Helm Web Hosting Control System
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The Helm Web Hosting Control System is an extremely powerful hosting automation solution for Windows and Windows .NET servers. Helm is developed by WebHost Automation Ltd, a United Kingdom-based corporation. Their main website is:
http://www.webhostautomation.com
Prerequisites For a New Helm Installation
- Supported Windows Operating Systems
Helm supports the following Windows Server operating systems:
Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition
Windows 2000 Server
Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
Please ensure one of the above server operating systems is installed prior to installing Helm
-Need to have the C: drive in Windows available
Helm (and a lot of other Windows applications) need to have the C: drive in Windows available. Do NOT change the drive letter from C: as this will cause issues. You can install Helm on any other drive on the same server, but there must always be a C: drive available on that server.
Also, the Default Share must be available on the folder. To check this, right-click the C: drive, and choose Sharing and Security. The setup should look like this:
-Windows groups/User names
The C: drive root must have the following Windows groups/User names on it, with full permissions for Helm to work:
Administrators (not just Administrator)
SYSTEM
-File and Print Sharing enabled
Helm needs the server to have File and Print Sharing enabled in order to contact certain services.
-IP Filtering to be disabled on the server
Helm requires IP Filtering to be disabled on the server as it causes conflicts with some of the communications that Helm makes.
1.) To make sure IP Filtering is disabled in Windows, go to:
Start > Control Panel > Network Connections
2.) Right click your active network connection and choose Properties. In the new window that opens, double click "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)".
3.) In the second window that opened, click the "Advanced" button. This will open another window - go to the Options tab, and double click "TCP/IP filtering". A final window opens up - make sure that the "Enable TCP/IP Filtering (all adapters)" box is unchecked.
-Remote Registry Service needs to be enabled
The Remote Registry Service needs to be enabled on the control server, and any remote server you will be using with Helm.
1.) To do this, go to:
Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Services.
2.) Scroll down until you see Remote Registry Service:
3.) Highlight it, right-click and choose Properties.
4.) In the "Startup Type" dropdown box, choose "Automatic". Then click the "Start" button. This will start the Remote Registry service and make sure it is started each time the server reboots.
5.) Make sure you repeat this process for each remote server you are controlling with Helm.
-Password Complexity
Helm generates passwords for the user accounts it creates (including FTP and FrontPage). This can conflict with the way Windows password complexity works. In order for Helm to successfully create domains, it is necessary for the Windows minimum password length to be set to zero.
1.) To do this, in Windows, go to:
Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy > Account Policies > Password Policies
2.) You can double click an option in the right hand pane to change it.
-Active Server Pages (ASP) - Windows 2003
On a default install of Windows 2003, Active Server Pages are prohibited in IIS. Helm needs ASP to be enabled, as it uses ASP to run. Open IIS and in the left hand pane click Web Service Extensions.
-Required Software
You will need the following installed on your server in order to start offering basic services with Helm:
IIS (Internet Information Services - a Windows component)
FTP Server - 2 supported:
o Serv-U FTP
o Microsoft FTP
o Gene6 FTP
Mail Server - 4 supported:
o Merak Mail
o IMail (version 6, 7 and 8)
o MailEnable
o SmarterMail
o hMailServer
o MDaemon
DNS Server - 2 supported:
o Simple DNS
o Microsoft DNS
Installation
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In order to run Helm 4, you need to install the .NET 2.0 Framework. This is a framework which is downloadable from the Microsoft site.
You can download .NET 2.0 Framework from the below URL.
http://download.webhostautomation.net/MicrosoftDotNet2/dotnetfx.exe
Once downloaded, double click the executable to install the Framework.
1) If you haven't already done so, download the Helm installer from here:
http://helm.download.webhostautomation.net
2.) Double-click the install file you downloaded. Read and accept the license agreement, then fill in your name and your company name, then enter your license key. Your license key will have been sent to you when you either signed up for a trial account, or purchased a full license.
* Next step
Helm Control Server with MSDE:
Choosing this option will install Helm with MSDE (a cut-down version of SQL Server). If you do not have SQL Server on your machine, this is the option you should choose.
