Hosting FAQs

We will investigate all reported incidents to determine where the issues lie, and whether there will be a support charge. Support charges will be on a time and materials basis at your current hourly rate. You will be notified of the potential of any charges prior to work being completed so that you can decide if you would like to proceed. Note that requesting information or how to access self-help options do not incur a charge.

Please send us an email at hosting@peaceworks.ca and we will sort it out.

1. An MX record pointing to mail.peaceworks.ca. The priority can be anything, but we suggest 0.
2. You may also want to use DKIM and DMARC records. See below for those.

Check the Trash folder. If you have removed it from Trash or you don’t see it in the Trash folder, please open a support ticket by sending an email to hosting@peaceworks.ca to request a restoration effort. Note that this will result in billable work.

Go to the account administration interface at https://mail.peaceworks.ca:8081 (note that the URL includes “:8081” at the end) and log in using the administrator account for your domain. The password is the same one as you use to access webmail for this account. If you don’t know the administrator account please contact us by sending an email to hosting@peaceworks.ca for help.

Log in to webmail at https://mail.peaceworks.ca and click on your name in the top-right corner. Select “Change Password” from the menu.

You will need to have your organization’s administrator reset it using the account administration interface at https://mail.peaceworks.ca:8081. See “How can I add or remove a mailbox/forward/alias?” for details.

Please send an email to hosting@peaceworks.ca. Rates are posted here.

IMAP

• Server: mail.peaceworks.ca
• Port: 993 Security method: SSL or TLS
  •  Alternate port and security method: 143, STARTTLS
• Authentication method: Normal password
• Username: full email address

POP

• Server: mail.peaceworks.ca
• Port: 995 Username: full email address
• Security method: SSL or TLS
  • Alternate port and security method: 110, STARTTLS
• Authentication method: Password

Outgoing

• Server: mail.peaceworks.ca
• Port: 465
• Security method: SSL or TLS Alternate port and security method: 587, STARTTLS
• Authentication method: Normal password
• Username: full email address

Our mail server can learn over time what you consider spam. If you mark messages as spam in your mailbox, this will go a long way to helping it learn and block them in the future. This feature is available in webmail.

There are several reasons that messages can be marked as spam by a receiving mail server. To help them determine if a message is legitimate there are some things you can do:

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)

What is DKIM

DKIM is an email security standard that helps detect whether messages are altered in transit between sending and receiving mail servers.

DKIM authentication uses public-key cryptography to sign email with a responsible party’s private key as it leaves a sending server. Recipient servers then use a public key published to the DKIM’s domain to verify the source of the message and that the parts of the message included in the DKIM signature haven’t changed since the message was signed. Once the signature is verified with the public key by the recipient server, the message passes DKIM and is considered authentic.

Setting up DKIM

1. Open a ticket with us by emailing hosting@peaceworks.ca to request DKIM be set up for your domain.
2. We will reply to the ticket with the DNS record you will require.
3. Add the record to your domain.
   1. If your DNS is hosted by PeaceWorks this can be done through your cPanel account, or if you prefer, we can help with this. Note that if we do the DNS update, it will be billed at your regular rate. See our Terms of Service Page for more details.
   
   
   1. If your DNS is hosted elsewhere you will need to speak with whomever manages your DNS records to have them enter it.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) records

What is an SPF record

SPF is an email authentication standard that helps protect senders and recipients from spam, spoofing, and phishing. By adding an SPF record to your domain, you can provide a public list of senders that are approved to send email from your domain. Receiving servers can then cross-check that email originated from a server that has permission to send on your domains’ behalf.

Here is an example of an SPF record: v=spf1 a mx ip4:10.10.10.10 include:spf.example.com ~all

Setting up SPF

There are several wizards online that can help you to create custom SPF records for your domain. Some examples are: https://www.spfwizard.net/ and https://www.spfwizard.com/.

1. Create the SPF record for your domain.
2. Add a TXT record to your domain where the “value” is the record you created.
   1. If your DNS is hosted by PeaceWorks this can be done through your cPanel account, or if you prefer, we can help with this. Note that if we do the DNS update, it will be billed at your regular rate. See our Terms of Service Page for more details.
   1. If your DNS is hosted elsewhere you will need to speak with whomever manages your DNS records to have them enter it.

Note that you can only have one SPF record per domain, so if you already have one and need to add something you will need to do so by modifying the value of the existing SPF record.

