DA file system overview?

[sethp]

I'm on day 1 of having my new DA server, but it's a bit overwhelming coming from a Verio FreeBSD kernel with no control panel. On that system, I was familiar with what artifacts were created when a virtual host or user accounts were added. I knew how to manage my virtusertables (not DA artifact, obviously).

Question:
Is there documentation that describes the general structure of the file system used by DirectAdmin? site-helper seems to just describe how to use the control panel UI.

For example, when I create a reseller, what artifacts are created? Where are passwords stored?

When I add a domain, what artifacts are created?

When I create a virtual POP3 email account, what artifacts are created (e.g. where are the inbox, the IMAP folders, the password files)?

I'm exploring via SSH and starting to get a feel for the example stuff I've created, but it would be very helpful if it was already documented somewhere. I'm on a Fedora Core 2 machine.

 

[jmstacey]

There is no one place where all this information is gathered, other than possibly these forums which will probably be your best bet.

The bestway is to create an account and explore for yourself, always the fastestway. Passwords and etc. are stored where they usually would be running the corresponding application in standalone mode as well as directadmin's data files in /usr/local/directadmin/data/

 

[DamnSkippy]

This would be a really good bit of info ot have. To manage a system well you really need to know how it works, inside not just the surface.

I check these forums daily trying to build up some knowledge of DA before I buy it and throw it on a server and break it a few times.

I hope one of the official guys reads this and adds it to the list. One of the things that DA is sorely lacking is documentation on the technical side (well OK all sides).

The help web site is a pretty good thing and I bet as I use it more I wil like it more but I am one of those people that wants to have something I can take to the bathroom with me LOL

 

[sethp]

Documentation

I don't know if I'd take it to the bathroom with me , but I'm a technical writer by profession, so it's no wonder I'm looking for better documentation.

I've found that the DA user interface is pretty intuitive and easy to navigate. It doesn't take long to find the right place to go to accomplish your task. This good design inherently decreases the need for task-based documentation about using the UI.

For me, I want to know what each click does to files on the system.

One thing we do when developing software at my place of employment is to give the user good feedback as they interact with the UI. So, good detailed documentation is progressively disclosed to the user as they use the product. For example, if I add a user account in DA, DA tells me this which is mostly helpful, but not entirely:

Unix User created successfully
User's data directory created successfully (Where?)
Domains directory created successfully (Show me the path!)
Domains directory created successfully in user's home (Same here)

Domain Created Successfuly (What? An entry in httpd.conf? Never mind the typo.)

User added to ssh config file. (Where is this file? I might not know.)

User's System Quotas set (Where? Can I modify this file manually?)

Adding more info in the UI is a design feature that would minimize support requests, questions on forums, problems, and the necessity for full reference material (though that would still be awesome!).

 

[DamnSkippy]

Those are exactly the kinds of things I would like to know as I agree on the interface being easy to get used to by looking through the demos.

Maybe the DA guys just found them a tech writer

 

[sethp]

We have to remember that the DA guys are making money, and we should expect more than support and documentation from community members.

Here is a specific question that I've found no docs for:

When I create a virtual pop3 account for [email protected], I see that a mail file is created in this dir with the name of the account:

/var/spool/virtual/domain.com/user

However, if I create a mail folder called "family" in squirrelmail for that user account, where is that folder or mail file stored? I've moved mail from the Inbox to the family folder, but can't find it on the Linux file system.

 

[jmstacey]

I think squirrelmail folders are located in the home directory of the user. Check the /home/user/mail or imap directories.