16/01/2017
All domains with a valid DNS record have now been shifted to the new server.
As from the 27th of January 2017 the old server will cease to exist.

Technology is a moving target, especially with web servers.
We are going with CPANEL using CloudLinux plus the CloudLinux Mod_lsapi module along with opcache.

Emails

We are trying to email people after your A/C is shifted
If you are having issues please don’t keep trying to access your emails otherwise the new server may block you.

See if you can access your webmail
http://sv5.nzhost.net.nz:2096

If you can access your webmail that means you are connected to the new server.
If you are using secure email settings make sure that on your email client (*1):-
sv3.nzhost.net.nz please change to mail.yourdomain.xxx (*2) or sv5.nzhost.net.nz
secure2.nzhost.net.nz please change to mail.yourdomain.xxx (*2) or sv5.nzhost.net.nz

(*1) Email Client is the software you use to access your email example Outlook, Thunderbird, Windows Live Mail etc.
(*2) Note mail.yourdomain.xxx please change to your domain example mail.nzservers.com
More info on mail settings

---

Outlook Authentication Issues

How one person resolved SMTP issues using outlook:-

“When selecting the pop protocol the outgoing SMTP port was automatically selecting port 25 with no encryption. I just had to change the port to 465 and select SSL as the encrypted connection in the advanced tab. Also the outgoing server tab I had to tick “My outgoing SMTP requires authentication and select “use same settings as incoming”. As an added measure I flushed and registered the dns settings. Hope this helps out others as well” – Thank to Ravneil Lal Systems Administrator Ba Motor Parts Ltd

Note:- change the incoming and outgoing email servers to sv5.nzhost.net.nz if you are having problems as this will bypass any caching issues.
Although Auto should work with secure SMTP setting, SSL should work as well.
With Outllook make sure you select ‘Finish’ to save the changes.

Make sure your SMTP authentication is set correctly – click here for help

---

How can you check you are on the new server?

https://mxtoolbox.com/

Example

If you see the IP 107.151.6.226 you are on the new server
If you see the IP 174.122.155.242 you are on the old server

If you get really stuck please send an email via your ISP or Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail etc
You can text me on 0274437083 and text ‘Help emails domain yourdomain.xxx’ please include an alternate email address with your text.
Please check on http://whatsmyip.org and email/text back the IP you see at the top to mike@nzservers.com or nz50mw@gmail.com

The new server has:-

• Greater disk storage using SSD technology – in plain English this speeds the server up.
• Larger backup storage.
• More memory which is a plus.
• A faster operating system allowing different versions of PHP.
• PHP 5.3 is the initial default version to minimise transfer issues.
  (you can easily switch PHP to a higher version using CPANEL)
• PHP will now write files as the site user instead of nobody.

Technical Issues

We have to change some old concepts to keep in pace with market trends plus security issues.
Change always comes with some teething issues.
I know technical jargon is loathed by some. If you don’t read this then the issues will surface reasonably quickly once your site is shifted over.
If nothing else please read about emails.

Emails

If you do not know how to access your CPANEL now is a good time to find out how.

http://yourdomain/cpanel is the best way to access your CPANEL
(please replace yourdomain with your own domain name)

Most of you will not have an issue.
If you use secure2.nzhost.net.nz for your mail server your email client will have issues once your site is shifted over.

If this happens to you simply use sv5.nzhost.net.nz in place of secure2.nzhost.net.nz or simply use webmail until your resolve the issue.
Webmail is accessed by using http://yourdomain/webmail

For those using the Gmail interface, you will need to know your email password when changing the mail server.

The current server allowed people to use secure2.nzhost.net.nz as a SMTP and POP3 server for SSL sites to avoid the warnings given by some email clients.

Sites using secure2.nzhost.net.nz as mail servers

NZServers attached this certificate to the mail servers to allow a signed certificate to work with emails and to allow connections to GMAIL using a signed SSL certificate.
Finally, CPANEL some time later provided a complimentary SSL certificate provided by COMODO assigned to sv3.nzhost.net to get around the warnings issued by some email clients and accessing CPANEL.
When your domain has been shifted you may have issues with using secure2.nzhost.net.nz.

