New User Installing HC9 with WHMCS

Hi

We have recently begun a switch to HC from WebSitePanel and we are having some fun with WHMCS. I thought it may prove useful to put my thoughts and questions here rather than a ticket to see if it could help anyone else.

First, our version numbers.

Server: Windows Web 2008 R2 SP1
HC Control Panel Version : HC9 Build 01
WHMCS: 5.0.3 (running on Windows not Linux)

We already have a working WHMCS system which has been talking to WebSitePanel quite happily for years so all we had to do was install the HC module.  This involved creating a folder and copying the hc.php file into it along with the hcsettings.xml file updated with our API url.  We then set the server up in WHMCS with a user account we created for us as a reseller and defined the custom fields.  Finally we created a new product that had HC as the module and set Plan Name to one that we had created in HC.

Our first attempt at provisioning a new service was to go into an existing user in the WHMCS system, change the Product/Service assigned to them to the we had just created and then click CREATE but this failed with the error

Module Command Error
Plan sold successfully.
 
We logged into HC and then auto logged in to our reseller account and sure enough there was no user or plan in there.

We then tried it on a new user by placing an order through the WHMCS system and letting it create the client account and this actually worked.

And now the problems that I am having and need help with.

    1. The Suspend/Unsuspend buttons do not work (in fact I cant even see how you manually suspend an account in HC?!?!?)
    2. Pressing Terminate brings up the error (but it does appear to work)
Module Command Error
Advance delete succeeded; operation is in queue and will be completed within 24 hours after your confirmation.
    3. Even though point 2 brought up an error, it did send us an email with a link it which we clicked and this gave us a .net error:
Server Error in '/' Application.
The resource cannot be found.
Description: HTTP 404. The resource you are looking for (or one of its dependencies) could have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.  Please review the following URL and make sure that it is spelled correctly.

Requested URL: /AuthenticateAction.aspx
When we modified the URL to point to our control panel URL it worked.
    4. The "HostingController Login" link does not work when viewing the product in WHMCS which we suspect is related to point 3 above because the API does not appear to be returning the HC URL properly hence the link in the email did not work for point 3.
    5. Do we still need to link HC to our WHMCS system under Billing System :: Manage Billing :: Configure Billing or is this just to do a fresh install of WHMCS? The instructions on the Portal website are pretty poor!
    6. How do we turn off Billing in HC completely? If we login as the Webadmin we see "Billing is currently set to off." which we don't want them to see
    7. Where is the Change Package button in WHMCS?

I am sure we will come across some more issues in our quest to go live with HC but for now this seems to cover the basics.

All in all, we are quite happy with how it is going so far and we can see the potential for HC especially when it comes to having 1 control panel for Windows and Linux hosting.

I hope this post isn't too long and I look forward to any help that HC can provide.

Thanks
Mark Donne
HOST100

Index_eBusiness

Hi

We have recently begun a switch to HC from WebSitePanel and we are having some fun with WHMCS. I thought it may prove useful to put my thoughts and questions here rather than a ticket to see if it could help anyone else.

First, our version numbers.

Server: Windows Web 2008 R2 SP1
HC Control Panel Version : HC9 Build 01
WHMCS: 5.0.3 (running on Windows not Linux)

We already have a working WHMCS system which has been talking to WebSitePanel quite happily for years so all we had to do was install the HC module.  This involved creating a folder and copying the hc.php file into it along with the hcsettings.xml file updated with our API url.  We then set the server up in WHMCS with a user account we created for us as a reseller and defined the custom fields.  Finally we created a new product that had HC as the module and set Plan Name to one that we had created in HC.

Our first attempt at provisioning a new service was to go into an existing user in the WHMCS system, change the Product/Service assigned to them to the we had just created and then click CREATE but this failed with the error

Module Command Error
Plan sold successfully.

 
First of all I shall mention that in next couple of weeks we are launching Video tutorials which will describe following provision cases

1. Configuration of WHMCS with HC connectivity
2. Windows Shared Hosting
3. Linux Shared Hosting
4. Exchange Mail Only Hosting
5. Virtualization Only Hosting

We have seen in recent past that user facing problem in configuring whmcs in the HC panel. These videos will help them to instantly fix minor issues.
Does the plan name exactly same in Product/Service which is showing in the HC Panel ? And are you adding new user with new signup or placing new order for existing customer ? 
Make sure that user or website not already existed in the HC Panel.
 
