The “Site” command allows us to manage the websites hosted on the server. Create any type of site on your new server, add an SSL certificate, activate FastCgi Cache for your WordPress installation and more features that will allow you to have total control over your sites easily and reliably, always at a command away and with no complications.
Syntax:
sudo site <domain> <option> <option2>
Options:
- -cache
- -clone-from
- -delete
- -delete-all
- -force-redirect
- -forward
- –
html - -info
- -list
- -multisite-convert
- –
mysql - -on
- -off
- -parked
- –
php - -proxy
- -redirection
- –
ssl - -wp
- –
yoast -sitemap
Examples:
# Create PHP site
sudo site example.com -php
# Create WP site with cache enabled
sudo site example.com -wp -cache=on
# Disable cache
sudo site example.com -cache=off
# SSL Cert
sudo site example.com -ssl=on
# List of your sites
sudo site -list
# Clone a WP site
sudo site example.com -clone-from=staging.example.com
# Page redirect
sudo site example.com -redirectionCreate a new site
Create a new website of any type: HTML, PHP, WordPress, Reverse Proxy, etc.
To create a basic HTML site, use the following command:
sudo site example.com -html
To create a site with PHP support.
sudo site example.com -php
All sites using the primary/main domain (not a subdomain) are configured to respond to requests from example.com and www.example.com (See the force-redirect option).
To create a PHP site in conjunction with a database:
sudo site example.com -mysql
The data to connect to the database will be displayed after executing the command.
You can also use the “custom” option to introduce your own data before generating the database sudo site example.com -mysql=custom or in the same way you can pass the data directly.
# TIP Hack
# Use the -mysql option without domain to create a DB and User (MySQL)
sudo site -mysql
# Custom data
sudo site -mysql=custom
# Custom data
sudo site -mysql=[host,dbname,dbuser,password]
sudo site -mysql=[host,dbname,dbuser,password,external_dbuser,external_dbpass]
# TIP
Use "random" (without quotes) as password to automatically generate a random password.WordPress
Installing WordPress has never been so easy, Webinoly automatically configures the entire installation.
sudo site example.com -wp
Use the “custom” option to modify some aspects of the database, in any way you can simply press <Enter> in each question to use the suggested data.
# Installation script of a WordPress site using the "custom" configuration
sudo site example.com -wp=custom -cache=onIn the same way, you can pass the data directly from command line.
# WordPress installation script with custom data.
sudo site example.com -wp=[<setup_db>,<setup_wp>,<host>,<dbname>,<dbuser>,<dbpass>,<wp_prefix>,<external_db_user>,<external_db_pass>]
# Example:
sudo site example.com -wp=[true,true,localhost,example_com,example_user,password,wp_]
# TIP
Use "random" (without quotes) as password to automatically generate a random password.
External Database
Webinoly supports the use of external databases for your WordPress site, for example Amazon RDS. It is very simple to configure, during the “custom” installation of your site you will be asked for the “dbhost”, by default it is configured as localhost, but in case of requiring the use of an external database you only have to add the path in the format example.com:port.
- myinstance.123456789012.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com:3306
You can even save the data from your external database: sudo webinoly -external-db-save=[user,pass,host:port] and this way Webinoly will use it always by default (as if it were localhost).
* It is important to consider that the url should not contain the schema (http/https) at the beginning, in addition Webinoly does not support the use of “sockets” to connect to the external database and it should be taken into account that a poor design or implementation in the architecture of this kind of solutions can have a negative impact on the speed of your site, high latency or even multiple connection errors and timeouts.
** It has been successfully tested with Amazon RDS using MySQL, MariaDB and Amazon Aurora as the database engine.
WordPress Multisite
Converting your WordPress site to Multisite has never been so easy.
sudo site example.com -multisite-convert
It will ask and you should go to “Tools -> Network Setup” to select the type of installation (subdomain or subdirectory); Webinoly will do all the configuration automatically once you have selected the type of Multisite you want.
* If your site has been installed with -subfolder
FastCGI Cache
Together with Nginx this is the best optimization you can do to speed up your WordPress site. Forget about using obsolete plugins like W3 Total Cache, Super Cache or WP Rocket. FastCGI has demonstrated a performance far superior to the time to serve content cached from your server.
To enable/disable (on/off) FastCGI:
sudo site example.com -cache=on
You can also activate it from the creation of your new site as follows:
sudo site example.com -wp -cache=on
You can use the -wp-cache-plugins parameter to skip the question for suggested plugins installation: sudo site example.com -cache=on -wp-cache-plugins=on.
Nginx Helper Plugin
It is highly recommended to use the Nginx Helper plugin to dynamically renew and purge cached content automatically; in this way we ensure to always display the most updated content when necessary.
