New learning curve cont …. !

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So during my last visit to gigagenesis.net I thought I aced a test.  How to create my own name servers with my domain in Namecheap and use them in Binil’s cPanel account.  Unknown to me however, in between when I successfully added the name servers two months ago and checking my Website today, Binil’s cPanel IP last two digits had changed.

So roll up to today, first I was unable to get into the Website.  IP was dead.  So first thought the service was no more.  But then when I checked Binil’s Discussion Forum it was easy to get into the Forum, and there had been no notifications to indicate the status had changed.  I was also able to get into cPanel as I had before.  Everything was working as it should.  I tested my Database in cPanel, that worked.  Domain looked OK.  So then went out and used my trusted DNS Inspect tool, and it flunked my domain as IP not working.

Next I checked up my Domain host Namecheap account, and finally discovered that Binil’s cPanel IP last two digits had changed.  I then went into my Advanced Setup at Namecheap, changed my two name server IPs I had created during the previous time, and finally was able to get into the Website after waiting a few minutes.  Although with some difficulty, as Fox and Chrome were unhappy with Certificates, and were having anxiety attacks, before allowing me to get to the Website at my own risk!

Then went back to cPanel and got a refresher experience in the Security/ Let’s Encrypt certificate section.  First link to check was Security/SSL/TLS. Then when I chose the default key type and saved it things started to look up.  The RunAutoSSL Tab was available again when I checked in SSL/TLS status.  Previous to fixing the default key type the AutoSSL was unavailable. Once the default key was fixed, I don’t think it was even necessary to click on AutoSSL as cPanel is very clever and would have done it intuitively.

So after this experience, everything was fixed.  I was then able to update all of my Plugins and Templates.  As well as update to a new WordPress Version.  Feels like WordPress Versions are happening more frequently, and every time take up more space, and plugins become more complicated.  WordFence in particular is growing into a monster.  I guess that must be a sign of the times.

I actually enjoyed this troubleshooting exercise.  Tripped me up a little, but gave me a nice exercise in cPanel and proved what a wonderful tool it is.  Also very happy with my Namecheap account that allows me to create my own name servers with my domains.

Thanks to Binil for still making this wonderful free quality cpanel hosting account available to us. This is MUCH appreciated!

New learning curve!

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I check my WordPress Websites periodically, sometimes with longer intervals than I really like, but I do check as regularly as I can, being reminded what a security risk a Website can pose for a server, if it is not regularly updated.  I do all of the updates in the WordPress dashboard and save a backup at the end of all of the updates and new posts.

With gigagenesis.net that is being hosted by Binil, it is usually quick and easy.  I rarely need to go into cPanel and only need to work with the WordPress Dashboard. This time round however it was a great surprise to find gigagenesis down.  It was the very first time since Binil had been hosting us that I found the Website down so I automatically thought WordPress issues.  It had to be something technical with the database.

It was wonderful to navigate Binil’s cPanel again after a very long absence.  cPanel said the Gigagenesis.net database was OK.  Then little by little I found the reason that the Website was down was that the name servers were not working any longer.

So for me it was fun to try and troubleshoot this, as strictly speaking everything had been in great shape with the server.  cPanel was very current and up to date.  Accessing Binil’s discussion forum had been effortless as well.  There was no reason for the Website not to work once the DNS had been sorted out.

So  I was wondering whether I could use my domain name to register my own name servers using Binil’s cPanel IP.  I lucked out, as that worked. I was able to register name servers with Namecheap using Binil’s cPanel IP.  Took a few minutes, and then the Website was up and running again. Effortlessly.  Great learning experience, and also great to use cPanel again after all of this time.

Again, thank you Binil for still supporting us with excellent cPanel hosting after all of this time.   This is much appreciated.

 

 

One more challenge!

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I use the All-in-one WP Migration tool for making backups.  Very simple and easy to use and never a problem.  However this time round when I was updating my plugins it was coming up with a strange error message:

| Error: cURL error 28: Connection timed out after 10000 milliseconds

So WordPress Techs came up with the following suggestion that solved the problem.  I thought I’d post it here for future reference as it worked.  The error message did come back, but I had no issue with making a backup:

https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-curl-error-28-connection-timed-out-after-10001-milliseconds-http_reques/

Hi @kirkofthefleet ,
The error detail “http_request_failed” is missleading you. Either for https or https the error will be the same.

The problem here could be simply a performance issue. As the error message says, the loopback request is aborting after 10 seconds without receiving a response.
So, the first thing that I’d try is to extend the timeout limit to something longer than 10 seconds.
If you are comfortable with some basic coding, you can achieve this by placing the following snippet into your theme functions.php file:

function __extend_http_request_timeout( $timeout ) {
    return 60; // seconds
}
add_filter( 'http_request_timeout', '__extend_http_request_timeout' );

(if it is third party theme, you will want to create a child theme to avoid lossing your changes, or put this into a custom plugin).

