Setup subdmain for my users

Hi Experts,

I am a newbie to Linux world!!!. I do experience with C++ and Python
programming on Linux. Now I am developing a web site using django
framework (python based). I am planing to use CentOS and plan to put up
the site for intenet users.

I have a spl requirements.. If my users signup, I will give a
sub-domain for them.. For example,if mysite called XYZ.com, and the
user named 'Krish' signup on the XYZ.com, I want to provide him a
domain called krish.XYZ.com.

Is this possible? If then what I need to do? please guide me..


Thanks & Regards,

Krish

In comp.os.linux.networking (E-Mail Removed):
> Hi Experts,

> I am a newbie to Linux world!!!. I do experience with C++ and Python
> programming on Linux. Now I am developing a web site using django
> framework (python based). I am planing to use CentOS and plan to put up
> the site for intenet users.

> I have a spl requirements.. If my users signup, I will give a
> sub-domain for them.. For example,if mysite called XYZ.com, and the
> user named 'Krish' signup on the XYZ.com, I want to provide him a
> domain called krish.XYZ.com.

> Is this possible? If then what I need to do? please guide me..

Sure, but has large security risks, needs some planning to reject
usernames invalid in DNS name space and you need to control the
nameservers authoritative for XYZ.com of course.

I wouldn't automate this, it's likely you will be abused and
hopefully disconnected from the internet asap.

--
Michael Heiming (X-PGP-Sig > GPG-Key ID: EDD27B94)
mail: echo (E-Mail Removed) | perl -pe 'y/a-z/n-za-m/'
#bofh excuse 19: floating point processor overflow

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> Hi Experts,
>
> I am a newbie to Linux world!!!. I do experience with C++ and Python
> programming on Linux. Now I am developing a web site using django
> framework (python based). I am planing to use CentOS and plan to put up
> the site for intenet users.

And you're a Linux "newbie".. oh my

> I have a spl requirements.. If my users signup, I will give a
> sub-domain for them.. For example,if mysite called XYZ.com, and the
> user named 'Krish' signup on the XYZ.com, I want to provide him a
> domain called krish.XYZ.com.
>
> Is this possible?

Of course - anything is possible.

> If then what I need to do?

Couple of questions:

A. do you host your own DNS ?
I don't mean "do you run a nameserver" - any n00b can do that.
I mean is your nameserver authoritative for your domain ?
If your answer is "I don't know", then believe me, it isn't.

B. are you talking about hosting full-blown DNS here, or just a web site
with their name in it ?

If the latter, apache can do this easily - there is even a special
configuration to make this possible with a minimum of trouble.

If the former - read, read some more, digest, and read again.


J.

On 16 Oct 2006, in the Usenet newsgroup comp.os.linux.networking, in article
<(E-Mail Removed). com>, (E-Mail Removed)
wrote:

> I am a newbie to Linux world!!!. I do experience with C++ and Python
>programming on Linux. Now I am developing a web site using django
>framework (python based). I am planing to use CentOS and plan to put up
>the site for intenet users.

You really should gain experience with basic networking before you jump
off the bridge like that.

>I have a spl requirements.. If my users signup, I will give a
>sub-domain for them.. For example,if mysite called XYZ.com, and the
>user named 'Krish' signup on the XYZ.com, I want to provide him a
>domain called krish.XYZ.com.

Assuming you have approval from your ISP and are willing to take the
responsibility for any abuse you users may do, there is nothing very
difficult setting up sub-domains. The question is, what would these
sub-domains be used for? Mail? (Be extremely careful.) Web hosting?
IRC chat?

>Is this possible? If then what I need to do? please guide me..

You need to explain what the domains are to be used for. Creating the
domains as children of your registered domain (and therefore you don't
need to notify an Internet registrar) may be as simple as sub-delegating
DNS zones - although unless you have a block of IP addresses, the rDNS
is going to be a nightmare that gets your domain listed in various
blocklists if the address range isn't already in multiple lists. On
your _main_ domain, don't forget to set up AND CLOSELY MONITOR the
mail role accounts required by RFC2142.