It is important to configure the Purge Method of the plugin as “Delete local server cache file”, the support for the purge/url method has been disabled because it is considered a security risk. Similarly, the “Caching Method” should be set to “Nginx FastCgi Cache”.
To modify the global configuration of NGINX & FastCGI Cache read the documentation.
Cloning a WordPress site
You can clone any WordPress site.
This feature is also known as “staging sites” due to its usefulness during the development stage.
sudo site example.com -clone-from=dev.example.com
Every link in your content will be updated automatically, you can disable this option as follows:
sudo site example.com -clone-from=dev.example.com -replace-content=off
Any of these features – if present -, it will not be inherited to the cloned site: SSL cert, force-redirect, default-site or tools-site settings, any custom Nginx file.
To clone and overwrite an existing site you can use the -overwrite=on parameter. Also, you can set or change the WP Environment Type of the cloned site using the -env=staging parameter.
Replace Content
The replace-content option can be used alone in any other WordPress site to search and replace any word or string in your content.
sudo site example.com -replace-content
# To skip questions
sudo site example.com -replace-content=[search-this,replace-with]In case your WP site – to clone or replace content – is connected to an external database, it will be necessary to enter the username and password. To skip these questions you can use the -external-db=[user,pass] option.
WordPress Environment Type
Set the WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE variable in WordPress:
- production
- staging
- development
- local
sudo site example.com -env=staging
In staging, development and local the FastCGI Cache will be disabled automatically. Also, the option “Discourage Search Engines from indexing this site” from WordPress “Settings > Reading” will be enabled automatically.
In development and local the WordPress “debug” mode will be enabled automatically. And will be disabled when changed to “staging” or “production”.
# Examples:
# Keep cache enabled
sudo site example.com -env=staging -cache=on
# Create a new WordPress site
sudo site example.com -env=development -wp
# The new cloned site will be set as "staging"
sudo site example.com -env=staging -clone-from=sub.example.com -overwrite=onConfigurable Subfolders
One of the most powerful tools for configuring your sites on your server is the ability to independently configure each subdirectory of a particular site.
sudo site example.com -html -subfolder=/one
sudo site example.com -php -subfolder=/two
sudo site example.com -wp -subfolder=/three
sudo site example.com -proxy -subfolder=/four
# Delete a subfolder site
sudo site example.com -delete -subfolder=/xxxIt is even optional to have a site at the root of the domain, that is, it is possible to have only support in the subdirectories configured in any combination of configurations that you need.
# Example with subfolders and empty root
+ example.com <empty>
- /blog <wp>
- /downloads <proxy>
- /tickets <php>
# Another example with static site in root
+ example.com <html>
- /news <wp>
- /clients <php>Install WordPress in a subdirectory
You can have more than one WordPress installations under the same domain.
sudo site example.com -wp -subfolder=/test
You should always specify the -subfolder argument to refer to this site and thus differentiate it from a common installation at the root of the domain.
sudo site example.com -delete -subfolder=/test
sudo site example.com -cache=on -subfolder=/test
sudo site example.com -yoast-sitemap=on -subfolder=/test
sudo site example.com -multisite-convert -subfolder=/test
sudo site example.com -clone-from=dev.example.com -subfolder=/test
sudo site example.com -replace-content -subfolder=/test
sudo site example.com -env=staging -subfolder=/test
sudo httpauth example.com -wp-admin=on -subfolder=/test
sudo httpauth example.com -path=/one/folder/ -subfolder=/one
sudo log example.com -wp=on -subfolder=/testTEMPORARY ISSUE – Reverse Proxy sites and subfolders are limited due to a recent issue we found. Reverse Proxy sites can only contain Reverse Proxy subfolders, and Reverse Proxy subfolder can only be used in Reverse Proxy sites. This will be fixed soon!
Parked domain or alias
A parked domain is an additional or alternate domain that points to a main site. It is a simple way to access your site from different domain names.
sudo site example.com -parked
When executing the command you will be asked to enter the name of the main domain where the new parked domain will point to. In the same way you can use the command as follows to facilitate its use:
sudo site example.com -parked=mainsite.com
Make sure the main site is hosted on the same server.
Domain forwarding
All requests to this domain will be redirected or forwarded to another domain.
sudo site example.com -forward=example.org
All the request parameters are passed to the new domain. If you want to remove these parameters and force a redirection to a single site you can use the -root=on option.
# sudo site example.com -forward=https://example.org
example.com/news --> example.org/news
# sudo site example.com -forward=https://example.org -root=on
example.com/news --> example.orgReverse Proxy site
To create a site with Reverse Proxy configuration in Nginx:
sudo site example.com -proxy=[localhost:8080]
# Examples:
sudo site example.com -proxy=[127.0.0.1:8080]
sudo site example.com -proxy=[https://example.com]
sudo site example.com -proxy=[http://example.com:8080]Management Tools
Some very useful commands to manage your sites.
How can I temporarily disable a site?
