About the Pages server

On this page:

Overview

At Indiana University, Pages home page accounts were migrated to a new server on August 4, 2020. Mercury, the server that previously hosted the Pages accounts, was retired and replaced with a new server called Pages (ssh-pages.iu.edu).

On the Pages server:

Important:
Tilde URLs such as pages.iu.edu/~username have been retired and are no longer supported. Pages URLs with tildes now redirect to 404 error pages. Websites can be accessed with the new URL format of username.pages.iu.edu.
  • Your home directory server is located at /users/username, where username is your IU username.
  • Your home directory contains a directory named web, which is where your website files need to be stored. (This differs from the two directory (www and wwws) style used on Mercury.)
  • Two-Step Login (Duo) authentication is required for SSH and SFTP logins.
  • All websites use the secure HTTPS protocol.
  • All websites have a web address of username.pages.iu.edu (where username is your IU username).
  • You are required to sign the Pages Terms of Service when initially requesting a Pages website. The Terms of Service need to be renewed annually. Until signed, the Pages account will remain inactive and will not be accessible. The account will be active within two hours of the Pages Terms of Service being signed. Notably, this is different from the Acceptable Use Agreement, which is also required when you create a Pages account.
  • Accounts have sendmail disabled by default and will not be able to send mail generated from the server, including from user-created scripts, web forms, and cron jobs running on the server. To request access to send email from Pages, account owners must submit a request from the WebTech website.

Connect to the Pages server

Note:
When connecting to ssh-pages.iu.edu from outside the IU network, use VPN.

Graphical interface client (SFTP)

Use a graphical SFTP application to connect to the Pages server (see SFTP clients recommended for use at IU). These applications provide a visual interface to manage your Pages website files.

Connection details:

  • Hostname: ssh-pages.iu.edu
  • Protocol: SFTP
  • Port: 22
  • Username: Your IU username (all lowercase, NOT your full IU email address)
  • Password: Your IU passphrase
Note:

A Duo push will automatically be sent to the first push device (such as a smartphone) configured for your account. If you do not have a push device configured, a phone call is made to the first phone number configured for your account. Complete the Duo authorization to continue connecting.

If you are having issues with Duo authorization, you may need to review the steps outlined in Manage your Two-Step Login (Duo) devices and settings to enable Duo push notifications or to make sure you have the correct primary phone number set.

If you are unable to use Duo to authenticate, you can connect to the IUanyWare version of WinSCP to bypass the Duo requirement. To learn more about IUanyWare, see Set up and use IUanyWare.

For instructions, see Use a graphical SFTP client with the Pages server.

Command line client (SSH)

Use command line applications such as PuTTY, PowerShell, and Terminal (Mac) to connect to the Pages server. Because these applications don't offer a visual interface to manage your files, you will need to be familiar with Unix commands for managing files; see Introduction to Unix commands.

Connection details:

  • Hostname: ssh-pages.iu.edu
  • Username: Your IU username (all lowercase and should not include your full IU email address)
  • Password: Your IU passphrase

PuTTY

To connect to Pages using PuTTY:

  1. Enter the following (replace username with your IU username):
    • Hostname: username@ssh-pages.iu.edu
    • Port: 22
  2. A new window will open and prompt you for a password. Enter your IU passphrase.
  3. Select your Duo device when prompted.
  4. Optional: Enter a memorable name in the "Saved Sessions" field (for example, SSH for Pages) and click Save. This lets you quickly launch an SSH connection to the Pages server.

Terminal application

To connect to Pages using a terminal application (such as Terminal on Mac, PowerShell, or a command prompt):

  1. Enter ssh username@ssh-pages.iu.edu (replace username with your IU username).
  2. When prompted to enter your password, use your IU passphrase.
  3. Select your Duo device when prompted.

Manage and use SSH keys

You may use SSH keys to connect to Pages. SSH keys are a more secure alternative to logging in with a password or passphrase. For instructions, see Generate and use SSH keys with Sitehost.

Note the following:

  • SSH keys for Pages are managed through the WebTech Enterprise website.
  • You should not manually manage your SSH keys through the authorized_keys file, either through ssh-copy-id or editing the authorized_keys file to change accepted keys. The authorized_keys file is periodically updated by the system to reflect the SSH keys on your WebTech Enterprise profile, and any manual edits will be overwritten.
  • SSH keys from Mercury were not moved to Pages. If you had SSH keys on Mercury, you will need to add the keys to your WebTech Enterprise profile.

Restore files on Pages

Backup and recovery are available for files on Pages. This includes 14 days of nightly backups, which can be recovered manually or by contacting Tier 2 Support. For more, see Restore files on Sitehost or Pages.

Technical changes

  • If you implemented site access restrictions in your .htaccess file, you may need to update its syntax. This is because the Pages server uses Apache version 2.4. For more about these changes, see:
  • You can manage your own robots.txt file on Pages. This file controls if a website is indexed by search engines. By default, each account on Pages has a robots.txt file that blocks all web indexing. You can edit that file to allow certain search engines to index your website, or you can remove the file entirely to allow all indexing. For more about the robots.txt file, see Introduction to robots.txt.

This is document bggi in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2024-02-27 16:57:23.