Old guy

Hi,

I am sorry about very little explanation about my requirements..Here
some more explanations..

Hosting Environment
------------------------------

- 'N' number of dedicated server/Colocation server running on Linux
('CentOS')
- I have my own registered domain (say xyz.com)
- Apache web server with mod_python (+Django , a lovable python
framework (www.djangoproject.com)

Basically our site shall based on HTTP protocol. We are not leasing any
other protocols like FTP, Mail, POP3, SMTP, Telnet etc to users. It is
strictly HTTP and for securtity reason we would use HTTPS also (for
user registration, login etc)

Our website goal is social networking.. For example you can consider
myspace.com, where the user register and blog their posts...

When the user sign-up, I want to provide him a subdomain to access his
webpage through internet(for example, blogspot.com does this). Obviosly
his/her site should be able to accessed via www.xyz.com/Krish or
Krish.xyz.com. But for the sub-domain, the user is allowed to access
via HTTP (port , 80) protocol.


I worked on HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, SMTP, POP3, TELNET, etc protocols. I
worked on web related technologies. But I didn't get clear picture
about DNS and setting up a DNS for my requirements.

Here is the use case for the same..

1. Anonymous user open the web on any GUI browser (www.xyz.com)
2. He clicks the SignUp button. The page is redirected to
HTTPS://www.xyz.com/signup
3. He submit the desired userid and click register button. (The request
is directed to HTTPS://www.xyz.com/singup via POST method)
4. He has been sent a email to confirm his membership
5. Upon the confirmation, a subdomain is created as his userid and user
membership has been activiated
6. Now user can access his home page via userid.xyz.com


Here what I need
-------------------------

1. How to do this setup in automated manner?
2. To run the DNS server for my sub-domain do I need to pay money?
3. Can I run my own DNS server free of cost?
4. Recommend me some DNS servers available in free of cost(most likely
BSD license) and supports dynamic registration. (Server should not
require any restart like windows :-) )
5. Am I missing something in the big picture :-( ?

I am very sorry about my bad english :-(

Thanks & Regards,

Krish

On 2006-10-17, (E-Mail Removed) <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> - I have my own registered domain (say XXXXXXX)

Don't say domains that you either don't own or aren't reserved.
If you are showing an example domain, use example.com, example.org,
or some other reserved-for-the-purpose domain.

> When the user sign-up, I want to provide him a subdomain to access his
> webpage through internet(for example, blogspot.com does this). Obviosly
> his/her site should be able to accessed via www.xyz.com/Krish or
> Krish.xyz.com. But for the sub-domain, the user is allowed to access
> via HTTP (port , 80) protocol.

You can do this via DNS wildcards and Apache's mod_vhost_alias module.
You should probably read the docs for these features very carefully
before implementing them.

> 2. To run the DNS server for my sub-domain do I need to pay money?
> 3. Can I run my own DNS server free of cost?

The answer to 3 is yes, so the answer to 2 is pretty much no.

> 4. Recommend me some DNS servers available in free of cost(most likely
> BSD license) and supports dynamic registration. (Server should not
> require any restart like windows :-) )

Recent versions of BIND support wildcard domains (which isn't the
same as ''dynamic registration'').

> 5. Am I missing something in the big picture :-( ?

I think you may be assuming that you need more than you do: since
you are the registrar for your subdomain, you can do whatever you
want to it, but you're also responsible for its use. If I abuse,
say, kkeller.example.com, or abuse others with it, they'll come to
you, not me. (Personally, I would suggest further subdomaining
your domain for this purpose: say, krish.blogs.example.com; this
way you can restrict your wildcards to *.blogs.example.com, and
insulate your other domain names from your blog-like sites.)

--keith

--
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(try just my userid to email me)
AOLSFAQ=http://www.therockgarden.ca/aolsfaq.txt
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On 16 Oct 2006, in the Usenet newsgroup comp.os.linux.networking, in article
<(E-Mail Removed) .com>, (E-Mail Removed)
wrote:

>Our website goal is social networking.. For example you can consider
>myspace.com, where the user register and blog their posts...

