Knowledge base

This guide explains how to transfer data (Web, Mail, Domain, and even Cloud) currently hosted elsewhere to Infomaniak. You remain, of course, the owner of your data, without loss or interruption!

Specific Guides

Click on the link corresponding to your current hosting provider:

• Swisscom: complete guide to migrate Web, Mail, and domain name data

Guides for any other host

To retrieve all other data, follow the procedures below:

1. guide to migrate Web data (any PHP, HTML, etc. site - for WordPress read this guide)
   
2. guide to migrate Mail data (email addresses, mailbox content, etc.)
   
3. guide to transfer the domain name (domain management, DNS zone, etc.)
   

You can also bring over other types of data onto Infomaniak servers:

• content from Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.: read this guide
• data from Synology or QNAP NAS: read this guide

Why join Infomaniak?

By consolidating your domain names, websites, and email addresses with Infomaniak, you simplify the management of your invoices and services. Moreover, the linking of your domains will be done automatically with your site and email address. You will not need to manually configure the DNS of your domains with another registrar.

Learn more about Infomaniak

• Infomaniak, the Ethical Cloud
• Infomaniak's eco-responsible approach

This guide explains how to replace the main domain name associated with a Website hosted on Infomaniak if you want to, for example, change your business name or correct the spelling.

Introduction

• It is not possible to simply change the spelling of the domain name concerned.
• You need to have the new domain name and install it in place of the current one by performing a swap (see below).
• You can also rename your Web Hosting product in the Infomaniak Manager, but changing the name of a hosting product has no impact on the site URLs.
• You need to act on the domain name and, if necessary, adjust the site content.

Change the Website's Domain Name

To replace the domain name assigned to the site with another domain name:

1. Prepare the new domain name (if necessary, you need to purchase it)
   1. If the change you are seeking is more of a "subdomain" to "main domain" (e.g., dev.domain.xyz → domain.xyz), then read this guide
2. Log in to the Infomaniak Manager (manager.infomaniak.com) using a web browser like Brave or Firefox.
3. Click on the ‍ icon at the top right of the interface (or navigate using the left sidebar menu, for example).
4. Select Hosting (in the Web & Domain section).
5. Click directly on the name of the relevant item in the displayed table
   
6. Click on the relevant site (in the Sites section)
   
7. Read the guide to add the new domain as an alias to your site (be sure to read the prerequisites)
   

It is this alias that will replace the current main domain name after the swap you will perform. So once the alias domain is added to your site, still in the same place in the Manager (in the Sites section):

1. Click on the action menu ⋮ to the right of the alias intended to become the main domain (in the Domains section).
2. Select Set as main domain
   
3. If necessary, remove the old domain name and its variants that have become alias domains.

If you are using a SSL certificate, you will need to update it to include the added aliases.

If you are using the dedicated IP option, you need to uninstall and reinstall it after the swap you will perform.

Adapt the Site Content to the New Name

In some cases, the web application used for the site development may require some adjustments to work with the new domain name. Click on the link corresponding to the development of your site to adapt the content:

• WordPress
• Joomla
• Prestashop
• application provided in WordPress & Apps

This guide explains how to redirect a domain name directly to another or how to automatically send visitors from your website to another page address (internal or external URL).

You will need to take action either on the domain name itself (it must be hosted by Infomaniak, and its DNS must also be those of Infomaniak), or on the code present in your pages (htaccess page, homepage, etc.) if you have a website.

Acting on the Domain Name

via Web Redirection Tool

The tool available in the Manager allows you to easily act on the domain name (or subdomain) to redirect it to the Internet address of your choice.

via DNS changes or A record

Change the DNS of the domain name or modify its A/AAAA records to direct web traffic to another provider.

Acting on the Code of the Pages

via HTML code to insert

Insert this line of code between the <head> and </head> tags of your homepage (usually named index.html):

Replace 5 with the desired waiting time in seconds (0 for an immediate effect).