 
We logged into HC and then auto logged in to our reseller account and sure enough there was no user or plan in there.

And now the problems that I am having and need help with.

   1. The Suspend/Unsuspend buttons do not work (in fact I cant even see how you manually suspend an account in HC?!?!?)

When you suspend a product/Service HC service stop the user and website within 15 second, which you can verify under reseller menu " User Manager > My User "
 

2. Pressing Terminate brings up the error (but it does appear to work)
Module Command Error
Advance delete succeeded; operation is in queue and will be completed within 24 hours after your confirmation.

 
In HC Panel if a user have some data under its account i.e Website, Mail domain then HC prevent to remove the user instantly. But it does remove after HC schedule execute depends on interval which you can set under HC Master machine at location HCadmin > Panel Configuration > Configure Setting > Scheduler Setting... Set the Advanced Delete schedule time i.e Every 6 hr/
 

  
3. Even though point 2 brought up an error, it did send us an email with a link it which we clicked and this gave us a .net error:
Server Error in '/' Application.
The resource cannot be found.
Description: HTTP 404. The resource you are looking for (or one of its dependencies) could have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.  Please review the following URL and make sure that it is spelled correctly.

Requested URL: /AuthenticateAction.aspx
When we modified the URL to point to our control panel URL it worked.
   4. The "HostingController Login" link does not work when viewing the product in WHMCS which we suspect is related to point 3 above because the API does not appear to be returning the HC URL properly hence the link in the email did not work for point 3.
 

 
In HC.php file you can customize the control Panel link and place the static HC Web Access URL... find for text in file
$HCAccessURL = 'http://'.$_SERVER["SERVER_NAME"].':8787/Default.aspx';
 
which you can modify like
$HCAccessURL = 'http://yourdomain.com/admin/Default.aspx'; 
 

   5. Do we still need to link HC to our WHMCS system under Billing System :: Manage Billing :: Configure Billing or is this just to do a fresh install of WHMCS? The instructions on the Portal website are pretty poor!
   6. How do we turn off Billing in HC completely? If we login as the Webadmin we see "Billing is currently set to off." which we don't want them to see

 
No there is no need to link whmcs in HC billing Module, you can ignore it. To hide it by default for reseller from HC Admin > Panel Configuration > Configure Services > Menu Access.... Select Reseller and hide Billing Manager and any other menu which you don't want to display under reseller or webadmin.
By using option in Menu Access ' Default setting ' if you disable any menu then it will by default apply to newly added resellers as well.
Same Menu access option located under reseller in case reseller  want to hide some menu for their end customers.
 

  7. Where is the Change Package button in WHMCS?

Package upgrade or switch button option so far not supported via Whmcs, but you can switch the plan inside HC panel from Hosting Plan > Sold Plan.

 

Yes it is very exciting to manage Windows and Linux Shared Hosting using single HC interface that was the reason in past we switched from Helm.
 
I am also using Whmcs billing Module with HC Panel and its working great. I remember we encountered some issues at that time which HC support team have suggested us to set API virtual directory application pool  as " HCAppPool ". By default it was running with DefaultAppPool which in our system have created some issues due to right privileges. In my opinion you shall do the same.
 

Oh ffs, this forum software is stupid with its popups, it just lost a repy I spent 15 minutes composing...
...right, short answer coming up next

Tahir
Does the plan name exactly same in Product/Service which is showing in the HC Panel ?

Yes, read my previous post
 

Tahir
And are you adding new user with new signup or placing new order for existing customer ? 
 