Helm Control Server:
Choosing this option will install just Helm on your server, with no database server. If you have SQL Server installed on your server, you should choose this option as Helm can then put your database into SQL Server. Alternatively, if you installed MSDE already and already have a Helm database, then there is no need to install MSDE again, so choose this option and in the next screen choose the Helm database you already have set up there.
Helm Remote Server:
If you just want to install the Remote Installer tool to allow Helm to manage a remote server, you should choose this option.
If you choose: Helm Control Server, then go on to Next step:
In the Server Name field, you will see the server that your Helm database is believed to be on. If this is incorrect, you can click the button and select the correct location of the Helm database.
If you are using SQL Server on a different machine than Helm to host the database, then you will need to provide SQL User Authentication details (the SA username and password), in order to connect to this remote machine.
NOTE :: Do NOT install old Helm updates on top of new ones. Doing so could corrupt your entire database, and may mean you having to drop that database and all data and recreating it from scratch. If you have errors, contact your support provider - do not overwrite new updates with old.
FEATURES
*Helm gives you the ability to send out messages via its internal messaging system to your customers.
*If you need to change your details for any reason, you can do this at the Administrator Main Menu as well. Simply click "Personal Details"
*Helm gives you the ability to generate reports for reseller, customer and domain bandwidth, and customer, reseller and domain bandwidth, and also export these reports to Microsoft Excel. There is also the ability to see "Who's On" currently
*Helm splits the way it offers services into two formats: plans and packages.
A "plan" is a template, a way of creating a number of settings that can be bundled and offered to resellers. Each customer has an instance of that plan, which is called a "package". Packages can be customized for each customer, whilst any alterations to the plan will affect all resellers that have packages which use that plan.
Steps to configure
* Add Reseller Plans
* You now need to assign the resources you created earlier to this new plan.
* You now need to set the plan to use each of the relevant resources you have created
* You now need to do the same for each of the other 3 resources - FTP, DNS and Mail
* Add server
* Add Machine IP addresses
* Enter the Services details for the server (Mail, FTP, Stats, and DNS)
* Enter name servers and the IP address.
* Create a reseller
* create a domain for the reseller
* Test by Adding Email and stats.
Restore and migration tool to move and repair your sites
Details of using the Helm Repair Tool, which allows you to repair lost accounts between Helm and FTP, IIS, DNS, statistics and mail. It also lets you easily move accounts in Helm to point at new software if you have recently switched mail or FTP servers.
Intelligent Restoration
Using the Helm Restore Tool, it is now possible for administrators to recover from complete server disasters. For any of the many different types of services Helm supports, the Helm Restore Tool will rebuild and repair missing and corrupt account information.
Powerful Server Migration
The Helm Restore Tool contains powerful migration technologies that allow administrators to migrate their hosting services between different physical servers!
Total Service Migration
The Helm Restore Tool lets you easily move accounts in Helm to point at new software if you have recently switched servers for FTP, DNS, statistics and mail. For example, if you are using MailEnable and want to move all your accounts in Helm to use Smartermail, then the Helm Restore Tool can help you do just that.
STEPS TO RESTORE
Open up the Helm Restore tool. By default this is located here:
C:\Program Files\WebHost Automation\Helm\Tools\HelmRestoreTool.exe
For example: removed a domain, can be seen in helm not in IIS, repair this domain and get it added back into IIS.
From the Restore Tool, choose the option to "Restore ` [Web Service name]' " where [Web Service name] is the name of the web service to which the domain is assigned. Since in this instance you know the only domain you want to restore is called sampledomain.com you can uncheck all other domains on the web service
If you check the Update DNS box, then Helm will recreate any missing DNS entries for that service. So for a web restore, it will recreate the www and * records.
If you check the Skip Failures box, then if error occure during the migrate or restore process, then the Restore Tool will continue on to the next domain. Otherwise, the process will terminate at the domain .
Click the "Migrate/Restore" button, and you will be prompted to confirm the action you are about to take. If you are sure, choose "Yes". The Helm Restore Tool will then shut down the Helm Control Panel website in IIS (to prevent any changes being made whilst the Restore Tool is running) and then restore the domain in IIS.
