CGI/MySQL migration 2014 - Migration FAQ's

What changes are you making?

We’re migrating all customers with an active CGI Webspace service to a third-party web-hosting partner. Customers who have access to the service but have never enabled it will have this access removed.

Why are you making changes?

Our current CGI platform is quite old now and it's a service that we no longer offer to new customers. Much of the software installed on the platform is dated and doesn’t support the latest CMS installs, due to an out-of-date version of MySQL. However, rather than decommissioning the entire service, we're looking to preserve it for those of you who’re already using it.

When will the change be taking place?

The migrations will begin January 2014 and we're aiming to have all customers migrated by the end of February.

Who are you partnering with?

We're partnering with a company called Hostopia. They provide white-label hosting services to a large number of large and well-respected companies.

What are the benefits of the new CGI service?

The service has a wider range of features compared to the current platform. You no longer need to be connected to the Plusnet network to update your website content; the platform has a very recent version of MySQL installed and is compatible with almost all popular CMS software. This will remain the case due to the ongoing investment Hostopia can afford the service.

What new features are available?

After your account has been migrated you will be give access to a new web interface which you can access and manage your web hosting service. This web interface, known as the Control Panel, will include the following applications: Custom Error Pages - create custom error pages for popular web server errors e.g. 404 pages. You can also use this to manage a custom error page you've already activated through Modify existing Error Page. Disk Usage - check your scripts environment and monitor your usage quota. You can also check available free space, plus used space within your account. File Manager Pro - manage all of your website files and access backups. It's a safe alternative to full shell access for sophisticated users. You can copy, move, delete, rename and edit files, create and remove directories, change file permissions and upload files from your local computer to the server. FTP Manager - control access to Directory Specific and Anonymous FTP. Log Manager - obtain raw server logs about your site activity and traffic. You can view and/or delete, print, download, and date your log files. You may disable logging altogether to conserve your disk space. MySQL Manager - a web based MySQL client that lets you create and manipulate your MySQL databases. phpMyAdmin - a web based application used to manage a MySQL database. It's free and open source software. This version of PHPMyAdmin has been specially modified to function without errors on a shared hosting platform. Web Analytics - optimise the online presence for your website. You can view your website statistics, manage account information and print reports. The statistical analytics provides information about visitors to your website. User guides for each of these applications are available here.

What are the differences between the current platform and the new one?

There are some differences that customers may notice following migration to the new platform.

• phpInfo files aren’t permitted and won’t work when uploaded to Hostopia's platform.
• Customer user-defined php.ini files aren’t supported either. Customers can still override certain settings via the use of .htaccess files.
• Your login details and some of the server addresses/host names you use to connect to the service are also changing.
• Your home directory will become a directory called 'public' rather than the root of your webspace as it currently is.

What does this mean for me?

If you don't have your own website - very little. The changes only affect customers with content uploaded to our CGI hosting platform, ccgi.plus.net. If you’re using this service - we’ll migrate your content to Hostopia's servers and give you new login details to access the service.

How long will it take to migrate my services?

This depends on:

• The complexity of your website.
• The amount of content you’ve got stored on our servers.

Once we've copied your website to the new servers we’ll need to make some changes to ensure that it carries on working in the new environment - especially if your website relies on database connectivity. During this period your website should remain accessible, however we may prevent you from making any changes to your site over FTP.

Will I experience any downtime/content freeze?

Your website will remain accessible. However, your FTP access may be limited - preventing you from uploading content to your webspace. This only affects FTP access, rather than database access. Complex sites may have FTP access restricted for up to 7 days, though we will try to keep any disruption to a minimum.

Will I experience problems?

Whilst every care will be taken to minimise disruption, the migration is a very complex process. We do expect that a small number of customers will experience a problem with their website that wasn’t visible on the current service. This could be caused by the differences in software installed on the two platforms, or due to the change to one or more environment variables. However, we’ll do our best to help any customers experiencing problems following the migration.

What will happen after the migration?

We'll email you once we’ve migrated your website content and the new service is up and running. The email will contain details about how to access the new platform. You’re urged to log into your account once you’ve received the email. This is to ensure your account stays active. Any accounts that aren’t being used a month after the migration will be disabled.

I have a hosted domain pointed to the CGI platform. Will this continue to work after the migration?

We’ll migrate any additional domains to the new platform – but you’ll need to make changes to your DNS records to point the domain at Hostopia's servers. E.g. You’d need to amend your records to make sure that the www subdomain and root of your domain is pointed correctly to the new platform (plus.com should be substituted with force9.co.uk or free-online.co.uk as appropriate) Do this as follows: www CNAME <your_domain>. <your_domain>. A 91.136.8.9 e.g. www CNAME domainname.tld. domainname.tld. A 91.136.8.9 (note the qualifying '.' after the domain name, you will need to include this).

How do I access my services after the migration?

You can access your new Control Panel at https://hosting.plus.net We’ll email you the Control Panel login details once your account has been migrated. The hostname for FTP access will change to ccgi.<your_username>.plus.com (plus.com should be substituted with force9.co.uk or free-online.co.uk as appropriate).

Will my login details change?

Your username for the Control Panel will be emailed to you. Your username for FTP access will change to you CGI website address, e.g. ccgi.<your_username>.plus.com (plus.com should be substituted with force9.co.uk or free-online.co.uk as appropriate).

What about my MySQL login details?

These will change. The host name of the new MySQL servers will change to sql5c51a.megasqlservers.eu. Your username can be retrieved using the 'MySQL Manager' application in the Control Panel. Please refer to your website's configuration scripts to determine your new MySQL password. If you’ve never used our MySQL service then you can choose a new password using MySQL Manager. Your password can also be reset using the same application. However, you should be careful not to break your website if it relies on database connectivity.

Can I change my login details?

Yes, your Control Panel password, FTP password and MySQL password can all be changed via the Control Panel.

Will I be charged to use the new service?

No, this will continue to be free to use.

Can I request access to the service if I don't currently have it?

No, the new hosting platform is only intended for existing users of the platform.

If I have a problem after the migration, what do I do?

We urge you to go to our Community Site discussion forums for help. Support will also be available via the Help Assistant, whenever we need to liaise with Hostopia to resolve your problem.

I don't want my services to be migrated, what do I do?

Please contact us via the Help Assistant and we’ll make sure that your account isn't migrated. In some cases this won’t be possible due to short timescales. If this does happen, we’ll close your account at the earliest available opportunity.

What will happen to my CGI webstats/logfiles?

Access to the current webstats implementation will be retired and replaced with a new 'Website Analytics' package. Any logfiles in your webspace will be copied across to the new platform however you will lose visibility of all other historic webstats reporting.

phpInfo isn't working!?

Access to phpInfo is disabled on the new CGI platform. If you’ve got a specific question about what modules or server packages are installed on the platform please post on our Community Site discussion forums. Alternatively get in touch with our Support Team.

Where can I find the path to the new server?

The absolute server path can be found my navigating to the 'Disk Usage' application in the Control Panel and selecting the 'Setup/Environment' tab.

Will I need to change some file permissions?

No, your files and scripts should continue to work after the migration.

Where do I place perl/.cgi scripts?

These will need to be in the 'cgi-bin' folder on the new CGI platform. On the current platform, perl scripts will work outside of the cgi-bin folder. These scripts are likely to break after the migration - so you’re advised to move them.

Where do I place PHP scripts?

These can be placed anywhere within or below your 'public' folder. They must not be in cgi-bin. Unlike on the current ccgi platform they do not have to be executable, permissions 644 are fine.