Unable to Create User, a valid IP was not provided

[TMC]

Apologies in advance for having buckets of hard-earned experience running Cpanel/WHM but zero running DA.

We recently rented a dedicated box with IP's and RHL plus DA pre-installed, and a handful of static IP's. Although the box itself seems to be running fine, we're having serious problems understanding how DA does things.

For example, we logged in as DA Admin using our primary (shared) IP, and created a Reseller Account. We then assigned one of our free IP's to the Reseller and logged off.

Using the IP address we had just assigned, we then logged in as DA Reseller and created one resold account user without error (HALSTEADBAY.COM). We then attempted to create a 2nd resold account user, but received the following error:

CREATE USER:
Unable to Create User
A valid IP was not provided

Does this mean a DA Reseller can only have 1 customer? There is no such limitation with Cpanel/WHM.

 

[nobaloney]

You don't tell us how many IP#s you have available.

You must have at least one shared IP#.

When you create a reseller you should set it up to use the "Shared - Server" IP#. Then when you create a user under the reseller you should set it up to use the "Shared IP#".

Jeff

 

[TMC]

Hi Jeff, thanks for the swift reply.

You don't tell us how many IP#s you have available.

We didn't know this mattered, but as it happens we do have 8 (eight) IP's with more in reserve if needed. What DOES matter is that we do NOT want to give our Reseller more than 1 (one) IP (see below re server root).

You must have at least one shared IP#.

Despite having spent hours looking for one, unfortunately we haven't been able to find a control which allows us to enable IP-Less operation (a.k.a. "sharing") for the IP address which we have assigned to our DA Reseller.



In short, DA refuses to create more than 1 (one) resold user account per Reseller. That makes it appear we will have to provide our Reseller with 496 IP's if they have 495 customers. Which makes no sense at the moment, and we need help understanding what is going on and why.

What possible objection does DA have to our Reseller selling IP-Less user accounts on the static IP we've assigned to them? So far we simply can't understand DA's logic, which is no criticism of DA.

In addition, we specifically do NOT want our Reseller to have use of the server root IP. This is a security requirement, and the main reason they need a separate static address for all their customer accounts.

Sorry to keep mentioning WHM/Cpanel but we're concerned that DA appears unable to support this specific configuration.

 

[mike_p]

having spent hours looking for one

Ouch, that sounds serious!

Unless the IP has been marked as shared then it can only be used for a single account. There is a very obvious page for doing this. It's marked 'IP assignment'.

Before you create any resold accounts with a particular IP go to the resellers panel, go to the IP assignment page, click on the select box for that IP then click on the button marked 'Share selected'.

When you encounter such difficult things in future I thoroughly recommend you RTFM, or in this case click the help button which on the IP assignment page takes you to:
http://reseller.site-helper.com/ip.html

(Its a lot more fun than chucking around thinly veiled criticisms! OK, I know, I get frustrated too sometimes!)

 

[TMC]

Hi Mike!

Sorry once again but the only reason we keep mentioning ***/****** is to emphasise our personal belief that DA appears determined to make a simple configuration more than a little complex. And yes we are VERY frustrated that we haven't been able to implement our Reseller specification after 2 weeks' intermittent tinkering!

There is a very obvious page for doing this. It's marked 'IP assignment'.

go to the resellers panel,

Now this is exactly the kind of inforamtion which makes it real easy for us to get extremely frustrated. When we log into the DA Admin account on the version of DA which we've been sold (1.224000), there is no link/page which matches the label "IP ASSIGNMENT". Also, there is no link/page which matches the label "RESELLERS PANEL".

However the Good News is that a link/page with the label "IP Management" DOES exist, also a link/page with the label "Reseller Level" also exists. There's nothing like thinly veiled instructions! *G*

Speaking of which, http://reseller.site-helper.com/ip.html is not much help to anyone except the person who wrote the program. Ok, that may sound harsh, but we'll bet money who the author of that 'help page' was.

At this stage it seems we need to use some more trial and error, and quite a few more guesses. Eventually we might even learn how DA wants us to think, but that idea has become a secondary goal at the moment.

Thanks very much for the heads-up Mike, and stay tuned for the next exciting episode

 

[mike_p]

Hmmm....

Is there a difference in the skins?
[question to self!]

Answer: Yes!

My apologies to you. I was using a different skin.
As you say there is no resller panel, but there is a reseller "level".
(Just checked the demo on the DA site).

But... when you get to the reseller level there is a page marked IP Management.

I hope my suggestions from that point on were useful.

It seems to me that you are fighting against the system and expecting the DA way to be identical to other brands.

I've come from having limited knowledge of other brands and find the DA way very logical and intuitive.

I only got a DA equipped server back in May but have continued to be amazed and impresssed at how good it is.

Apart from a couple of one-off control panels at various hosting companies, my only experience has been with a RAQ server that was hopelessly unhelpful.

If you're still struggling with this IP problem, get back with further info and I'll try and help quickly (if no one else does). My mind seems to work the same way as the DA programmer[/s?] so I don't have any difficluty understanding how to do things in DA.

Hope this helps!!

 

[TMC]

Hi again Mike.

It seems to me that you are fighting against the system and expecting the DA way to be identical to other brands.

