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 the benefits of dedicated IP addresses? OverviewAlthough the benefits of dedicated IP addresses are often misunderstood and overstated, the most significant benefit involves not sharing an IP address with potential email spammers, who are... 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 for more information. Why use Magento scripts? Magento users can often benefit from writing scripts to... Read More

How to set up outgoing SMTP email for Magento OverviewThis article recommends the Magento extension SMTP Pro when setting up external SMTP email for Magento 1.x, but also provides a manual method. Preferred method Though it is possible to configure... 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 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 purchase Nexcess shared hosting plans OverviewThis article explains how to use our website to purchase a hosting plan for Magento, WordPress, or ExpressionEngine. Before purchasing If you have not already spoken with an Account Executive, we... 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, even when large in size. Magento does many things well, but maintaining an efficient database is not one of them.... Read More

How to patch your Magento store OverviewThis article explains our policy regarding Magento patches and the best resource for staying current with the latest version. Notifications As a Magento store administrator, it is your responsibility to stay... Read More

How to optimize Magento performance OverviewThis guide demonstrates how to optimize Magento performance. Most optimizations will work with any version of Magento. Those intended for specific versions will be indicated as such. Tweak .htaccess The... 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. Procedure Method 1 is preferred for most clients; you should use Method 2 only if Method 1 fails because... 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. While maintaining your eCommerce store’s security will uphold your reputation and avoid downtime,... 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.   Rationale Magento's maintenance mode allows you to... 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. Table of contents For memcached and redis users Magento 1.x Using the Admin Panel Using SSH ... Read More

How to find and remove hanging Magento cron jobs with SSH Noticing the 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... 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 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... 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.   Purpose  Since Magento is a robust CMS, it caches many parts of your website. This is helpful at times, but can be a... Read More

How to create Magento and WordPress dev sites OverviewThis article explains how Nexcess clients can create development (dev) sites for Magento 1.x, Magento 2, and WordPress. Before proceeding This document assumes you have beginner-level web... Read More

How to conserve disk space in Magento Disk space alerts A disk space alert message can come from a variety of areas. The most important disk space alert messages will come as an automated email from the SiteWorx control panel, or as an email sent by... Read More

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

How to configure multiple Magento storefronts  OverviewThis article demonstrates how to use Magento configure multiple storefronts for a single website. Once you have created your new store, you can choose from either of the two different methods... 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 allow 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. Table of contents Prerequisites Exception about media assets... 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 add admin users in Magento 1.x Rationale 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