Instant account alias

[mgaretz]

This problem has been solved, see my last post.

A feature I would like (and that other hosting companies have) is the ability to set up an alias to an account that has not had its dns switched yet. The http://yourip/~directory works most of the time, but not for Front Page. There are things one needs to do from the Front Page admin interface that you can't log onto until the dns resolves. That is not a good situation.

So some providers solve this by creating an "instant domain alias" when you create an account. It looks like somerandomnumber.domain.com where the domain is usually their domain, but it would be OK (maybe better) if it was my reseller domain.

I tried setting this up myself, but the domain redirection does not work for ipaddress/~directory. Why I'm not sure. (Possibly because they appear to be using a rewrite rule rather than a real dns entry for the redirect?)

So this would be a great feature. Or if anyone has a solution. let me know.

[jlgreer1]

In my experience domains are resolving in a couple of hours or less. It was a couple of days until recently. That may make instant alias names unnecessary.

Jeff

[Tomas]

Yup, you're right. Mine took only 2 hours to propagate (at least, my ISP).

[Curtis]

one of mne updated in 5 minutes yestersday lol

[mgaretz]

Originally Posted by jlgreer1

In my experience domains are resolving in a couple of hours or less. It was a couple of days until recently. That may make instant alias names unnecessary.

Jeff

That is not the issue. Some sites are complex and need to tested and administered before the DNS is switched. I need access to the FP controls for the site before DNS is even requested to be switched.

And FYI I have had the same experience with domains resolving in minutes, but they often revert back in a few hours and stay that way for a day before coming back. So they really aren't stable for a day or more.

[mgaretz]

Problem solved. I figured out how to do it (and support said it was not possible):

Add a temporary FrontPage domain pointer:

1) You must have a domain that is already resolving in DNS. The most logical domain to use your reseller's domain. You must also have already created your customer's domain.

2) Log into the cPanel for that domain and create a subdomain such as frontpage.reseller.com Don't worry about forwarding it anywhere.

3) Now log into WHM and go to Park or Point a Domain (under DNS functions). Select the customer's domain in the left screen (domain to park on top of) and in the right box type in the name of subdomain you created.

4) Press Do It! Voila! You are done!

Now your customer has full, normal FrontPage access to their domain (for publishing or management) until their DNS resolves or until they are ready to switch the DNS over. They can also use it to view their site on the web.

If you want to recycle that subdomain for another customer, first remove the existing pointing. Do this by going to WHM and select List Parked Domains from the Account Information menu. You will see your pointed domain. Click unpark. Now repeat the steps above for the new customer. Be sure the customer's DNS is resolving first! And let them know their temporary domain will be going away. You could create them on a permanent basis by naming them customer.reseller.com and just leaving them there.

[site4mas]

I have been using this method, that is using one of my 'spare' domain names and parking it so that my customers can have easy access before propogation. I ran into a problem. I just looked at my bandwidth stats and find that although I unparked the domain it is still showing as parked in the bandwidth stats.

I checked in the cpanel for the relevant domains and it's not showing there.

Does anyone have any idea how I can remove this phantom parked domain or should I ask support to do it?

[Holmis]

Originally Posted by mgaretz

Problem solved. I figured out how to do it (and support said it was not possible):

Add a temporary FrontPage domain pointer:

1) You must...

Excellent!!

I have been searching the forums for several days trying to find a solution to this problem. Apart from the frontpage issue, I wanted to assign my cutomer a temporary url to upload his files and view his site. I tried your fix and it works great!

Thanx!!

This was extremely helpful -- I should have been able to figure this out but you saved me a lot of time.

I've used this method for a development project, where we're developing the site on our servers and then pointing the domain to our servers. I'm using my default server domain with a subdomain to point to the account now to allow the client to view the site because of the database features.

Thanks again

Nathan

[Holmis]

Originally Posted by site4mas

I have been using this method, that is using one of my 'spare' domain names and parking it so that my customers can have easy access before propogation. I ran into a problem. I just looked at my bandwidth stats and find that although I unparked the domain it is still showing as parked in the bandwidth stats.

I checked in the cpanel for the relevant domains and it's not showing there.

Does anyone have any idea how I can remove this phantom parked domain or should I ask support to do it?

This happened to me too.
Resolved it by deleting the dns zone for the parked domain.

[Serra]

The parked domain will show up because the space and bandwidth used is still being accounted for. It will disappear at the end of the month.