How do I know if my site has been shifted?

You can use this link to see if your domain has been shifted over
http://mxtoolbox.com/DNSLookup.aspx

Enter your domain name only and hit the DNS lookup button
If you see an IP address 107.151.6.226 you have been shifted to the new server
If you see an IP address 174.122.155.242 you are still on the old server

Sites using secure2.nzhost.net.nz as mail servers

When your site is shifted over please use sv5.nzhost.net.nz as a mail server for SSL conections.

CPANEL

To access Cpanel :–
https://sv5.nzhost.net.nz:2083/ or http://yourdomain.xxx/cpanel

Do not use https://sv3.nzhost.net.nz:2083

PHP

This section is mainly for developers.

The default PHP version is 5.3 for reasons of minimising problems when shifting sites.
You can very easily shift to a higher PHP version using your CPANEL

If your website was developed by someone other than NZServers please share this link with your developer.

The existing server runs PHP as a compiled module under Apache known as Mod PHP or PHP DSO.
Running PHP like this is very fast, the only downside is PHP when it writes files to the server has to do this as the Apache user called ‘Nobody’.
There are different ways or running PHP usually at a cost of speed where PHP writes and reads files as the site owner instead of Apache.
Products like WordPress normally adhere to rules, except some plugin developers who depart from the rules creating permission issues.
Having PHP running as the same user makes it a lot easier using software applications like WordPress.

Switching over to a new way of running PHP makes the transition of existing websites a challenge which rely on PHP.
For PHP sites there will be some downtime as permissions and users have to be modified quickly.
The ownership of users is only possible as an administrator known as root user making the process slower than usual in getting sites across.

PHP versions from 5.3 thru to 7.1 are available
The PHP version is selected using the MultiPHP Manager
Editing PHP information is done by using the MultiPHP ini Editor

PHP.INI files

Under Mod_LSAPI these files are ignored unless they exist in the public_html folders.
Any attempts to modify PHP values can be done using .htaccess or you have controls on the servers new CPANEL to modify certain PHP values.
Using .htaccess the changes apply recursively where a PHP.INI files is only applicable to the folder the php.ini file is located.

Example:-

php.ini file directive

magic_quotes_gpc = Off;

Under .htaccess will become:-

php_flag magic_quotes_gpc off

or
<IfModule mod_php5.c>
php_flag magic_quotes_gpc off
</IfModule>

Warning if you use values like

php_flag register_globals Off
this is valid for PHP 5.3 only.
A value like this will create an error 500 error if this value is used in PHP 5.6

Sites which are shifted over and an error 500 is created will be shifted to PHP 5.3 until the error is resolved.

More information on changing PHP versions

Mod Security

This is like a firewall which looks for unusual activity used by sites accessing your web site.
Over time we have created exceptions for some users.
As everything is new we will not be applying the same exceptions unless we have to.

Server Whitelisted IP’s for the CSF firewall

We will be transferring over the old whitelist over the new server

Will there be downtime during the shift?

For some sites expect some downtime, especially very large sites.
The plan is to shift the smaller sites first, leaving larger sites to later.
As we are shifting to a new platform and different method of handling PHP so there could be some teething errors.
Propagation is based on a test using a Linux command using Googles DNS servers.
Once we see the correct IP mainly 107.151.6.226 we know the site using Googles DNS servers has updated and the site has migrated.
During this time (January 2017) we would ask you to minimise any changes while this transition takes place.

Linux Permissions

Any permissions above 755 will cause the site to crash
The PHP user nobody become the site user.
We will do our best to resolve these once the site is shifted.

MYSQL Version

The existing version is 5.5 the new version is 5.6
They may be exceptions where we have to reset the MYSQL user password
If this happens we have to locate the file where this is located and reset the password.

SSL

Centos versions 6.0 or higher allow SSL certificates to use a shared IP.
This is the default now for the new server.
Anyone on a dedicated IP will shift back to a shared IP.
The SSL trend is increasingly being adopted as a preference by Google in search results.