Google search engine suggests using a server-side 301 redirect (see below). The W3C also advises against using it.

via PHP code to insert

If the site page has a .php extension, insert this function call at the top of the file:

via .htaccess file

To redirect all traffic to your site (regardless of the called page) to another address, insert this in the .htaccess file at the root of your site:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ INSERT-HERE-NEW-URL/$1 [R=301]

To target the page that needs to be redirected:

Redirect permanent /old_page.html insert destination URL here

Redirectpermanent, Redirect permanent, and Redirect 301 are equivalent commands.

Here is another example of redirecting a subpart to the homepage (this directive works with "deep links" unlike a permanent redirect):

RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule "old/path/url "/" [L]

This guide explains how to restore backups of previous versions of your files and other web data from your Infomaniak hosting, and how to set up an effective backup policy if the backups provided automatically and for free no longer meet your availability or security needs.

Web Hosting (Starter, Shared, Cloud Server)

Guides to restore automatic backups:

• of an entire hosting (FTP + MySQL)
• of specific files on hosting
• of specific databases
• of a Web Application (Wordpress & Apps)
• of SSH crons of Cloud Server

Also read these guides to backup and restore:

• hosting with Swiss Backup and Acronis (simple)
• hosting with Swiss Backup and Restic (advanced)
• WordPress with Swiss Backup
• WordPress with an extension

Also read https://faq.infomaniak.com/snapshot

v1 Hosting (old 60 GB offer)

• view and/or download the automatic backup (versioning) of your data on your FTP space under /backups and /backup_mysql at the root of the domain (above /web)
• restore this data

Messaging

• restore messages from Infomaniak's automatic backups
• restore contacts or calendar events
• backup the current content of an email account:
  • by downloading the current content locally
  • by duplicating all current content to a backup mailbox
  • by copying future emails as they arrive to a backup mailbox

Domain

• restore deleted DNS records from Infomaniak's automatic backups
• restore an expired domain in redemption period

This guide explains how to optimize the website you manage on a Web Hosting to make it faster and allow all visitors to navigate it from the Internet effortlessly, regardless of their connection speed. 

The Role of the Host

1. Your hosting server has been functioning normally without issues in the last 48 hours.
2. The network infrastructure has not experienced disruptions in the last 48 hours.

The Role of the Site Owner and Webmaster

Infomaniak does not intervene in server content or website development. Creating or maintaining a site is a different profession, although it is related to its activities since tools and services are provided that a webmaster uses to create websites.

Identifying the Cause of Slowness

Here's what you should do if you notice slowness with your site:

1. Follow Google's recommendations PageSpeed Insights to optimize your website. These recommendations relate to the website's design rather than server configuration; read this (click here) if the test result prompts you to enable resource compression on your site
   
2. If experiencing slowness from abroad, consider enabling DNS Fast Anycast
3. Install and configure a caching system on your site to avoid redundant database accesses and speed up your site's display
   
4. Consider a CDN
   
5. Test the server's response speed (TTFB)
   
6. Scan your hosting for viruses
   
7. Regularly purge databases and remove unnecessary entries
   
8. Use the latest version of PHP compatible with your site/CMS/Web application
   
9. Avoid using images, counters, CGI, or media hosted on external providers, as if they become unreachable, your site may appear slow
10. Disable unnecessary extensions consuming a lot of resources in your CMS
11. Regularly update CMS/Web applications
12. Implement a crawl delay for indexing bots, as some have a very "aggressive" operation; you can limit their impact by setting up a Crawl-delay
13. Check any error logs that consolidate all errors generated by your site; correcting these errors will improve your site's performance
    
14. Check any slow logs: they group queries that take more than 5 seconds to execute; it's important to correct the queries listed in this file (SQL optimization examples)
15. Add a server cache system (Cloud server only)
16. Increase the max_children value (Cloud server only)

If the Problem Persists...

