What is Varnish? OverviewVarnish is a reverse-web-proxy-caching system designed by Varnish Software to accelerate content-heavy websites.  Purpose Varnish accelerates content-heavy websites. It is a reverse web proxy caching system that intercepts... Read More

What is Turpentine? OverviewTurpentine was developed by Nexcess to improve how Magento and Varnish work together.    Turpentine extension for Magento by Nexcess Turpentine is a full-page cache extension for Magento that works with Varnish, a rapid... Read More

What is the “Client denied by server configuration app/etc/local.xml” error in Magento? OverviewThe “Client denied by server configuration app/etc/local.xml” error in the web server error log represents Magento successfully blocking external... Read More

What is Magento? OverviewMagento is a popular eCommerce platform based on open source technology. Magento as an eCommerce platform Magento is an web content management system that grants users significant control over their website's settings,... Read More

What are some useful Magento scripts?  OverviewThis article identifies a few of the most useful Magento scripts, defines them, and provides a link to our blog for more information. Why use Magento scripts? Magento users can often benefit from... Read More

How to set up outgoing SMTP email for Magento Follow these steps to set up SMTP access for Magento manually:  From the Magento Admin Panel, click System > Configuration. Scroll down to the ADVANCED sub-menu, then click System. From the... Read More

How to set the return-path email in Magento OverviewThis article shows how to set the return-path within your Magento installation to correct issues with sending emails to specific providers, such as when they inaccurately flag them as spam. Purpose... Read More

How to set Magento file permissions OverviewThis article discusses how to set the proper permissions for files within a Magento installation. Environmental considerations Before installing Magento, first consider the environment in which you are... Read More

How to resolve CORS errors in Magento 1 or 2 multi-stores using a CDN Overview Cross-origin request blocked (CORS) errors have many possible causes. This article applies to the “Cross-Origin Request Blocked error” that is sometimes the result of... Read More

How to remove index.php from your Magento site URL Overview This article shows you how to remove “index.php” from your web address of your Magento store. This method works only if mod_rewrite is enabled; however, if you are a Nexcess client, this... Read More

How to protect your Magento store from the Credit Card Hijack exploit OverviewThis article explains how Magento store administrators can address the Credit Card Hijack security breach by applying the latest patches and performing other critical tasks... Read More

How to perform Magento database maintenance OverviewThis article examines the various ways to maintain an efficient Magento database of any size. Magento does many things well, but maintaining an efficient database is not one of them. Having many... Read More

How to patch your Magento 1 store Contents Attention How to install patches Step 1: Back up your store Step 2: Download the patch Step 3: Disable the compiler Step 4: Install the patch (pick one) Method 1: Use SSH Method 2: Run a script Method 3:... Read More

How to optimize Magento performance This guide demonstrates how to optimize performance for Magento 1 and 2, though some methods only work for Magento 1. Those intended for specific versions will be indicated as such. Magento 1 and 2: Tweak ... Read More

How to manage disk space in Magento OverviewThis article shows how Nexcess clients can conserve and free disk space on their hosting server.  Disk space alerts A disk space alert message is issued from a variety of areas. The most important disk... Read More

How to issue a reindex in Magento  OverviewThis article shows how to issue a reindex in Magento from the Admin Panel and from the command line. Method 1 is preferred for most clients; you should use Method 2 only if Method 1 fails because it... Read More

How to install Magento Community Edition v1.8 and later OverviewThis guide illustrates how to install Magento Community Edition 1.8 and later. Download the Magento installer Navigate to the Magento download page.  Log in to your account or... Read More

How to improve the security of your Magento store OverviewThe article presents various methods of hardening your Magento store’s security, though many of these can apply to any content management system (CMS). While maintaining your eCommerce... Read More

How to improve Magento maintenance mode OverviewThis article outlines how to improve Magento maintenance mode by modifying to the index.php file to allow access to a range of IP addresses.  Magento’s maintenance mode allows you to restrict... Read More

How to flush your Magento cache OverviewThis article shows how to flush the Magento 1.x and Magento 2 cache with either the Magento admin interface or SSH. Contents For memcached and redis users Magento 1.x Using the Admin Panel Using SSH Magento... Read More

How to find and remove hanging Magento cron jobs with SSH Problem Magento cron jobs will occasionally freeze. You may notice the cron job has failed to run at its designated time or times, or you may receive notification of a cron job failing to run... Read More

How to enable the Magento profiler OverviewThis article explains how to enable and interpret Magento’s profiler feature to assist with development. Purpose Developers can use the Magento Profiler to examine code and diagnose problems such as... Read More

How to enable system error logging in Magento 1 It is possible to configure Magento to generate system logs and exception logs upon any error. This is most useful as a way to investigate issues during development, but less practical for live stores... Read More

How to enable CAPTCHA for user creation in Magento 1.x Overview We recommend enabling CAPTCHA for user creation and password retrieval to help prevent malicious attempts to generate spam. If your store is already receiving high numbers of bounce-back... Read More

How to disable maintenance mode in Magento Overview This article shows how to disable maintenance mode in the event your store shows the error message, “The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or... Read More

How to disable caching in Magento OverviewThis article shows how to disable caching in Magento for development purposes.   Since Magento is a robust CMS, it caches many parts of your website. This is helpful at times, but can be a nuisance during... Read More

How to create dev sites for Magento 1 OverviewThis article explains how Nexcess Classic (non-Cloud) clients can create development (dev) sites for Magento 1. What you need A working, preferably current installation of Magento 1 A Nexcess Classic ... Read More

How to conserve disk space in Magento If you have a need to conserve disk space in your Magento store, consider the below list of safe candidates for deletion, all of which take up large amounts of disk space.  If none of these options appeal to you... Read More

How to configure the Magento Product Importer (Magmi) Vulnerability and Nexcess policy Prior to the 2014 Holiday season, our Systems Operations team scanned all Magento sites hosted on our platform and disabled the Magmi Product Importer in all... Read More

How to configure multiple Magento storefronts  OverviewThis article demonstrates how to configure multiple storefronts for a single Magento 1 website. This method works only with Magento 1.x. For Magento 2, see How to configure Magento 2... Read More

How to configure Magento to use your SSL certificate OverviewThis article shows you how to configure your Magento store to use SSL certificates, which allows your site to exchange encrypted information with web users. Purpose SSL certificates create... Read More

How to configure CDN access for Magento OverviewThis article explains how Nexcess clients can use the Client Portal to configure their CDN service for use with their Magento store. Contents Prerequisites Exception about media assets Method Access�... Read More

How to change your Magento 1.x admin password OverviewThis document shows how you can reset or change your admin password for Magento 1.x and provides references for additional critical security measures. Preferred method The simplest method for... Read More

How to change Magento base URLs OverviewThis article gives three methods to change Magento Base URLs.   Contents Magento Admin Panel PhpMyAdmin Command Line Attention These methods work only for sites using a single-store Magento setup, not a... Read More

How to back up your Magento 1 store Contents Things to know Creating a single backup Scheduling regular backups Things to know Magento backs up files in the .gz format. The .tgz format is used for system, database, and media backups. Backup files... Read More

How to add admin users in Magento 1.x Overview Should you need give another individual, such as a developer, temporary access to your Magento store, use the below procedure to create an additional admin account. This is far preferable to divulging... Read More