Rackspace Email Extended For WHMCS

About Rackspace Email Extended For WHMCS

Rackspace Email Extended for WHMCS is a fully featured addon module that allows you to resell and manage email accounts entirely from your WHMCS system! Owing to our product, your customers will be able to conveniently manage all aspects of Rackspace email accounts like e.g. mailboxes, aliases or mobile sync. As an administrator, you will be able to customize Rackspace products to meet the needs of your customers.

• Admin Area Features:

✔ Create/Terminate Account

✔ Change Package And Password Of Account

✔ Define Service Type Per Product

✔ Configure Resource Limits Per Product

• Client Area Features:

✔ Email Hosting - Remote Access And Management Of:

✔ Mailboxes

✔ Spam

✔ Aliases

✔ Mobile Sync

✔ Storage Notification

✔ Microsoft Exchange - Remote Access And Management Of:

✔ Mailboxes

✔ Spam

✔ Contacts

• Available Configurable Options

✔ Max Mailboxes

✔ Mailbox Size

✔ Extra Storage

✔ Active Sync Licenses

✔ BlackBerry Licenses

✔ Exchange Max Mailboxes

✔ Exchange Extra Storage

• General Info:

✔ Integrated With Advanced Billing For WHMCS - Actual Server Resource Usage Billing (read more)

✔ Multi-Language Support

✔ Supports PHP 5.4 Up To PHP 7

✔ Supports WHMCS Templates Five and Six

✔ Supports WHMCS V6 and V7

Installation and Configuration

In this tutorial we will show you how to successfully install and set up Rackspace Email Extended For WHMCS. We will guide you step by step through the whole installation process.

Installation

1. Log in to our client area and download the module.

2. In the downloaded file you will find two packages that support different PHP versions. As presented on the screen below, the first one is dedicated to PHP 7, while the second one is aimed at PHP 5.4 up to PHP 5.6. It does not apply to open source versions. Note: You can check current PHP version in your WHMCS. To do so proceed to 'Utilities' → 'System' → 'PHP Info'.

3. Extract the downloaded file and choose the one with the right PHP version. Upload and extract the PHP file into the main WHMCS directory. The content of PHP version files should look like this.

4. When you install Rackspace Email Extended For WHMCS for the first time you have to rename 'license_RENAME.php' file. File is located in 'modules/servers/rackspaceEmailExtended/license_RENAME.php'. Rename it from 'license_RENAME.php' to 'license.php'.

5. In order to configure your license key you have to edit a previously renamed 'license.php' file. Enter your license key between quotation marks as presented on the following screen. You can find your license key in our client area → 'My Products'.

Server Configuration

6. Set up a new server and a product. To do so, log in to your WHMCS. Move to 'Setup' → 'Products/Services' → 'Servers'. Afterwards, press 'Add New Server'.

7. To proceed, you will need to obtain your Rackspace API keys. To do so, log in to your reseller 'Rackspace Account'. Afterwards, in 'My Account' section press 'Generate API Keys'.

8. Next, press 'Generate New Keys' as shown on the screen below.

9. Enter your server name and choose 'RackspaceEmailExtended' from a 'Type' dropdown menu. Copy both 'User Key' and 'Secret Key' and paste them into 'Username' and 'Password' fields. Enter the 'Hostname' address to your Webmail server - it is required for the 'Login to Webmail' function in the client area. Afterwards, press 'Save Changes'.

10. After you configure your server correctly, you will see a following screen. Now, you need to create a new group for your server. For that purpose press 'Create New Group'.

11. Enter name, click on your previously created server, press 'Add' then press 'Save Changes'.

Product Configuration

12. In order to create and configure product, move to 'Setup' → 'Products/Services' → 'Products/Services'. If you do not have a product group, 'Create a New Group'. If you do, simply go to step 13.

13. Enter product group name and press 'Save Changes'.

14. When you have a product group, you can create your product and assign it to Rackspace Email Extended. If you already have a product, go to step 15. To create a product click on 'Create a New Product'.

15. Afterwards, choose your product type and product group from dropdown menus, enter your product name and press 'Continue'.

16. Now, go to 'Module Settings' section, choose both 'RackspaceEmailExtended' and your previously created server group from dropdown menus. Decide which of the service types you would like to use and choose it from a dropdown menu. Afterwards, enter desired values in configuration fields and press 'Save Changes'. Please note that values do not need to be constant. You can use configurable options to adjust the values. Obtain more information about configurable options here.

17. In the last step you need to create a new client custom field. To do so, proceed to 'Setup' → 'Custom Client Fields'. Fill in 'EmailCustomerID' into field name, tick 'Admin Only ' and press 'Save Changes'.

18. Important! Our module does not automatically download 'EmailCustomerID' for the proper Rackspace customer. To prevent duplicating accounts on Rackspace side you have to manually fill in 'EmailCustomerID' with appropriate value before running 'Create' function. You can find more about it here.

Good job! You have just correctly set up your first product with Rackspace Email. Product after a successful activation presents similarly to the one presented on the screen below.

Management

In the following sections we will try to present all the possibilities of Rackspace Email Extended For WHMCS features.

Configuration of Orders

Rackspace Email Extended For WHMCS allows you to offer a product tailored to customers needs. Let's create such an order. For this purpose you need to create at least one configurable option. In this guide we will create a few more to present you the possibilities of our module. If you are not familiar with configurable options yet, you can read more about them here These are configurable options fields created by us, connected with our Rackspace Email Extended product.