As a site owner, if you are a webmaster or have hired a webmaster who also cannot identify the source of slowness, contact Infomaniak support in writing only after obtaining the following information:

1. Hosted site name
2. Dates and times of slowness experienced
3. Name of the possibly affected database / FTP account
4. Your public IP address at the time of tests (visible, for example, on https://www.infomaniak.com/ip)
5. Type of observed slowness (site display, FTP transfers...)
6. Issues (e.g., slowness) accessing the Infomaniak site intermittently?
7. Result of a traceroute to 84.16.66.66 and copy/paste the complete results (screenshot if necessary)
8. Result of a speed test by choosing Infomaniak as the destination (http://www.speedtest.net/ — click on Change Server to select Infomaniak)

If Your Needs Expand...

If shared hosting is no longer suitable for your site, consider migrating to a Cloud Server. Your site can be easily moved to this type of server, where it will be alone, and you can install a caching engine, for example.

Thank you for entrusting Infomaniak with the hosting of your website.

Introduction

• A web hosting service provides storage space on a computer, also known as a "server," connected to the Internet and managed by a web hosting provider, Infomaniak
• This storage space, available to both professionals and individuals, is used to install websites or other types of tools (CRM, extranet, intranet, etc.) that need to be accessible via the Internet
• These guides will help you quickly use the essential functions of your new product, your web hosting, which can host multiple websites.

Where to start?

1. Create a WordPress website
2. Build the site with Site Creator
3. Install a web application (ownCloud, Joomla, Typo3, Drupal, phpBB, Simple Machines Forum, Magento, Prestashop, …)
4. Manage your FTP accounts/users
5. Manage and publish files on your hosting via our FTP Manager
6. Manage your MySQL databases
7. Add a site or subdomain to your hosting (multisites/multi domains)
8. Link another domain name to an existing website (domain alias)
9. Preview your site even if your domain name does not yet point to Infomaniak's servers

And the domain name?

A web hosting service, to be visible to the public on the Internet, must be associated with a domain name!

Your domain name is not managed by Infomaniak? Or it is in a different Organization than your web hosting? Then follow this guide to configure the DNS or "A records" to link the domain name to your web hosting.

I did not find the answer to my question

If you have any issues, please consult the Web Hosting Knowledge Base before contacting Infomaniak support.

Click here to share feedback or suggestions about an Infomaniak product.

This guide explains what the protocols and ports that can be used with Infomaniak's email services (Mail Service in particular).

Prerequisites

It is imperative to use only the server name mail.infomaniak.com when prompted during the configuration of any email software or application, for the incoming and outgoing mail settings.

If you specify another server name, mail errors may occur.

Recommended Ports

It is recommended to use only the following protocols and port numbers when prompted during the configuration of any email software or application:

• port 993 (secure port for receiving messages via IMAPs - incoming mail)
• port 465 (secure port for sending messages via SMTPs - outgoing mail)

It is imperative to enable SSL/TLS authentication when prompted during the configuration of any email software or application, for the incoming and outgoing mail settings.

Without authentication enabled, mail errors may occur.

Other Supported Protocols

• port 143 (standard port for receiving messages via IMAP)
• port 110 (standard port for receiving messages via POP3)
• port 995 (secure port for receiving messages via POP3s)
• port 587 (non-recommended alternative port for sending messages via SMTP)
• TLS authentication on SMTP ports 587 and 25 (not recommended)
• STARTTLS authentication for IMAP, POP3, and SMTP
• SMTP authentication (either LOGIN or PLAIN)

The Infomaniak API does not provide any email connection as IMAP and SMTP are the "APIs"; for this purpose, use a Python library like https://docs.python.org/3/library/email.examples.html and https://docs.python.org/3/library/imaplib.html or any library using IMAP and SMTP.

To display emails from PHP:
imap_open("{mail.infomaniak.com:993/imap/ssl}", $email, $password);

This guide explains how to transfer an Infomaniak product from one organization to another.

This allows you to move any product subscribed to Infomaniak to a different Infomaniak Manager interface than the current one where the product resides. Therefore, it is an internal transfer.

Moreover, if your user has access to multiple organizations, it is very easy to send the product of your choice to one of these organizations.

