HF PanelDocsv1.0.0

Glossary

The words used in HF Panel and this documentation, from A to Z.

The terms you meet in the panels and in this documentation, in alphabetical order.

A

A record — a DNS record that points a name at an IPv4 address. AAAA record does the same for IPv6.

Account — see hosting account.

Activity log — the record of sign-ins and changes. Administrators see the whole server's (Server Admin › Security › Activity log); customers see their own account's.

Addon domain — an extra website in a hosting account, with its own folder.

Administrator — a person with full control of the server, who signs in to Server Admin.

ALIAS record — a DNS record that works like a CNAME on the bare domain (example.com).

API — the interface programs use to talk to HF Panel, at https://api.yourdomain.com:2087/v1. A browser gets "403 Forbidden" there.

API token — a secret key a program sends with each API request. Made under Password & security.

App installer — the Control Panel's Apps screen: installs WordPress and other web applications in one click.

AutoSSL — HF Panel's automatic free Let's Encrypt certificates. A domain gets one within minutes of pointing at the server, and it renews by itself.

B

Backup — a copy of an account's files, databases and email. Nightly backups are set up under Server Admin › System › Backups; customers restore theirs under Files › Backups.

Brand / white label — your own name, logo and colours in every panel, HF Mail and the emails, set under Server Admin › System › White label.

C

Catch-all — a setting that delivers mail sent to any unknown address at a domain to one mailbox.

Classic address — https://panel.yourdomain.com:8443. With the separate panels switched off, everyone signs in here.

Cloud firewall — a firewall your server provider runs in front of the server (sometimes called a security group). Its ports must be opened as well as the server's own firewall.

Cluster — see extra server.

Company name — the server's own company name, asked by the installer. It appears in email footers and sender names.

Control Panel — the customers' panel at https://panel.yourdomain.com:8443.

Cron job — a command that runs on a schedule.

Customer — the owner of a hosting account, who uses the Control Panel.

D

DKIM — a signature on outgoing email that proves it came from your server. HF Panel signs mail with the selector hf.

DMARC — a DNS record that tells other mail servers what to do with mail that fails SPF or DKIM.

DNS zone — the set of DNS records of one domain. When the DNS server is on, HF Panel keeps a zone for every hosted domain.

DNS setup — the Control Panel page that shows, for each domain, which records it needs and whether each one is right.

E

Edition — HF Panel installed from the public installer is the licensed edition: it needs a licence key.

Extra server (node) — another HF Panel server that joins the main one with a join code, so accounts can live on it while DNS and billing stay on the main server.

F

Feature list — a set of tools switched off for the packages it is given to.

Forwarder — an email address that passes its mail on to another address.

G

Glue record — a record at the domain registrar that gives the IP address of a nameserver named inside the same domain, such as ns1.yourdomain.com.

H

HF Files — the File Manager app, at https://files.yourdomain.com.

HF Mail — the webmail app, at https://webmail.yourdomain.com.

HF Panel — the server software: Server Admin, Reseller Panel, Control Panel and the apps.

HF Server — the desktop app for running websites on your own computer.

HF Studio — the database app, at https://db.yourdomain.com.

HF Tunnel — public links, through your server, to websites running on someone's own computer.

hf-panel — the server command for administrators, run as root over SSH. See Server commands.

Hosting account — one customer's space on the server: a Linux user, its websites, email, databases and files, and its Control Panel login.

I

IMAP — the protocol mail apps use to read mail on the server (port 993). Mail apps connect to imap.yourdomain.com.

Import accounts — the Server Admin screen that brings hosting accounts over from full account backups made on another server.

L

Licence key — the key that lets the server run HF Panel, in the form HFL-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX. It is tied to the server's IPv4 address.

Log in (as) — the button that lets an administrator or reseller open a customer's Control Panel without their password.

M

Mail health — the Server Admin page that checks SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MX, reverse DNS and blocklists.

Main domain — the first domain of a hosting account.

MX record — the DNS record that says which server receives a domain's email. For domains on HF Panel it is mail.yourdomain.com.

N

Nameserver — a server that answers DNS questions for a domain. HF Panel's are ns1. and ns2.yourdomain.com by default.

P

Package — the plan of a hosting account: its limits and price.

Panel port — the port the panels open on, 8443 unless you chose another with --port.

Parked domain — another name for an existing website (an alias).

Passkey — a sign-in with Face ID, a fingerprint, Windows Hello or a security key instead of a password.

PTR record (reverse DNS) — the record that turns the server's IP address back into a name. It must be mail.yourdomain.com, and it is set at your server provider, not at your DNS provider.

R

Reseller — a person or company that sells hosting from your server to their own customers, using the Reseller Panel.

Reseller Panel — the resellers' panel at https://reseller.yourdomain.com:8443.

Role addresses — postmaster@, abuse@, hostmaster@, webmaster@, dmarc@, tls@ and security@ of the server's own domain. They forward to the administrator.

S

Separate panels (portals) — Server Admin, Control Panel and Reseller Panel each on its own name with its own sign-in. On by default; hf-panel portals off switches them off.

Server Admin — the administrators' panel at https://server.yourdomain.com:8443.

Server health — the Server Admin page that checks services, configuration, disk, memory, SSL, DNS, firewall, clock, mail queue, updates and backups, with one-click fixes.

SFTP — secure file transfer over SSH, on port 22. Each account's SFTP login sees only its own home folder.

SPF — a DNS record that lists the servers allowed to send a domain's email.

Staff — extra administrator logins, with full or read-only access.

Subdomain — a name under a domain, such as blog.example.com.

Suspend — take an account offline without deleting it.

T

Team member — a person a customer lets into their Control Panel with a limited role.

Trial — a free 14-day licence, one per server IP and email address, started by typing T at the installer's licence question.

Two-factor login (2FA) — a second step at sign-in: a 6-digit code from an authenticator app, or a backup code.

W

Web Disk — a customer's files opened as a network drive (WebDAV) at https://files.yourdomain.com/dav/.

Webmail — reading and sending email in the browser: HF Mail.