Sorry if our questions make it look that way, but that's the last thing in the world we are trying to do. "Other brands" function in a way that we find easy to understand (see example below regarding RAQ servers). DA functions in a way that we initially find confusing as all heck.

When we first rented our pre-installed DA server, we read all the DA documentation we could find (including the majority of this forum's posts). Our intention was to learn how DA thinks, but that was 2 weeks ago and since then we've given up that ideal. Now all we ask is that DA accepts the configuration we want, and then we promise not to ask it for anything more!!!

Is there a difference in the skins? [question to self!] Answer: Yes! My apologies to you. I was using a different skin.

DA menu item names change when DA skins change? Serious problem #001 for a first-time DA user: don't tell them this.

Good news: we haven't messed with the DA Skin option (or anything else we don't fully understand for that matter); Bad News: the online DA help texts appear to have been written using a skin which is substantially different from the current DA Default skin.

As you say there is no resller panel, but there is a reseller "level". (Just checked the demo on the DA site).

Apologies to everyone reqading this who has two braincells, but we only have one, and it's really not coping very well at the moment.

By trial and error, we have discovered there actually ***IS*** a "DA Reseller Panel". Strangely enough (*jk*) this is what DA displays each time you log in using a DA reseller account. Up to this point, this is the kind of user-interface we can understand.

Unfortunately there is also a "Reseller Level" which SOMETIMES displays the same Reseller panel as above, and SOMETIMES displays a DIFFERENT Reseller panel than above. Serious problem #002 for a first-time DA user: don't tell them this.

For example:

• TO OPEN RESELLER PANEL 1: Log in as DA Admin, using the DA Server Shared IP, then select Reseller Level
  
  TO OPEN RESELLER PANEL 2: Log in as DA Reseller, using the DA Server Shared IP (same as #1 method above)
  
  TO OPEN RESELLER PANEL 3: Log in as DA Admin, using the DA Reseller Static IP, then select Reseller Level
  
  TO OPEN RESELLER PANEL 4: Log in as DA Reseller, using the DA Reseller Static IP (same as #3 method above)

We would be ***real*** grateful if some kind person would open a SEPARATE THREAD and document each of these different Reseller Panels. Right now, our grasp on life is slipping here as it is

I hope my suggestions from that point on were useful.

Yes very much so, but we still can't get DA to accept the configuration we need. Based on your suggestions we're slowly working our way through a dozen more shots in the dark. Expect to hear more pitiful cries for help soon.

It seems to me that you are fighting against the system and expecting the DA way to be identical to other brands.

No, no, that would be like expecting all car engines to be the same. Clearly "the DA Way" of doing things is different from other brands, and that's fine. Clearly the DA documentation has been written by either the DA author or a DA expert, and that's NOT fine. Much of our time is spent writing software instruction manuals, and if we ever survive this learning curve, we'll probably write one for DA out of self-pity.

my only experience has been with a RAQ server that was hopelessly unhelpful.

Now you see what DA is looking like to us!

Digressing for just a moment, we have been using Cobalt RAQs for over 5 years with few problems apart from excessive hardware failures. RAQ web-based user interfaces are very limited and very inflexible, which is ideal for the non-technical marketplace they're targeted at. The official RAQ User Manual is over 300 printed pages, which most people never bother to read. Finally, should you attempt lower-level access on a RAQ, success almost always depends on a lot of undocumented inside knowledge which can be hard to find. Apparently all of Cobalt's user interfaces are heavily 'hard-coded', therefore easily broken by inexperienced peole with the su password.

We now return you to our regular program.

 

[mike_p]

Was your installation of DA a fresh installation or has someone been tinkering with it?
eg choosing different skin for the resold user acount?

The reason I ask is that it appears that you are seeing a mixture of different skins: hence the different versions of the Reseller panel[/level]

Whichever IP or domain name you use to access the control panel should not make a difference. Which Username you use, should make a difference to which skin is used.

please note that, as a new user, some of my info may be a touch inaccurate. Hopefully someone else will jump in and point out any major errors in what I write.

As for sharing the IP, I don't quite see how you could continue having a problem now. The instructions are very, very clear!

If in doubt, as you suggest you've got some spare IPs, assign another IP to the reseller (Using the admin's IP assigment page). Use the reseller/panel IP management to set it to 'shared' then create a couple of dummy accounts and see if they can use the same IP. That way it won't affect your existing account. (It's easy to delete the dummy accounts and reassign the IP afterwards).

 

[nobaloney]

First, a word to TMC:

If you didn't insist on shouting in your posts it would be easier for me to read and understand your questions.

Now perhaps a clarification of what mike_p wrote:

Skins are assigned based on the most recent login name.

For example, if you log in as admin, you'll be using the admin's assigned skin.

But as soon as you click on a "log in as" button, either for a reseller or a user, you'll be using that user's assigned skin.

Now a word to TMC which may be helpful:

The help system at site-helper.com was written for the first skin DA came out with, otherwise known as the "Default" skin. If you set all your users and resellers (including the reseller panel of the admin login) to use the Default skin, your pages will match the help system.

(There's a bit of confusion in that the "Default" skin is no longer the default; new DA installations generally use the "Enhanced" skin.)

Note, though, that switching to the Default Skin will mean you don't have access to the System Backup pages.

Jeff