Prerequisites

• You must have a user account with the role Administrator or Legal Representative within the organization

Generate a transfer link

To transfer a product:

1. Login to Manager Infomaniak (manager.infomaniak.com) from a web browser like Brave or Firefox on the organization that contains the product(s) to transfer
2. Open this page in the Manager (or click on Product Transfer in the left sidebar)
3. Click on the Transfer Products button
   
4. Check the product(s) to move
5. Read and accept the Terms and Conditions
6. Click on the Transfer button

The transfer has begun. Now you can choose:

1. Copy the transfer link
2. Send the link to the email address of your choice
3. Complete the transfer by selecting one of the organizations your user is linked to, and the selected product will be transferred there
   

Alternative method

In the case of individual transfers, you can also go directly to the dashboard of the respective product and click on Manage (as shown in the image below), although this menu is not available everywhere (e.g., in Newsletters). Therefore, it is advisable to prioritize the first method described above, which also allows batch transfer.

For Jelastic Cloud, refer to this guide (click here).

Receive the product

Once the transfer has started:

1. Login to Manager Infomaniak (manager.infomaniak.com) from a web browser like Brave or Firefox on the organization that needs to receive the product(s) (user must have administrative rights)
2. Execute the link obtained in the first step mentioned above
3. If necessary, select the destination organization from the dropdown menu
4. Read and accept the Terms and Conditions
5. Click on the Receive products button (if the button is not clickable, ensure the correct organization is selected)

You can find any ongoing transfer at any time in the left sidebar menu of Manager Infomaniak:

DNS Fast Anycast replicates the DNS of your domain worldwide and accelerates access to your site by an average of 34%. The option can be activated with a single click and does not require any modification to your code.

What is DNS Fast Anycast

Thanks to DNS Fast Anycast, the DNS of your domain is replicated in over 20 points of presence worldwide. Wherever your visitors are located, they are redirected to the nearest DNS server, which speeds up access to your site by an average of 34% (DNS resolution). Furthermore, if one of your DNS servers were to become unavailable, the nearest server naturally takes over, allowing your visitors to continue accessing your site.

In summary, DNS Fast Anycast reduces latency and increases the availability of your websites without requiring any modifications to your code.

Prerequisites

• All you need is a domain name managed by Infomaniak. It is easy to transfer the management of your domain to Infomaniak if necessary.
• DNS Fast Anycast is compatible with all internet sites, regardless of your web host.
• The replication of your domain's DNS is automatic, and no modifications to your code are required.

Activate DNS Fast Anycast

To access DNS Fast Anycast:

1. Log in to the Infomaniak Manager (manager.infomaniak.com) using a web browser such as Brave or Firefox.
2. Click on the icon in the top right of the interface (or navigate using the left side menu, for example).
3. Select Domains (universe Web & Domain).
4. Click directly on the name of the item in the table that appears.
5. Enable DNS Fast Anycast from the dashboard.

Thank you for entrusting the hosting of your WordPress site to Infomaniak.

Preamble

As a reminder, the WordPress site creation tool can be:

1. hosted by the WordPress.com infrastructure (paid) and in this case, Infomaniak is not involved in hosting
2. freely and manually installed by the user using the archive provided by WordPress.org, in which case Infomaniak is the web host but does not manage any updates and does not list the application in the WordPress & Apps section of the Infomaniak Manager; this is the case if you migrate an external WordPress to Infomaniak
3. automatically installed by the tool available on the Manager, and in this case, WordPress is largely maintained (in terms of security) by Infomaniak

This third and final point is developed in this guide.

Install WordPress & Apps

Infomaniak makes installing the WordPress application (and other applications as well) easy:

• install WordPress through the Infomaniak installer
• access the WordPress management interface

Using WordPress

Although WordPress is one of the simplest CMSs to use, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with it. To assist you in this process, here are external resources in several different languages to get started with WordPress:

• Essential basics to know to get started with WordPress
• French-speaking WordPress community support forum
• FAQ about backups/restorations
• Using an ElegantThemes theme or extension
• Free WordPress training provided by the site progresser-en-informatique.com. If you want to get to the essentials, focus on the following modules:
  • understanding the administration interface
  • how to configure WordPress properly
  • adding content to your website