I did say in my post that we tried BOTH

Tahir
When you suspend a product/Service HC service stop the user and website within 15 second, which you can verify under reseller menu " User Manager > My User "

Yes, but, again, I said in my post it does not appear to be working, the button doesn't suspend the account as far as we can see

Tahir
In HC Panel if a user have some data under its account i.e Website, Mail domain then HC prevent to remove the user instantly. But it does remove after HC schedule execute depends on interval which you can set under HC Master machine at location HCadmin > Panel Configuration > Configure Setting > Scheduler Setting... Set the Advanced Delete schedule time i.e Every 6 hr/

Done

Tahir
In HC.php file you can customize the control Panel link and place the static HC Web Access URL... find for text in file
$HCAccessURL = '["SERVER_NAME"].':8787/Default.aspx';

which you can modify like
$HCAccessURL = '

Done
 

Tahir
Select Reseller and hide Billing Manager and any other menu which you don't want to display under reseller or webadmin.
By using option in Menu Access ' Default setting ' if you disable any menu then it will by default apply to newly added resellers as well.
Same Menu access option located under reseller in case reseller  want to hide some menu for their end customers.

This only hides the menu, it does not hide the box on the home page for the users which says "Billing"
 

Tahir
Package upgrade or switch button option so far not supported via Whmcs, but you can switch the plan inside HC panel from Hosting Plan > Sold Plan.

So WHMCS integration is not really integrated. Can 1 client in WHMCS have multiple plans in HC?

Excuse the short replies but my previous post was longer but these forum popups lost it.
 
Mark Donne
 

For existing whmcs client don't just change the product/Service and press create button , better to place new order for it from  " Orders > Add New Order > Now select user and the product etc and then complete the order process.
 

Yes, but, again, I said in my post it does not appear to be working, the button doesn't suspend the account as far as we can see 

And also it is not suspending Website in the IIS ?
 

So WHMCS integration is not really integrated. Can 1 client in WHMCS have multiple plans in HC? 

 
It is really integrated :), We can't assume that application is not really integrated by missing any of one component. 
In upcoming HC9 build2 there are some enhancement in whmcs module like Mail only Hosting, VPS Hosting etc. After that in any of next build we will provide this remaining option to switch package using whmcs interface.
 

Can 1 client in WHMCS have multiple plans in HC? 

 
Sorry I missed to answer this query
Yes a single client can have purchased Multiple plans in whmcs.
While creating new order for existing user Module will ask for Panel Login Name and Panel Login Password you must provide existing Login credentials then HC whmcs module will sell new Plan to the same user. 
In case user login doesn't match then HC will setup new login in the Panel.

OK, that makes sense, thank you.
 
You do know that the module commands all come back as errors don't you?
Like this: (it didn't upload my image but basically it is a big red circle with a white cross in it meaning ERROR)

I have never had a Success message in my testing yet.
We should be getting these sorts of messages as we do with WebSitepanel

Are you aware of this?

For us most important result message like
 
" Website Created Successfully " 
And if there would any error in Module execution then it will list error like
" Website Created Successfully. Error while creating Mail domain " or " Website Created Successfully. Error while creating FTP User "
 
You can safely ignore icon message showing in front of the Module execution message.

You can safely ignore icon message showing in front of the Module execution message.

 
But that is exactly the problem, we can't ignore it. If it was just a case of ignoring the red icon then of course we could do that, but WHMCS believes the command failed and leaves the order as "Pending" becuase it did not recieve back a success message from your API.
 
According to the WHMCS documentation, if an API reply contains anything other that the word "Success" then it treats it as a failure. I understand you believe this is not a problem, but it is. If WHMCS sees a failure it does not complete its steps for that order and we end up with a lot of orders in a pending state.
 
Your code should be doing the following:
    if ($successful) {
        $result = "success";
    } else {
        $result = "Error Message Goes Here...";
    }
    return $result;
 
You cannot say your system works with WHMCS when it has these kinds of problems.

If according to WHMCS its a failure then account shall not create in the HC Panel as well is this what happening ?

Let me go through it tomorrow and I will give you a detailed answer on how each sceanrio plays out and how it should play out.
 
Thanks
Mark

In case anyone is wondering, I did go through and quite simply the WHMCS integration did not work. The HC.PHP file that is/was available from the HC website does not have the correct return codes for WHMCS to recognise that the result was successful or not.
 
If you search this forum you will find another post confirming this.