Newest KB Articles in Panel Configurations

Enforcing 2FA option disables option for "OTP Delivery mode" as Authenticator App

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 12:35:49 GMT

Issue: From GlobalAdmin user level in HC panel, upon enabling the Enforce option Enforcing 2FA option, the option of "OTP Delivery Mode" of type "via Authenticator App (i.e. Google Authenticator)" is disabled.

Reason: The 2FA settings will be enforced for all users. However, upon enabling the Enforce option, the "OTP Delivery Mode" of type "via Authenticator App (i.e. Google Authenticator)" is disabled.

The enforcement can be applied for "OTP Delivery Mode" of type via Email or via SMS modes because the OTP in any case will be sent to the email address and Phone Number registered in the HC Panel against user profile. However, Google Authenticator and similar Authenticator Apps require manual configuration inside HC Panel where a QR code is to be scanned by individual Panel Users during the 2FA setup process with Google Authenticator Module App. Therefore, if Google Authenticator is enforced then all those users who have not yet scanned QR code within the HC Panel will be locked out of the HC Control panel and will never be able to login to HC panel.

Consequently, the "OTP Delivery Mode" option via Authenticator App is disabled under the "Enforce" setting, as it cannot be seamlessly integrated with the automated enforcement of 2FA.

Also, please ensure that the API admin user is exempted from this action, as it is involved in several scheduled tasks operations. The API admin user should be added to the enforcement exemption list to ensure that HC10 operations continue to run smoothly.

For any further queries regarding Hosting Controller feel free to write to support@hostingcontroller.com

How to force the user to reset its password on the very first login in HC10 control panel?

Sun, 26 Nov 2023 11:30:03 GMT

Solution: Any new HC panel user which is created through HC10 control panel, once login to HC10 control panel will be asked enforcedly to reset their password.

Whenever the newly created panel user logged in successfully to HC10 control panel, the following screen will appear automatically to reset its password.

Also, if control panel Admin changes the password of any user by editing the user from the list, the password reset option will also be enforced for the same user on its next login to HC10 control panel.

For more information or queries, please contact support@hostingcontroller.com.

How to integrate a new SMS Gateway for two factor authentication in Hosting Controller Control Products?

Fri, 22 Mar 2019 06:59:09 GMT

How to integrate a new SMS Gateway for two factor authentication (2FA) in Hosting Controller Products?

Hosting Controller Control Panel: To integrate a new SMS Gateway in Hosting Controller v10 refer to the link.

How to install and configure Hosting Controller mobile application?

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 11:45:05 GMT

Question : How to install and configure Hosting Controller mobile application for android?

Answer : Hosting Controller now offers mobile application for its android users. Anyone can login into the HC10 mobile app and perform different tasks related to their Hosting Services such as : Editing General/Billing profiles, Change passwords, view notifications, view invoices, view reports, raise trouble tickets, view due bills and many more.

How to install Hosting Controller Mobile Application?

You can follow the steps given below for installing Hosting Controller application on android devices:

1) Open Google Play Store.

2) Search for "Hosting Controller".

3) Click Install.

4) Open App and it will ask you to scan the QR code.

5) Login to HC10 panel and click on Device Notifications Settings as shown in the below screenshot.

6) Upon clicking Device Notifications Settings link, HC will display you a personalized QR code like the one shown below.

7) Scan the QR code with the phone app and app will ask for the HC password once for security.

If you have any further query regarding the above mentioned instructions then feel free to contact us by sending an email to support@hostingcontroller.com

How to achieve HC Control Panel high availability

Thu, 04 Oct 2018 10:17:45 GMT

The article explains how to setup & configure Hosting Controller Portal System in High Availability mode.

System Requirements:

Number of HC Portal machines = 2 (Both machines will serve control panel web interface).

MSSQL Server: HC system uses MSSQL Database to store all Panel related information. You can use any SQL Fail-Over technique such as Always-On, Clustering, Mirror etc.

Below is the logical diagram displaying that how Hosting Controller will communicate with Microsoft Enterprise Services in HA mode.

