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Summary
Each web hosting account can be accessed through the cPanel administrative interface, Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) or Secure Shell (SSH). Prior to accessing an account on the web hosting platform, individuals must either login to the campus VPN service and/or be connected to the campus network.
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Access via the cPanel interface
The cPanel interface can be accessed from a browser window. Accessing this interface will allow access to multiple services, such as changing the PHP version, creating or downloading a backup, uploading/downloading files, or creating a database or database user for the site. The exact URL to use will depend on the website domain name or the hosting server name. This information will be provided to you when creating a new webhosting account. Examples of what this may look like are noted below:
- https://exampledomain.msu.edu/cpanel
- https://cpanel.exampledomain.msu.edu:2083
- https://servername.itservices.msu.edu:2083
All websites must be placed behind the Web Application Firewall (WAF) to be accessible to the public. Because the WAF is not configured to accept traffic on port 2083, accessing cPanel via https://exampledomain.msu.edu:2083 may result in a timeout error. This may also happen when trying to access cPanel via https://exampledomain.msu.edu/cpanel. Therefore, it is recommended to either setup cpanel.exampledomain.msu.edu to resolve to the server's IP to be able to access cPanel, or use the server name.
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Access via SFTP
The webhosting account can be accessed via SFTP by using an FTP client of your choice. This will allow for upload/downlaod of files on the account. The login information for accessing the account will be the server name, user name, and password provided on account creation. SFTP access uses port 22
Do not use the website domain name to access the server via SFTP. As sites will be behind the Web Application Firewall (WAF), attempting to login via SFTP using the website domain name will fail.
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Access via SSH
The webhosting account is also accessible via SSH for anyone that would need terminal access. This would allow users to run Linux commands and upload/download files. Please note that root access is unavailable to webhosting accounts, and any commands that require root level permissions are not permitted. The login information for accessing the account will be the server name, user name, and password provided on account creation.
Do not use the website domain name to access the server via SSH. As sites will be behind the Web Application Firewall (WAF), attempting to login via SSH using the website domain name will fail.
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