Getting started with StackRegent after installation

Before you begin#

You need the panel address, the admin login and the password the installer printed at the end of the installation. The panel answers on https://SERVER-IP:9443/; until it has a trusted certificate, the browser warns about the self-signed one, so accept it for now. If you lost the password, run & "C:\Program Files\StackRegent\bin\stackregent.exe" admin-password on the server to set a new one.

Plan on about an hour. Several steps start background tasks (installing a component, issuing a certificate); you can follow them in the Task Manager, the icon in the top bar, while you carry on with the next step.

Getting started: the first hour, step by step#

Step 1: Check the license#

Go to Tools & Settings › License Information. The State should read Licensed, with your edition and the number of subscriptions it allows. If you did not pass -LicenseKey to the installer, click Enter key, type the SR- key from your welcome email and click Save and check.

Until a key is accepted, the panel is restricted: you can open only this page. Websites and mail are not affected, but you cannot create accounts. Activate your license covers the details.

Step 2: Secure your own login#

Under My Profile › Change Password, replace the generated password with one from your password manager. Then open My Profile › Profile & Preferences, check that Email address is one you read (alerts and update notices go to it), click Set up under Two-factor authentication, scan the QR code with an authenticator app and confirm with a code.

Step 3: Set the host name and the clock#

Open Tools & Settings › Server Settings and enter the Full host name, for example server1.example.com. Mail, links and the panel certificate use it, so create its A record in DNS now. Then open Tools & Settings › System Time, choose the Time zone and keep Set the clock from time servers (NTP) ticked. Certificates, scheduled tasks and the daily license check all depend on an accurate clock.

Step 4: Give the panel a trusted certificate#

When the host name resolves to the server, go to Tools & Settings › SSL/TLS Certificates, enter it as Panel host name, click Save and then Secure the panel with Let's Encrypt. Port 80 must be reachable from the internet for the validation. Reload the panel at https://server1.example.com:9443/ and the browser warning is gone. On the same page, set Certificates of mail and FTP to Same as the panel so mail clients and FTPS see the same trusted certificate.

Step 5: Review the IP addresses#

Tools & Settings › IP Addresses lists the addresses websites can use. If the server has more than one, decide which is the default shared address: click Edit, set Type to Shared and tick Use for new subscriptions by default. Addresses for customers who need their own go to Dedicated. If you added an address to the network adapter after installation, click Reread IP first.

Step 6: Add the components you need#

The installer set up the recommended set: URL Rewrite, DNS, FTP, Web Deploy, PHP, MailEnable, Roundcube, MariaDB and phpMyAdmin. Open Tools & Settings › Server Components and click Check for new versions. Add what your customers run, for example:

• Microsoft SQL Server Express for ASP.NET sites with SQL Server databases,
• ASP.NET Core Hosting Bundle in the versions your applications target,
• Node.js with iisnode, Git for Windows, Composer and WP-CLI for developer tools,
• ModSecurity for IIS with OWASP Core Rule Set for the web application firewall.

Each install runs as a task and checks the download against a published checksum or a Microsoft signature first. To add another PHP version, use Tools & Settings › PHP Settings (step by step).

Step 7: Create your first service plan#

Go to Hosting Services › Service Plans and click Add a Plan. Give it a name your customers will recognize, then work through the tabs: disk space, traffic and counts on Resources, what customers may change on Permissions, the PHP version on PHP Settings, and CPU, memory and process limits on Performance. On Additional Services, tick Keep websites secured with free SSL/TLS certificates so every new domain gets a Let's Encrypt certificate by itself. Backup permissions start off on new plans; switch them on under Permissions if customers may make their own backups. Create a service plan explains each tab.

Step 8: Add a customer and a subscription#

Go to Hosting Services › Customers, click Add Customer, fill in the contact name, a login and a password, and leave Create a subscription for the customer ticked. Enter the domain, choose the plan and the IP address, and click Add Customer. The subscription is set up in the background: an IIS site, an application pool and a Windows user of its own. Add a customer and subscription has the details, including what to do when setup fails.

To see the result through your customer's eyes, open the customer and click Log in as customer.

Step 9: Decide how DNS is served#

The server runs Microsoft DNS with recursion off, so it answers only for the zones it hosts. Each new domain gets a zone from the template under Tools & Settings › DNS Settings › Zone Records Template. Review the template before you add many domains: it contains ns1 and ns2 records, an MX record, an SPF record and a DMARC record. If your name servers have other names, change the NS rows now.

For the zones to be used, the registrar of each domain must list your name servers. If you run a second name server, add its address under Transfer Restrictions so it can copy the zones. Customers who keep DNS elsewhere only need A records pointing at the server.

Step 10: Make mail deliverable#

Open Tools & Settings › Mail Server Settings and set the Mail host name. Ask your provider to set the reverse DNS (PTR) of the server's IP address to the same name; many receiving servers reject mail without it. On Tools & Settings › Smarthost, click Check now under Check mail delivery: if outgoing port 25 is blocked, set up a smarthost there. Then set Tools & Settings › External SMTP Server and send a test message, so password resets and notifications reach you. Set up DKIM, SPF and DMARC covers signing.

Step 11: Schedule backups off the server#

In Tools & Settings › Backup Manager, click Remote Storage and connect an FTP, SFTP or S3-compatible target with Test and Save. Then click Schedule, tick Back up on a schedule, choose the time, set Store on to include remote storage and protect the backups with a password, which makes them restorable on another server. Keep that password outside the server. Set up remote backups has the full walkthrough.

Step 12: Choose how updates arrive#

Open Tools & Settings › Update Settings. Leave Email me when a new release is available ticked, and decide whether to tick Install new releases at night. Automatic updates suit a single server; if you run several, you may prefer to update one first and the rest a day later. Updating StackRegent explains signed releases and what to do if an update fails.

After the first hour#

• Open Tools & Settings › Advisor and work through what it lists; most items have a Fix button.
• Turn on alerts under Server Management › Monitoring, on the Alerts tab, so you hear about full disks and stopped services.
• Go through the security checklist.
• Set your Branding and check that Tools & Settings › Interface Management › View is Service Provider if you sell hosting.

The administrator guide covers every page mentioned here in full.