As long as you monitor that.

>When the user sign-up, I want to provide him a subdomain to access his
>webpage through internet(for example, blogspot.com does this).

Be VERY VERY CAREFUL. You are just begging to be abused.

>I worked on HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, SMTP, POP3, TELNET, etc protocols. I
>worked on web related technologies. But I didn't get clear picture
>about DNS and setting up a DNS for my requirements.

That's because they are quite different services. I suppose you could
start with the DNS-HOWTO.

>Here is the use case for the same..

That is a disaster waiting to happen.

>1. How to do this setup in automated manner?

DO NOT. The world has more than enough spam sites, and really doesn't
need any more. The problem with your idea is that there is no one looking
at things BEFORE the spammer gets to use your site.

>2. To run the DNS server for my sub-domain do I need to pay money?

Your domain registrar _should_ have required two different IP addresses
for name servers (ICANN requirement), and these should not be located on
the same site (redundancy). Thus, you will probably need to pay someone
to host the 'off-site' server. Your 'sub-domains' would appear no worse
than having multiple hosts in a single domain (www.userid.example.com
can be an alias for userid.example.com - which from a DNS standpoint is
the same as hostname.example.com), which the DNS howto covers.

>3. Can I run my own DNS server free of cost?

One of them - the other should be elsewhere. If you have a second ISP,
or can host the second server on your ISPs site, that's fine. You just
don't want (example) a simple power outage caused by a blown fuse taking
out all of your systems.

>4. Recommend me some DNS servers available in free of cost(most likely
>BSD license) and supports dynamic registration. (Server should not
>require any restart like windows :-) )

What's wrong with bind? But I warn you again - DO NOT AUTOMATE THIS. There
must be a knowledgeable human in the loop who approves things on a case by
case basis.

>5. Am I missing something in the big picture :-( ?

Yes, I suspect so. You are proposing something that is terribly easy to
abuse, and the Internet has plenty of systems like that already - we don't
need any more.

>I am very sorry about my bad english :-(

Your English is fine.

Old guy

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>
> When the user sign-up, I want to provide him a subdomain to access his
> webpage through internet(for example, blogspot.com does this). Obviosly
> his/her site should be able to accessed via www.xyz.com/Krish or
> Krish.xyz.com. But for the sub-domain, the user is allowed to access
> via HTTP (port , 80) protocol.
>
>

Use name based virtual hosts on apache,
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/vhosts/

or user home directories.
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/howto/public_html.html

> I worked on HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, SMTP, POP3, TELNET, etc protocols. I
> worked on web related technologies. But I didn't get clear picture
> about DNS and setting up a DNS for my requirements.

Simple add an A record to the "domain" for the site and have bind reread
it's conf. If you use user home directories you won't need this as the
user would access his site as http://www.example.invalid/~<user name>.

>
> Here is the use case for the same..
>
> 1. Anonymous user open the web on any GUI browser (www.xyz.com)
> 2. He clicks the SignUp button. The page is redirected to
> HTTPS://www.xyz.com/signup
> 3. He submit the desired userid and click register button. (The request
> is directed to HTTPS://www.xyz.com/singup via POST method)
> 4. He has been sent a email to confirm his membership
> 5. Upon the confirmation, a subdomain is created as his userid and user
> membership has been activiated
> 6. Now user can access his home page via userid.xyz.com
>
>
> Here what I need
> -------------------------
>
> 1. How to do this setup in automated manner?

CGI Perl Scripts.

> 2. To run the DNS server for my sub-domain do I need to pay money?

You'll need at least two.

> 3. Can I run my own DNS server free of cost?

No you will still need an internet connection and electricity.
You'll also need a computer to run it on.

> 4. Recommend me some DNS servers available in free of cost(most likely
> BSD license) and supports dynamic registration. (Server should not
> require any restart like windows :-) )

Bind.
http://www.isc.org/index.pl?/sw/bind/

> 5. Am I missing something in the big picture :-( ?

Security.

--
Dancin' in the ruins tonight
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