Step 1:

Perform installation of Hosting Controller Primary installer agent on both HC Portal machines.
Open IIS Manager of each portal machine and bind the control panel web access URL as an example https://cp.yourdomain.com in website "Hosting Controller Portal" and make sure you apply the certificate.
This web address must be resolved with fail-over IP address
Network Load Balancer Rule:
Below is one example that will assist in applying the load balancer network rule. The recommended approach is to monitor the HC Portal machine's availability using port 443. You must not check the HC Portal machine's heartbeat using HC Application ports.
HC Activation:
- Shutdown HC02 machine and access panel from HC01 http://localhost:8797 and activate HC License
- Shutdown HC01 machine and access panel from HC02 http://localhost:8797 and activate HC License

Other links: Connecting Microsoft Exchange Servers in High Availability Mode

How to enable Google reCAPTCHA on Hosting Controller login page

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 12:52:07 GMT

Question: How to enable Google reCAPTCHA on the HC login page in order to enhance security?

Answer: Google reCAPTCHA can be enabled on the HC panel login page by following the steps given below:

Login to your google account.
Navigate to the URL: https://www.google.com/recaptcha/admin#list
Select reCAPTCHA v2.

In Domains specify the HC Panel URL like ControlPanel.YourDomain.com.

After completing above steps, you will be given a site and a secret key.
Now open app.config located at C:\Program Files\Hosting Controller\Portal\app.config and specify your site key and secret key by adding the similar code snippet to the end of file just between the </script> and </branding> tags. Sample code is shared below for your convenience.

</script>

</captcha>

</branding>

After implementing above, Google reCAPTCHA will be enabled on the HC login page as shown below:

If you have confusion regarding any of the aforementioned instructions, you can get help from the Hosting Controller support team by sending an email to support@hostingcontroller.com

Reasons for Server showing Down in HC10 panel

Fri, 08 Dec 2017 12:01:55 GMT

Question: My Server is showing DOWN in the HC10 panel. What can be the possible reasons behind it?

Answer: The server can show down in the HC10 panel due to one of the following reasons:

*** First, verify that HC Provisioning Service is running on the Portal machine and try restarting it.

Reason 1: The server will show as DOWN if the credentials of the added server are incorrect or changed.

Resolution: Verify the connectivity and save the updated credentials of added Server at this path Configurations >> Server Manager >> Servers >> Edit Server in HC panel as shown in this screenshot.

Reason 2: Servers will show as DOWN if the IP of Control Server is changed or modified in HC Control Server at this path: Control Server Configurations >> Server Manager >> Servers >> Edit Server and under Configurations >> Control Server Manager >> Control Servers.

Resolution: The IP of the control server can be changed or modified by following this path: Manage Control Servers >> Control Server Manager >> Control Servers.

Reason 3: Servers added in the cluster will be showing as DOWN if HC Provisioning Service is stopped on the server and the following error will be shown:

Resolution: Restart the HC Provisioning Service by following this path Start >> Run >> Services.msc

In case of any further queries or assistance, send an email to support@hostingcontroller.com

AD Authentication in Hosting Controller version 10

Tue, 21 Nov 2017 07:19:21 GMT

AD Authentication in Hosting Controller

Hosting Controller now allows Active Directory groups and user authentication modes to access the various provisioning tiers of the control panel and perform related activities at their respective levels. The mechanism of Active Directory Authentications is explained briefly in this document.

Inside HC panel, there are 3 types of Authentications using which a user can login into the HC10 control panel and perform certain operations according to the role assigned to it. These Authentication Settings are explained below:

Internal HC Authentication
External AD-User Authentication
External AD-Group Authentication

Internal HC Authentication:
This is default mechanism of Hosting Controller authentication i.e. All users (Global Admins, Resellers, Clients) are created in HC backend Database which is stored inside Microsoft SQL Server and when these user’s login into HC10 panel then their authentication is carried out from HC Database.

External AD-User Authentication:
If “External AD-User Authentication” is enabled then all users (GlobalAdmin, Resellers and clients) are created as Active Directory Users which is configured inside HC panel. For this following step are needed to be carried out:

Login as Global Admin.
Navigate to Configurations >> Panel Conf. >> Auth Settings
Select Authentication Type as “External AD-User Authentication”.
Provide details of Domain Controller, Domain Administrator Credentials and Root Organization Unit under which each AD User account created via HC10 will be located.
Click on Check Connectivity button and then save the settings upon successful connection.

**If you are already running HC Panel and now selecting AD Authentication then make sure, Panel users are existed with same name in the active directory.

Note : To configure External AD-User Authentication , apiadmin user must be created under the Root Organizational Unit shown in above diagram and its password should be specified in HC10 panel under Control Panel Users >> Staff Members >> Edit User >> Change Password. After it, Change the apiadmin user in HC10 panel from Control Server Manager >> Control Servers >> Edit by clicking on change apiadmin user and then save button.