The web restore is now complete. You can use the Helm Restore Tool in this way to restore web, mail, FTP, DNS, Databases and Statistics.
MIGRATION
The Helm Restore Tool gives you the ability to migrate domains between different services.
You may want to move from using one mail server to a different one. Or you may want to keep the same software, but have it installed on a different server and move some or all of your domains over to use that server.
For Example: Let us assume you want to move from using one mail server (MailEnable) to using another mail server (hMailServer), on the same machine.
The first thing you need to do in Helm is to set up the new service that you will be migrating to (if you haven't done so already). So in the above example, you'll need to set up a hMailServer service in Helm for the service you are migrating to.
From the dropdown box of the The Helm Restore Tool, scroll down to the "Mail Services" section and choose the Migrate procedure that you want.
In the above case, the option chosen is
"Migrate `Default Mail Service on SERVER'=>`hMailServer Service on SERVERNAME'”:
You will see a list of all domains currently on the old service that can be moved to a new service. If you only want to move specific domains, then only check the boxes of those particular domains.
If you check the Update DNS box, then Helm will recreate any missing DNS entries for that service. So for the mail migration, it will recreate the "mail" record in DNS for the new service, unless you have specifically chosen the option for it not to in the mail service in Helm
Click the "Migrate/Restore" button. The Helm Restore Tool will go through each domain currently using the old service, and move it over to the new service:
Once the migration is complete, you can go into Helm and delete the old service if necessary, since it is no longer associated with any domains.
The migration is now complete. You can use the above example to migrate other services between servers in the same way.
The following services can be migrated:
Web
Mail
DNS
FTP
Statistics
Databases
Just use the above example to migrate any of the above services using the Helm Restore Tool!
ADDING PRIVATE NAME SERVERS
Helm supports personal DNS for resellers. This means that a reseller can have their own name servers for their domains that are different from the default name servers and other resellers name servers.
The first thing to do is to have the name servers setup up at the domain registrar. Name servers
Will require their own IP addresses to function correctly. This IPs will need to be added to the server hosting the DNS service and you will need to ensure that the DNS server software is listening on those IPs. Often the DNS server software will listen on all IPs for the server, however, some software doesn't like this and the IPs have to be set manually.
To set up the personal name servers, log in as an administrator, go to System Settings" > "Servers", and click on the server that is hosting the DNS service.
Click on the DNS service in the server's service list. At the bottom of the DNS service editor there will be a list of name servers. There should be the "Default" name server(s) already added from when you first created the service.
Click on "Add New" to add the resellers name services. Enter in the relevant information into form and keep "Default name server" unchecked. Click Save to continue. If you have the primary and secondary DNS service on different machines, you will need to add the secondary name server to the secondary DNS service.
To complete personal DNS, go to the resellers account in Helm and click "Account Settings" under their account. Click on "Global Settings" to get a list of their general Helm settings. On this page there is a Personal DNS Mask box. In this box enter the domain name used for the resellers new name servers.
For example.
If you have set up ns1.personaldns.com and ns2.personaldns.com then enter "personaldns.com" into the DNS mask. Click Save to save the changes. Make sure that the mask and the DNS Service name use the same name, or it won't work. When ever a new domain is now created, Helm will automatically assign these name servers to the domain. You will see them in the Advanced Settings area for the domain.
Move Helm and its database to a new server
To move Helm you can simply take a back-up of your HelmDB. Then install Helm on your new server, reset your licence key via your WHA account and then restore your backed up HelmDB.
However, if the IP references have changed you will need to alter all these in Helm. If you are able to assign the same IP's to the new server this would help you as then you would just need to back up IIS, mail, and the domains files and restore these on your new server without changing the HelmDB.
There is also currently no supported back-up or restore tool to handle moving of domains or DNS zones from one server to another. There is a tool for Web, Mail and FTP which will re-create accounts from the HelmDB using the new IPs if you alter these first.
This is called HelmRestoreTool.exe and is available in the Tools subfolder of your Helm installation folder.
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