Getting Started with FimuroHost Windows Hosting

FimuroHost Windows Hosting (Starter, Premium and Business plans) runs your website on Microsoft IIS, so it can serve ASP.NET, Classic ASP and Microsoft SQL Server (MS SQL) based sites, as well as PHP and MySQL. You manage it in StackCP, the same control panel used for our Cloud Hosting, so email, SSL and DNS work the same way.

This guide takes you from a brand-new plan to a live website. Each step links to a more detailed article if you need it.

Before you start

• Your Windows Hosting service should show as Active in the client area. A service waiting for payment cannot be managed yet.
• Know what your site is built with. Windows Hosting is the right choice for .aspx, .asp, ASP.NET MVC or Web Forms and MS SQL. For WordPress or other PHP apps, Linux hosting is usually a better fit (see Linux or Windows Hosting: Which Does Your Website Need?).
• Have your site files ready. For ASP.NET, that means the published output (with the bin folder), not your Visual Studio source code.

Step 1: Open StackCP

1. Log in to your FimuroHost client area at https://app.fimurohost.com.
2. Open Services and select your Windows Hosting plan (Starter, Premium or Business).
3. Click Login to Control Panel. StackCP opens for that website, already signed in.

Bookmark the client area rather than the StackCP page itself. Single sign-on links expire, so an old StackCP bookmark may ask you to log in again.

Step 2: Give a new plan up to 30 minutes

When a Windows plan is first created, the web servers need time to connect securely to the storage that holds your files. For roughly the first 30 minutes you may see an HTTP 500 error on the preview address even though nothing is wrong with your files. Wait half an hour before you start troubleshooting.

Step 3: Upload your website

You can upload with the StackCP File Manager (good for a few files) or with an FTP client such as FileZilla (best for a full site). FTP is locked by default for security, so unlock it first from the FTP panel in StackCP. Full details are in Uploading Files to Windows Hosting.

Put your site in the web root, the folder your domain serves pages from. On StackCP packages this is normally public_html; if your File Manager shows a different root folder for the site, use that one. Everything the site needs sits inside it:

A common mistake is uploading the project folder itself, so the site ends up at public_html/MySite/default.aspx. Visitors then get a 403.14 Forbidden error on the home page. Move the contents up one level.

Step 4: Know which home page IIS looks for

When someone visits your domain without a file name, IIS serves the first of these that exists, in this order:

1. default.aspx
2. Default.asp
3. index.php
4. index.htm
5. Default.htm
6. index.asp
7. index.html
8. iisstart.htm

If you have two candidates, for example an old index.htm and a new index.html, the one higher in the list wins. Delete the one you don't want, or set your own order in web.config (see web.config Essentials for Windows Hosting).

Step 5: Choose the .NET version

ASP.NET sites need the right runtime. In StackCP go to Web Tools → Manage App Pool and pick v4.0 for any site built on .NET Framework 4.x (including 4.8), or v2.0 for older 2.0–3.5 sites. The pool may start on v2.0, which makes modern sites fail with a configuration error, so check this early. See How to Choose the ASP.NET Version.

Step 6: Create your database (if needed)

ASP.NET and Classic ASP sites usually use MS SQL; PHP sites use MySQL. Create the database in StackCP, then update your connection string. See Create an MS SQL Database and Connection Strings or Using MySQL on Windows Hosting.

Step 7: Test on the preview address

StackCP shows a temporary preview address ending in stackstaging.com. Use it to check the site before your domain points to us. It only works over http://, so don't enable HTTPS redirects until you test on the real domain. ASP.NET code that builds absolute links from a hard-coded domain will send you to the live domain, which is expected. Alternatively, edit your computer's hosts file to test on the real domain name.

Step 8: Point your domain

Set your domain's nameservers to ns1.stackdns.com and ns2.stackdns.com. If your domain is registered with FimuroHost, do this under Domains in the client area; otherwise change it at your registrar. DNS changes usually take a few hours, occasionally up to 48 hours.

Step 9: Turn on SSL

Once the domain resolves to us, activate the free SSL certificate in StackCP (Security → SSL/TLS) and then redirect visitors to HTTPS. See SSL and HTTPS on Windows Hosting.

Common problems

• 500 error on a brand-new plan: wait 30 minutes (Step 2).
• 403.14 Forbidden: no default page in the web root. Check where you uploaded the files.
• “Unrecognized attribute targetFramework”: the app pool is on v2.0. Switch it to v4.0.
• Any other IIS error: see Troubleshooting Common IIS Errors.

Need help?

If something doesn't work as described, open a support ticket from your client area or message us on WhatsApp at 01818160926. Tell us your domain name and the exact error message, and we will take it from there.