External AD-Group Authentication:
If “External AD-Group Authentication” is selected in HC panel, then all the Roles Global Admin, Resellers, Clients are added as Security Groups in Active Directory under the Root Organizational Unit which is configured in HC10 panel. Upon making any AD User member of the Reseller Group, those users will be allowed to login using their AD credentials and will be assigned the privileges of a reseller. Same is true for all other Group Roles. Given below are the steps to configure these authentication settings,

Login as Global Admin.
Navigate to Configurations >> Panel Conf. >> Auth Settings
Select Authentication Type as “External AD-Group Authentication”.
Provide details of Domain Controller, Domain Administrator Credentials and Root Organization Unit under which each role GlobalAdmin, Resellers or Clients will be added as AD Group inside Active Directory.
Click on Check Connectivity button and then save the settings upon successful connection.

**If you are already running HC Panel and now selecting AD Group Authentication then make sure, Groups are existed with same name as Panel user in the active directory

Note : To configure External AD-Group Authentication , apiadmin Group must be created under the Root Organizational Unit shown in above diagram. After this you will create a user belonging to this apiadmin group in Active Directory and its password will be specified in HC10 panel at Control Server Manager >> Control Servers >> Edit by specifying "AD Username" and "AD User Password" respectively.

See above screenshot for clarity where HCUser is member of apiadmin Group in AD. Specify its credentials in the below page and then click on Save button.

Benefits of Granting Group Access to the Panel

The entire notion of granting group level access to the panel revolves around the ability to have multi-user access for the same level. Multiple users of the same AD group can login to the panel, with their respective credentials and perform desired tasks.
Most organizations require their existing AD user base to login directly to an automation solution, using their AD credentials. Hosting Controller fulfills the desired objective by making AD-User or AD-Group authentication possible.
Each individual user can be held accountable for his actions. User audit across user base can easily be made possible.

IIS components necessary for installing Hosting Controller

Fri, 03 Nov 2017 11:28:07 GMT

Which IIS components are required to be enabled before installing Hosting Controller ?

IIS is one of the main pre-requisites for installing Hosting Controller therefore its vital to enable all the right IIS components before installing Hosting Controller. Specifying the correct IIS components ensures a smooth and seamless installation of HC and its future functioning.

When trying to install Hosting Controller on a fresh machine, which does not already have IIS, the installer throws the following exception:

To avoid the error its compulsory that IIS is installed with all the right components on the Control Server. The following IIS components are necessary and should be enabled:

Note: IIS is not required on subsequent servers, with Agent installations.

What is API Admin and what purpose does it serve in Hosting Controller v10?

Wed, 25 Oct 2017 06:12:02 GMT

Question: What is API Admin user and what are the implications of deleting it or changing its password ?

Answer: Hosting Controller Primary installer creates multiple schedulers under TasksSchedulers on the HC Control Server. See below screenshot depicting the scheduled tasks added by Hosting Controller Primary installer:

API Admin is responsible for managing all these ScheduledTasks related to HC10 because all these tasks run under API admin user’s permissions and this user has rights specific to those methods and endpoints which are exposed in the HC10 API. Deletion of the user or modification in its password will result in the malfunction of the scheduled tasks related to Hosting Controller.

Caution: Never delete API Admin or change its password because this may result in malfunction of the control panel.

Case # 1 ( Deletion of API Admin user and how to rectify the problem ) : If API Admin user is deleted mistakenly then you can recreate the user in HC panel and re-assign it to HC Control Server by following the steps below:

Add API Admin user from: Panel Users >> Staff Members >> Add Staff Members

Next assign this new API Admin user to HC Control Server by navigating to Configurations >> Control Server Manager >> Control Servers, here assign new API Admin user by clicking "Change API Username" button.

Case # 2 ( Modification in the password of API Admin and how to rectify the problem) : If someone modifies the password of API Admin user mistakenly then tasks must be updated again from the Control Server by opening "Manage General Operations" and "Manage Advanced Operations" at Global Admin level and then resaving these tasks by clicking the "Save" button. View the screenshot below to learn more about how to update the tasks ( General and Advanced operations) at Global Admin level in HC10 panel :

If the problem still persists contact support@hostingcontroller.com for further assistance. View HC user structure in detail.