At any time you can activate or deactivate a site hosted on your server without deleting it.
sudo site example.com -on
sudo site example.com -off
Delete a website
You should use this option with caution, as once a site is deleted it will not be possible to recover the files.
sudo site example.com -delete
You can also use the “force” option to omit the questions (unattended) sudo site example.com -delete=force.
# Tip - External Database (Unattended Script)
# Do not erase Database
sudo site example.com -delete=keep-db
# Unattended delete with external DB
sudo site example.com -delete=force -external-db=[user,pass]
# Revoke SSL Cert
sudo site example.com -delete=force -revoke=onTo remove all sites hosted on your server:
sudo site -delete-all
The databases of your WordPress sites that are currently in use will also be deleted. Some other DB’s may not be deleted, so there may be remanent stored data from your deleted sites.
# Extended example
sudo site -delete-all=force -external-db=[user,pass] -revoke=on
# Keep databases
sudo site -delete-all=keep-dbWhen a site is deleted, if an external database is found, an attempt will be made to use the data from -external-db , if they are not found, the user will be asked to enter the necessary data. The -revoke=on parameter will remove and revoke the SSL Cert of a site if found, use the “off” option to keep the SSL cert.
When a site is set as default-site or tools-site cannot be deleted. When force or -delete-all is used then these sites are forced to be deleted and each option is set as default to prevent errors.
Site Info
Display a list of information about your site.
sudo site example.com -info
List of your sites
To see a list of all your sites hosted on the server, use the following command:
sudo site -list
You will also see some information of each site:
- Site Type: WordPress, HTML, PHP, Parked, Proxy, Forward.
- Assignation: If site is set as “Default” or to access Webinoly “Tools”.
- Alerts: NoSSL, AccessLog, NoCache, NoAdminAuth, Debug.
# Filtered list
sudo site -list=nosslFilter options: disabled, main, html, php, wordpress, parked, proxy, forward, tools, default, ssl, nossl, accesslog, noaccesslog, cache, nocache, adminauth, noadminauth, debug, nodebug.
Also, the -raw parameter is supported to remove format.
Settings and Customizations
Configure your sites according to your needs.
Force WWW or non-WWW in a site
By default, Webinoly configures your site to accept both requests in your domain, that is, example.com and www.example.com will be both valid. You can force the use and redirect the requests to any of your preferences.
sudo site example.com -force-redirect=<options>
Options:
- www
- root
- off
In some special cases where an SSL certificate has been imported from another provider and this does not include the “www” domain or vice versa, we can use the -ignore-ssl option as follows: sudo site example.com -force-redirect=root -ignore-ssl.
Yoast Sitemap
Support for the sitemap included in the Yoast SEO plugin.
sudo site example.com -yoast -sitemap=on
Currently it is no longer necessary to use this function, nor any additional configuration to support the sitemap. This feature will be removed from Webinoly very soon.
SSL Certificates with Let’s Encrypt
We take advantage of the facilities provided by Let’s Encrypt to generate free certificates for your site and make it even easier to configure your site easily and quickly.
There is no pretext for not migrating your site to HTTPS, just by executing the following command your new website will be fully configured to navigate securely over HTTPS.
sudo site example.com -ssl=on
During the creation of the certificate, Webinoly will ask for your email account, this email will be used to register the new certificate, in addition to helping you to follow up the periodic renewal process.
If you prefer, you can save your email address: sudo webinoly -email=user@example.com to skip questions during the cert request.
* On existing servers this command will update the registered email in Let’s Encrypt.
** Ubuntu internal root email will be forwarded to this email address.
The certificates issued by Let’s Encrypt are valid for a period of 90 days and before that period it is recommended to request the renewal to keep it up to date. Webinoly automatically checks once a week the status of the certificates of all your sites and those that have less than 30 days of validity period is automatically requested for its renewal. Therefore, you should not worry, since Webinoly automatically completes the process to keep your certificates and your sites always in force.
During each weekly renewal check, you will receive an email in the account that you have registered with the current status of each certificate.
Once activated the SSL certificate, Webinoly will automatically configure Nginx to redirect all the traffic from your site from HTTP to HTTPS.
Disable SSL on a site
If for some reason you need to deactivate the use of the SSL certificate in your site, just execute the following command.
sudo site example.com -ssl=off
# Use the "revoke=(on/off)" option to skip questions. (Unattended)
sudo site example.com -ssl=off -revoke=onThe -ssl=off option can be used even if your site doesn’t even exist anymore as a way to remove and revoke an orphan SSL cert.
Certificates in parked sites
The “-root” option allows you to create certificates for sites where the root of your files is in a different place than usual; this is the case of parked sites, since the parked domain does not even have a root directory or own files, however, it points to another site hosted on the same server.
sudo site example.com -ssl=on -root=mainsite.com
A common and practical example of the above case is in WordPress Multisite installations with Domain Mapping, where you have one or more parked (mapped) domains on your server pointing to a main site.