Proceed to your product 'Module Settings' tab now. Here, you need to fill in the marked fields with desired configurable option names as shown on the screen below. Afterwards, press 'Save Changes'.

If you fill out 'Module Settings' with correct names, during order made from the admin area, you should see similar screen to the one below. Otherwise, ensure that configurable option names are filled out correctly.

Let's see how it looks like from the perspective of your customers. As you can see, owing to configurable options, they are now able to define mailbox size, amount of mailboxes, extra storage and many other options. This makes each order perfectly suited to your customers needs.

Client Area

Read through the below sections to see how Rackspace Email Extended For WHMCS is designed to work in the client area.

Email Hosting

Email Hosting is an internet hosting service that manages electronic messages through an email server.

Mailboxes

Let's start with some basic functionality of the module, that is the mailboxes management.

Creating a mailbox is quick and easy. The first step is filling out 'General' form, where you can define user details, password and mailbox size.

Proceed to 'Contact Info' tab and fill it out with its user contact information.

Spam

Spam filtering page allows you to set your preferences, edit blacklists and safelists.

Aliases

With our module you can create aliases and assign chosen mailboxes to them. To do so, press 'Add Alias', add email from 'Members inside this Domain' and press 'Save'.

On the list of aliases you can find information about the amount of mailboxes in each alias.

Mobile Sync

Mobile Sync allows your customers to synchronize their emails, calendars and contacts with their iPhones, Androids or Windows Mobile devices.

Storage Notification

This page allows you to set up notifications sent to your customers when mailbox reaches certain amount of capacity.

Microsoft Exchange

Exchange Hosting is a server system, whereby software enables sending and receiving email messages and other types of interactive communications. It enables sharing of business critical information online or through enabled wireless devices. Let's see how our addon can help you manage your Microsoft Exchange services.

Mailboxes

As in Email Hosting you can create new email accounts and manage them.

Spam

Again, similarly to Email Hosting, you can manage your spam here.

Contacts

Within a few seconds you can add a new contact and manage existing ones.

In order to add a new contact press 'Add Contact' and fill out a form shown on the following screen.

Management of Billing

When you combine Rackspace Email Extended For WHMCS with Advanced Billing For WHMCS, you will be able to set up additional billing options. Module allows you to charge your customers based on the server resources used by them.

With Advanced Billing module, you can also display your customers the current server resource usage and their cost.

Management of Existing Account

You can easily use Rackspace Email For WHMCS module with your already created rackspace account. Instructions below explain how to set it up: 1. Follow Installation instructions. Remember not to click 'Create' button during the entire process. That would unnecessarily create a new rackspace email account. 2. Log in to your Rackspace Email server. 3. Look for 'Acct#' values, these are your clients IDs.

4. Copy '#Acct' to the field marked on the screen below.

Upgrading Product

You can offer an upgrade from Rackspace Email to Rackspace Email Extended. To set it up correctly, proceed to 'Setup' → 'Product/Services' → 'Product/Services' and edit your Rackspace Email product. Now, proceed to 'Upgrades' tab and choose a previously configured 'Rackspace Email Extended' product (in our case it was 'Email Accounts - Email Advanced' ). Additionally, if you wish to offer an upgrade along with possibility to define product resource, tick 'Configurable Options' checkbox. Next, press 'Save Changes'.

Let's upgrade a test product from Rackspace Email to Rackspace Email Extended. To do so, go to the client area and proceed to the Rackspace Email product. Choose 'Upgrade/Downgrade' from 'Management Actions'.

You should see a screen similar to the one shown below. Choose a billing cycle for your Rackspace Email Extended product and press 'Choose Product'.

That's it. Choose the payment method, press 'Click to Continue' button and voila!

Tips

1. You need to be registered in Rackspace as a reseller, only then Rackspace Email Extended For WHMCS will work properly. If you have a regular account in Rackspace, Rackspace Email Extended For WHMCS will not work.

2. Please note that although action 'Suspend' is available in Module Commands, the action itself is not supported by Rackspace API. It is not possible to call this action currently.

Update Instructions

Essential guidance through the process of updating the module is offered here. Keep in mind there is a quick and easy option in our client area that will let you upgrade the license of your module to an open source version at any time - and at a lower price! To take advantage of it, simply use the License Upgrade button located on the product's page and a discounted invoice will be generated automatically.

Common Problems

1. When you have problems with connection, check whether your SELinux or firewall does not block ports.

2. If any undesired numbers appear in your client area, like the ones shown on the following screen, you can easily remove them.

To do so, edit 'your_whmcs/templates/your_template/clientareaproductdetails.tpl' . Find and delete the following code: {foreach from=$configurableoptions item=configoption} <p><h4>{$configoption.optionname}:</h4> {if $configoption.optiontype eq 3}{if $configoption.selectedqty}{$LANG.yes} {else}{$LANG.no}{/if} {elseif $configoption.optiontype eq 4}{$configoption.selectedqty} x {$configoption.selectedoption} {else}{$configoption.selectedoption}{/if}</p> {/foreach} Keep in mind that code may slightly differ from the one shown above.

3. If customer rackspace accounts are duplicated go to step 17 of 'Installation'. You will find there a solution.

4. If, after clicking on 'Login to Webmail' , there is no correct redirection, make sure that the hostname address to your Webmail server is correctly entered in the WHMCS server configuration.