If you still get a timeout after 60 seconds, then there is definitely something failing in your API endpoint.

Cheers

Thank you Binil!

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cPanel with Softaculous hosting is still excellent and uninterrupted from December 2020 when Binil stepped in to assist those who needed quality shared hosting after Gigarank closed its doors.

Well done and many thanks Binil.  This is much appreciated.

Gigarocket Quo Vadis?

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So am wondering what’s up with Gigarocket?  For a while at end of April 2022 I got happy as Chris had indicated restarting the free hosting for Gigarocket.  As a precursor he was going to update the Gigarocket Website, but looks as though changing the script from myBB to Xenforo was as far as he got and then it didn’t go any further.

Unfortunately I had to go in for an operation at beginning of May and was away for a couple of months to recuperate, but when I returned, didn’t look as though anything meaningful had happened at Gigarocket.  I suspect it may be because Un4saken had not responded or shown interest in Chris’s suggestion.  Un4saken is a big motivator for Chris, apart from a very long friendship, he is a technical wizard and his participation would have been essential for Chris to restart free hosting.

I checked out Gigarocket and there doesn’t look to be a flood of new sign ups.  Could be those who have been interested over the years when there had been no free hosting, had given up and lost interest.

Anyway, time will tell.  Usually when anything happens it happens super fast and Chris is a magician with SEO so no doubt if he is focused, it won’t be a problem to revive interest in Gigarocket.  I did contact Chris but haven’t heard back from him yet.

One year on!

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One year on, and the free hosting provided by Binil of Gigarocket still continues.  Warm appreciation goes to Binil.  Thank you Binil!

Quality of hosting is excellent.  cPanel still rocks as ever.

During this year my favourite post4vps.com also closed its doors for hosting.  So it makes the generosity of Binil’s cpanel hosting that much more meaningful.  Every hosting business has a different reason for coming to an end.  Post4vps owner thought he could not continue as he had discovered a possible (but not proven) exploit of three years before, and felt he could not provide the security of personal information that for him has always been a non-negotiable requirement.  He then closed the doors.  Sadly.  That was the last active Forum I participated in in my many years of attending to discussion Forums.

I’d hoped that Fitkoh, a super out of the ordinary tech admin who had been posting at both post4vps.com and gigarocket, would carry on, but right at the time of post4vps.com closing, Fitkoh got a very busy day job.  He did succeed in creating a discussion Forum – input.social/connect but I had to give up at the point where the Forum was totally taken over by spam bots, as so much the pattern has become when a Forum has been abandoned with no traffic on it any longer.  Unfortunately I did not have sufficient admin power to kill the spam at its source, so had to give up eventually.

Well Gigarocket Forum is not completely at an end yet.  The owner, Chris, has kept it open, so I’m still attending to the cleaning of spam.  And now and then, like a fresh breeze, there is someone who registers and entertains with some decent discussion posts.

Not sure whether Binil will continue this great hosting beyond December, as he had informed us last December it would be for a year.  Let’s see what is next for Gigarocket.

 

Still excellent!

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So three months on after Gigarocket stopped to provide shared hosting, and the hosting provided by Binil is still excellent.  Today I updated my WordPress site.  Checked up on cpanel, and everything is still as great as it was in December when this hosting was provided the first time.

Thanks to Binil for continuing to provide this free hosting.

 

Thank you Binil!

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I’m currently blogging in a WordPress site that has been created from a cpanel hosting account provided by Binil.  Binil has been an actively contributing member of Gigarocket for several years, and when Gigarocket closed its door for further hosting, Binil stepped into the breach.  Binil is confident that with advertising in the Forum one would be able to cover the costs of running a free hosting business.

So far this has been a very positive experience for me.  Application for the hosting account went very fast and I was blown away with the quality of apps in cPanel.  There are a number of tools that have been added, particularly in the SEO section that I have never seen before.  So from a position of thinking I’ll never see cpanel again, I went to an improved cpanel with added bells and whistles.

It took about 24 hours for my account to be ready for publishing a site.  Once ready it took approx 10 minutes to have a WordPress installation up and running.  I’d say that was record fast by any standard.  I chose to install my site manually through the File Manager just to get a taste of uploads and control over the mysql database.  I downloaded WordPress 5.6 from WordPress.org site, unpacked it, and then zipped up the section that I uploaded to the root of my domain.  Immediately after I was able to install my WordPress site.  I have quite a variety of WordPress backups, so with the All in One WP Migration Tool, I was able to import one and edited it in its current form.

Well done Binil and wishing you the very best with your new venture!