Certificates on Reverse Proxy sites
The “-root-path” option allows us to specify a different route, as is the case of sites in Reverse Proxy configuration where the files are stored in a location different than /var/www.
sudo site example.com -ssl=on -root-path=/opt/myapp/web
Only for apps hosted on the same server.
Wildcard Certificates
When we need a single certificate to cover all subdomains (* .example.com). This is the kind of certificate we need in WordPress Multisite installations in sub-domain configuration.
sudo site example.com -ssl=on -wildcard
During the creation of the Wildcard certificate, it will be necessary to create a DNS record to verify the ownership of the domain.
To add a site to an existent Wildcard cert:
sudo site sub.example.com -ssl=on -add-to-wildcard=example.com
Only have support for first-level subdomains.
Manual validation
If you want to obtain a certificate on a server or for a site that for some reason is not directly accessible from the outside, you can use the manual validation method.
sudo site example.com -ssl=on -manual=http
The manual method supports “http” and “dns” validation.
The “http” validation will ask you to place a file with a specific name and content on your site. And the “dns” validation will ask you to place a TXT record in your DNS with a specific name and content.
Renewing certificates
Although Webinoly has a redundant system for the automatic renewal process, we have an option to force it.
sudo site -ssl=renew
This command attempts to renew any previously-obtained certificates that expire in less than 30 days.
We can also force the renewal of all of the certs:
sudo site -ssl=force-renewal-all
Or a specific certificate:
sudo site example.com -ssl=force-renewal
In the case of parked domains or “reverse proxy” sites, the parameter -root or-root-path respectively necessary to force the renewal must be included.
Staging environment for certs
We highly recommend testing your projects using the Let’s Encrypt staging environment before using real certs in production environment. This will allow you to get things right before issuing trusted certificates and reduce the chance of your running up against rate limits.
sudo webinoly -conf-value_debug=true
Use the “debug” variable in the Webinoly configuration file to activate the Let’s Encrypt test environment, set it to “false” to deactivate the testing environment.
These are not real certs, they are just intended to be used for testing purposes, you will get errors if you try to access your site using this cert. You should never use these certificates in a production environment.
Custom SSL Certificate
Bring your own Cert!
You can add your own cert of any third-party vendor or your preference.
sudo site example.com -ssl=on -ssl-key=/path/cert.key -ssl-crt=/path/cert.crt -ssl-ocsp=/path/cert.pem
The -ssl-ocsp parameter is optional for OCSP support.
Redirection Manager
Creating a redirection is easy, just run this command and follow the instructions:
sudo site example.com -redirection
Remove a redirection:
sudo site example.com -redirection -delete
# Skip questions (unattended)
sudo site example.com -redirection -from=/path -to=/test -http-code=308
sudo site example.com -redirection -from=/path -to=http://example.com
sudo site example.com -redirection -from=/path -http-code=410
sudo site example.com -redirection -delete -from=/path-http-code
You can also use the -exact option to define an exact match of URI and location.
What the "EXACT" option does?
Take this path: /news
https://example.com/news (match)
https://example.com/news/local/our-city (match)
If you use the "EXACT" option:
https://example.com/news (match)
https://example.com/news/local/our-city (no-match)The -exact parameter is not needed when -delete, it will just remove every path that match.
The -regex option allows us to use regular expressions.
# Example
sudo site example.com -redirection -from='^\.(gif|jpg|jpeg)$' -to=/test -regex=insensitiveRegular expressions on the command line must be written using single quotes, as in the example above. And it supports the following options:
- sensitive – Case sensitive.
- insentive – Case insensitive.
- longest – Specifies the best option and does not continue evaluating regular expressions.
Check the official documentation and some examples about using regular expressions in Nginx.
List current redirections:
sudo site example.com -redirection -list
The -list -raw option is supported to remove format characters.
NGINX Setup per site
If need to add additional NGINX rules, you can have your own custom configuration file located at /var/www/example.com and it should be named following the pattern *-nginx.conf, for example: custom-nginx.conf would be a valid filename.
Webinoly automatically detects if your site is a domain example.com (example.com and www.example.com are configured) or subdomain sub.example.com (only sub.example.com), this is to determine the most appropriate Nginx configuration for each site. Domains with no-valid TLD are configured as subdomain. If for some reason you need to force a certain configuration, you can do it using the -subdomain option when creating your site or an SSL cert is requested.
Example: sudo site example.com -html -subdomain=true, or likewise sudo site sub.example.com -ssl=on -subdomain=false.
The command sudo webinoly -external-sources-update is for internal use only to update some external lists, like public-suffix and timezones.
If you have any suggestions, ideas, or comments, or if you (gasp!) found a bug, join us in the support forum.
