Operating System Upgrade

Attention: All FirestarHosting.CC Customers

There will be planned maintenance being performed today, beginning at 11:15 AM Eastern. However, because this is special maintenance, the system will be unavailable until possibly Monday, January 25, 2021 at 9:00 AM Eastern standard time.

Upgrade

As the Barracuda hosting server is behind on software that is critically needed to maintain websites, databases, and other operating system (OS) functions, we are being advised to upgrade to the Debian 10 (Buster) operating system.

What This Upgrade Will Entail

The following will be done while the Barracuda hosting server is offline:

• Perform a complete server backup: This will be done to insure a restoration point is available should the upgrade fail.
• Upgrade Server: Install Debian 10 and install needed software and insure the server is up-to-date.

After The Upgrade

• Restore user accounts and restore user websites.
• Test functionality of user websites to insure they work under Debian 10.
• Restore (if within the user’s account) mail accounts belonging to said user.
• Keep the server up-to-date as needed/required.

Providing nothing goes wrong during the upgrade, I hope to have the server available again by tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM eastern.
If customers have any questions, please directly iMessage me or DM on twitter.

On November 27, 2020 the FSH hosting webserver will be taken offline to prepare for the installation of PHP 8.0 (Production version.)
Here is what customers should be aware of:
PHP 8.0 will be the primary version being installed as default
Websites being hosted will have PHP 8.0 as their installation default
Multi-PHP versioning will be allowed. You will be allowed either PHP 8.0 or PHP 7.4 for compatibility reasons.
PHP 7.4 will be dropped as the default PHP version, as PHP 8 will be put in it’s place.
PHP 7.3, PHP 7.2, PHP 7.1, and PHP 7.0 are no longer supported in customer’s hosting environments and will not be allowed to be installed as a multi- PHP version installation choice.
Note: Extensions that were once used for PHP 7.4 cannot be used in PHP 8.0.
Customers needing PHP 7.4 must submit such a request to
support@firestarhosting.cc

And include
Customer’s Name
Customer’s hosting username or domain name
The fact that the customer would like PHP 7.4 to be installed on their website.
No ticket being submitted means that you will have PHP 8.0 installed by default on to your website.
The installation of PHP 8.0 will begin at 9:00 AM, and should conclude by 12:00 PM.

For all hosting clients
On Sep. 7, 2020, there will be a partial upgrade to PHP 8.0 beta 2. This will be considered a beta upgrade, and will only be tested sparingly as it’s
not suitable for production use yet.

What Is A Partial Upgrade?

A partial upgrade is one that is installed differently than the entire production PHP versions. The partial upgrade has everything the production packages
do, with the exception that the beta PHP version is just not suitable for production use yet.

WordPress might work with the beta PHP version, though all indications are inconclusive.

If you’d like to try out PHP 8.0 Beta 2, please submit a ticket to

support@firestarhosting.cc

With the subject: Beta PHP Upgrade

And provide your domain name and the fact that you’d like to be upgraded to PHP beta.

Your site will be switched temporarily to the PHP 8.0 Beta 2 software. After PHP 8 is out of beta, your site will then be switched to the full production
version of PHP 8.0.

Have a great labor day weekend.

Notice of System Maintenance

There will be system maintenance conducted on the Barracuda hosting server, to address a Web server issue that was discovered.
During the maintenance, all websites will be unavailable. Maintenance will begin at 10 AM Eastern this morning, and should conclude at around 11 AM or 11:30 AM this morning.
If customers have questions, please direct message the @firestarhosting Twitter account.

Good evening,
This is a quick notice to inform everyone that on Mon., May 25, 2020 beginning at 10:00 AM eastern, there will be slight downtime as the mailing list server is upgraded.
The downtime will only effect the mailing list server, MailMan. No other services will be effected.
The downtime should only last an hour. Emails to any mailing list should be able to be received by the mail server, but will be processed after MailMan is brought back online.
Have a good memorial day weekend.

Good day,
This post is for all customers who host word press sites with Firestar Hosting.
Affective Thursday, May 21, 2020 at 8 AM Eastern, all WordPress sites will be taken off-line to implement new security changes.
summary: most database servers require a username and password for every user. Currently, no customer has assigned usernames or passwords for their databases at present.
As a result, this could cause compromising of the customer databases and of their website.
To prevent possible compromise, I will be taking the databases off-line and will be assigning each customer a username and password to use with all of their databases.
This one username and password, will have privileges for all databases under the customer‘s account.
Each customer will be emailed individually their respective username and password. furthermore, the database will be renamed to username_databasename.
As always, if customers have any questions, please submit a general support ticket to the Department of support.

Good they valued clients,
I am writing to let you know of some security changes that were implemented recently for all hosting accounts.
These changes will not affect the running of any services, or websites. However, it is worth noting that the changes will affect how you use your account.
SSH Shell Access
Effective today, immediately, no accounts have shell access. If you need SSH access, please submit a support ticket under the department of support to request it.
A client who does not submit a support ticket for shell Axcess, will not receive it.
As always, for any questions about these changes, submit a support ticket under The department of support. Thank you.

To aid in getting proper support, I have introduced One-Time Use Support Pins.
These random, one-time use 6 digit numbers are generated server-side, and will aid in speeding up support responses a bit quicker.
All tickets must have a One-Time Use Support Pin associated with them. To generate a support pin, you can visit
https://firestarhosting.cc/supportpin.php
If you lost your One-Time Use Support Pin, you can use the link above to regenerate another one, and insure your ticket has the new Pin included with your ticket.
Also, if you need to call for support, and you have a support ticket opened, please include your One-Time Use Support Pin.
You may call
Local: 315.898.1197, option 1.
International: 1.315.898.1197, option 1.
Call-in support times are from
Monday’s and Thursday’s
8:00 AM until 4:00 PM
Saturday’s and Sunday’s
9:00 AM until 4:00 PM.
Tuesday’s, Wednesday’s, and Friday’s
Please submit support tickets only. I will respond when I can during those days.