reseller`s DNS server aliases section and click Submit. These server aliases must be registered with your domain name registrar. Note: Name servers and the corresponding IP's for each of them will show in Reseller`s DNS server aliases section.
   3. Set your server aliases for each host in the Other reseller's server aliases section and click Submit. These server aliases must be registered with any registrar.
   Note: until your name servers are registered by an accredited registrar, they will never be recognized by servers across the Internet and none of your reseller domains will work. It usually takes about 2 to 4 days before these name servers become active across the Internet.
   
5. Change Temporary CP Alias to Your Own Reseller CP URL
   

   Once the system configuration is completed, the reseller CP can be accessed by the instant reseller CP domain alias.

   To change this temporary CP alias to your own Rreseller CP URL:

    
   
   1. Switch to Reseller User panel
   2. Go to Info - > Admin Settings and change Reseller CP URL:

      

      • Set the protocol: http for regular or https for SSL secured
      • Enter the new domain name with cp at the beginning. (e.g.: cp.example.com).
      • Leave the the port number as is - it must be the same as that of the parent hosting company.
   3. Click Change.
   As a result, the URL of the control panel will be similar to http://cp.example.com:8080



6. Configure Mail Notification Addresses
   Related documentation

   To subscribe your staff to receive copies of user e-mail notifications:

    
   1. Go to the Settings menu - > Notifications - > Notification Recipients.
   2. On the page that appears add subscribers to mailing lists you choose.


7. Set up Payment Settings
   

   On this step you can configure H-Sphere to process credit cards, accept check payments and perform online web payments for the services you provide.

   To configure credit card processing through Merchant Gateway Manager:

   
   
   1. Go to the Settings menu ->Payment Settings -> CC Brands and add necessary CC brands.
   2. Go to the Settings menu ->Payment Settings -> Merchant Gateway and add necessary merchant gateway from the drop down menu and click Add.
   3. In the Set Active drop down box, select this merchant gateway. You can have only one active merchant gateway at a time.
   4. In the Payment Type drop down box, select the CC brand you would like to process with this merchant gateway.
   5. Click the Activate button.
   1. Go to the Settings menu ->Payment Settings -> Merchant Gateway.
   2. Select the payment system from the drop-down menu and click Edit:
   3. Enter your account settings. Once you enter correct settings, the web payment system will appear in the list as Active
   1. Go to the Settings menu ->Payment Settings -> Merchant Gateway.
   2. Enable Accept Checks.
8. Create Plans

   Now that your control panel is configured, you can create hosting plans.

   1. Go to Plans -> Create and click Select next to the plan to start the wizard.
   2. Enter the name of the plan at the top of the page.
   3. Select the resources (features) you would like to include in the plan. Make sure to leave Service Domain unchecked.
   4. In the last section of the wizard, make sure to enter Credit limit, e.g. 10 and click Next to proceed.
   5. Enter prices and free units for each type of resource and click the Create button at the bottom of the page.
   6. Go to Plans -> Manage and turn this plan ON for signups.

   Now your control panel is ready for signing up users. Please read all documentation before using H-Sphere as a production system.

   Create a System Plan and Account For Your Corporate Domain   (more ..)

   This step is required to host your corporate promotion site with your hosting system.

   1. Go to Plans -> Create menu and select a Unix or Windows plan wizard
   2. On Step 1, set the plan name to System and include resources you want to use with your site.
   3. Make sure to check Service domain and in the Settings section set Billing Type to Without billing.
   4. Submit and complete the wizard.
   5. Go to Plans -> Manage and click Access for the System plan and make sure only Admin is checked.
   6. Go to Signup menu and create System account using the Signup Wizard

   Note: Your system account is treated as an ordinary end customer account. You'll be charged for all resources used in this account.

9. Create Billing Periods
   
   Related documentation

   Each plan can have several billing periods with different price discounts for each. You can't delete billing periods, but you can change their duration. For instance, if you create a billing period for 1 year and you find out you don't need it, you can change it to 3 months.

   To create a billing period for a plan:

    
   
   1. Go to Plans -> Manage and click Settings in the Advanced section.
   2. Scroll down to the Payment Intervals and click Add.
   3. Specify the duration of the billing period. For instance, to make it 3 months long, select MONTH and enter 3 in the Size box.
   4. Optionally, enter discounts. For instance, if you want to cancel any setup fee for this billing period, enter 100 in the Setup Discount field.
   5. Click Submit. This will add the billing period to the list.
      
      


10. Configure Support Center
    
    Support Center is the web-based means of providing customer support. To configure your Support Center:  
    1. Go to Plans -> Create menu and choose Administrator Plan Wizard.
    2. Enter TechSupport Admin as the name of the plan, check to include TroubleTicket Admin and Allow assignment of trouble tickets and submit.
    3. Go to Plans -> Manage and turn this plan ON for signups.
    4. Go to Signup menu, click to sign up for Tech Support Admin and create Tech Support Admin account using the signup wizard.
    5. Go to Settings - > Tech Support and configure your Support Center. It is required to collect customers' e-mails and convert them into trouble tickets.


11. Look and Feel
    
    Go to Settings -> Look and Feel menu and enter information to all necessary sections. These settings will affect all your customers' control panels.
    
    • Corporate Logos: enter Banner HTML Code for the banner to show up in your users CPs and the location and sizes of the logos. Click the help [ ? ] icon for details.
    • Company Info: enter the company info that will show in customer e-mail notifications and the address will be used by customers to send checks.
    • Default language: choose CP interface language. It can be overridden by individual customers.
    • Regional options: enter preferred currency symbol.The language and the regional settings will affect all your customers' control panels.
    • Default CP design: set designs to be available by users and the default design for Users CPs.
12. Entering Company information

The system holds your company's name, mailing address and other details that are used across the control panel, including the letters e-mailed to the user. It's especially important for Enom and OpenSRS - incorrect or no info may decline domain registration.

To enter your company info:

1. Select Company Info in Look and Feel under the Settings menu.
2. Enter your corporate details:
   • Owner's first and last name: enter your name.
   • Company, Adress, City, State, Country and Postal Code: enter your company's postal address information.
   • Phone, Fax numbers of your company.
   • e-mail: H-Sphere will use this address to send user notifications, mass mails, etc.
   • Hostmaster E-mail: your sysadmin e-mail address. Use a dot "." instead of "@" in the e-mail address.
   • Website: enter your company website if any.



3. Click Save to preserve changes.

Don't forget to configure Misc. Texts as well.