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance)

What is DMARC

DMARC is a standard that prevents spammers from using your domain to send email without your permission — also known as spoofing. Spammers can forge the “From” address on a message so the spam appears to come from a user in your domain. DMARC ensures these fraudulent emails get blocked before users even see them in their inboxes. In addition, DMARC gives you great visibility and reports into who is sending email on behalf of your domain, ensuring only legitimate email is received.

Setting up DMARC

Here is a guide on DMARC that you can use to get started. There are several wizards available online that will help you craft an appropriate DMARC record. One such example is https://dmarcian.com/dmarc-record-wizard/.

Once you have your record it needs to be added to your DNS zone. See “How can I change my DNS records?” below for instructions on how to do that.

Postmark

Postmark is an email delivery service that PeaceWorks subscribes to which is designed to help improve deliverability of broadcast and automated emails. For more information on Postmark see our Hosting Services page. If you are interested in signing up for the service, please send an email to hosting@peaceworks.ca and we’ll be happy to get you started.

See our Hosting Services page for details

Send an email to hosting@peaceworks.ca to open a ticket with us letting us know that you would like to transfer your DNS hosting to PeaceWorks. We will need a copy of your current DNS records to avoid any potential service interruption. You can get your DNS records by:

1. contacting your current DNS hosting provider and requesting a copy of your zone file; or
2. if you have access to your DNS configuration through a web interface such as cPanel, logging in to your account and copying the records.

Once you have your DNS records, send them to us. It is best to send them to us in text form to ensure accurate reproduction; avoid using a screenshot. If you are unsure of how to proceed, let us know in the ticket and we can do our best to offer help.

Send an email to hosting@peaceworks.ca to open a ticket letting us know that you would like to transfer your domain registration to PeaceWorks. To complete this your domain will need to be unlocked and we will need you to provide a transfer code from your current registrar. The method to do this is different for each registrar, but here are some examples:

GoDaddy: https://ca.godaddy.com/help/get-an-authorization-code-to-transfer-my-domain-away-from-godaddy-1685

Cloudflare: https://developers.cloudflare.com/registrar/account-options/transfer-out-from-cloudflare/

Soon we will be able to offer an interface for you to fully manage your DNS records. Until then, please contact us to request changes.

You can access your cPanel account by navigating to https://cpanel.yourdomain.com. If that does not work, try navigating to https://yourdomain.com:2083. If neither of these options brings you to a cPanel login page, please email hosting@peaceworks.ca and we can help you out.

Send an email to hosting@peaceworks.ca and after verifying that you are authorized, we will provide you with a secure link to your account credentials.

In the event you think that your site has been compromised, you should open a support ticket with our Hosting team so that we can investigate your case. To do so, send an email to hosting@peaceworks.ca to open a ticket. Note that this will result in billable work.

Statistics about visitors to your website are gathered by three applications in cPanel. Each provides a slightly different view so you can choose your favourite. In cPanel, find the “Metrics” section and click on “Analog”, “Awstats”, or “Webalizer”. If you don’t know your way to cPanel, see “How can I access my cPanel account?”.

Backups are performed nightly and are stored off-site for 30 days. We can restore an entire website or database from the nightly backup. Note that this may result in repair work being required on the website or database after being restored. This will be the responsibility of whomever supports the website. In the case that this is PeaceWorks it will be subject to your hourly rate. To request that the website be restored from a backup please send an email to hosting@peaceworks.ca.

There are a few ways to do this.

• You can use cPanel’s “File Manager” utility (in the “Files” section of cPanel). If you don’t know your way to cPanel, see “How can I access my cPanel account?”.
• You can use FTPS. You will first have to set up accounts using cPanel’s “FTP Accounts” utility (in the “Files” section of cPanel). If you don’t know your way to cPanel, see “How can I access my cPanel account?”.
• You can use SSH (secure shell). Use the SSH terminal of your choice (such as PuTTY) and enter the domain name of your website as the server to which you are connecting. Use your cPanel credentials to log in.
• You can use SFTP (FTP via SSH). Use the FTP client of your choice (such as FileZilla) and enter the domain name of your website as the server to which you are connecting. Use your cPanel credentials to log in.

If you don’t know your cPanel credentials, please send an email to hosting@peaceworks.ca and we will help you out.