Reseller : cant edit DNS of users!

[Tim]

Why isn't possible for a reseller to have DNS administration ? Just like a admin has!

Now u need to find the user, login, go to dns admin.

New feature?

[quackweb]

No, the reseller has DNS control, you just need to be on the User Level to use it. Also, make sure you are allowing the reseller to have DNS control otherwise they won't be able to use it.

[Tim]

I'm not talking about the damain(s) of the reseller itself, but of his users!

The ADMIN can edit ALL the domains with DNS Administration.
I want to have this feature also for the reseller, so the reseller can edit ALL the domains of his users.

[dannygoh]

I believe "quackweb" was trying to say, log in as your client and change the DNS for the User Area

[Tim]

I know about this option, but that's a 'fast option'. Why dont they integrate a DNS administration for Resellers?

Now do you need to find the user, login with that user and change the DNS

Else u just login as reseller and go to DNS admin.

[jlasman]

The ADMIN can edit ALL the domains with DNS Administration.
I want to have this feature also for the reseller, so the reseller can edit ALL the domains of his users.
I'd love it as well.

It's not as easy to do as you'd think at first.

The admin panel simply lists all the zones.

The user's domain panel simply lists the zone that matches the domain name.

Both are easy to figure out.

But the reseller panel would have to look at a cross-reference file to determine which zones to show.

Jeff

[mimic]

How is this feature standing right now?

I still don't see any option except the one thorough the user-level.

[DirectAdmin Support]

Hello,

At this time, you must use the "login-as" button and edit the user dns options through their account. Because of the number of feature requests, we can't do them all, but do prioritize them as they come in based on demand, usefulness, etc.. and select them based on things like that. The fact that a Reseller can already edit a User's dns (but with more clicks) means it's more likely to get a lower priority as to some other feature that doesn't exist by any means. Basically this feature would be slightly redundant, but admittedly quicker. So it may happen in the future if it gets higher up the priority list.

John

[dlong500]

I'd like to see this feature too. It'd be great if it can make it into a future DirectAdmin version soon.

[tillo]

I think that this feature should not be added. It's a matter of context.

There are things concerning the admin, things concerning the reseller and things concerning the user.
All DNS zones are surely of admin context.
An user's zone is surely in that user's context.
What has a reseller to do with his user's DNS zones? Nothing.

Of course he should be able to access and modify them, but the "right" way is to "wear the user access like a glove". This is the best, cleaner, faster way to do this kind of things.
Why faster? Because if you want to add user's DNS administration to resellers, sooner or later any user function will be accessible to their resellers, and any reseller function to their admin. And that will be a mess.

My 2 cents. If your resellers are pushing you, copy/paste my conclusion :)

[floyd]

If you cannot wait for DA to do it then write a plugin to do it.

[dlong500]

tillo, it all depends on how you have your server setup. In my situation I am simply sharing a server with a couple of other people that are basically "admins". I'm the primary admin of the server, and all the functionality they need is in a reseller account except for the issue of DNS administration. They don't (and shouldn't) need access to the main admin account.

Another way to look at it would be to have sub-admin accounts that have full admin privileges (and control panel options) but only for the users and domains that the sub-admin creates.

In any case, I'm not complaining, I was just saying I would support the option for resellers to be able to edit DNS zones all in one place for all of their users.

[jlasman]

dlong500,

What do you mean when you write sub-admin accounts? Do you mean that you use DirectAdmin to create additional administrators?

If so, then you should know they're NOT secure; any admin has the rights to become any other admin. The login to a different admin does NOT require a password. So if you create a new admin account for another user, that user can click on any admin account, including the main one, called admin, and click on Login to become that admin account.

You should not give an admin account to anyone you don't fully trust will full access to your server.

Jeff

[dlong500]

jlasman,

No, I am not creating additional administrator accounts. When I said sub-admin I was proposing an idea for a new feature that would create a new type of user account that would essentially be an admin account except that it would only have access to users and sites underneath it.

The idea is that you could have multiple admins sharing a single server and each admin gets his/her own virtual DirectAdmin administrator account but then there would also be a superadmin or root account that could access everything. This would allow the scenario when you are basically sharing a server with trusted people but you still want to compartmentalize each admin's access.

[floyd]

that would essentially be an admin account except that it would only have access to users and sites underneath it.

That is a reseller. As you said the only feature missing is the ability to edit DNS and its not really missing as it is only 3 clicks away.

1. Click List Users
2. Click the username
3. Click Login as username

That takes maybe 30 seconds extra.

Are you doing a lot of editing DNS?

[dlong500]

look, I never said resellers couldn't edit the DNS at all. The issue as I have stated has never been an inability to perform a specific function. And, again, I am not complaining but simply saying it is something that I would be happy to see.

The whole point of having a control panel from an administration point of view is to save time and make things more convenient. Adding DNS management to the reseller level may only save 30 seconds for a specific DNS edit, but it is going to be more convenient for some people and give them the ability to switch between different zones a whole lot faster.

If we are going to start nitpicking over feature requests from others just because we don't find the feature useful then that doesn't promote a very welcoming or gracious attitude within the community regarding the development of the control panel. And yes, if it is a crucial feature for someone they could spend the time to write a plugin, but does that mean they aren't allowed to request the feature at all to begin with? All we are talking about here is a simple link in the reseller level for DNS administration, nothing that would bloat or clutter the panel.

In any case, it's not a big deal to me (though I would use the feature), but some people in special circumstances might find it highly functional if they happen to need to do a lot of DNS editing but don't have an admin account.

[floyd]

dlong500 you suggested adding a whole new level of access just to accommodate one new feature. Why not just add the feature to the reseller level?

Now if you had a list of features that would be in the sub admin level that are not currently in the reseller level that would be different.

If we are going to start nitpicking over feature requests

Well you didn't post it in the feature request section. If you want DA to see it as a feature request then you might want to post it there. Otherwise they might not see it here unless someone brings it to their attention.

[dlong500]

dlong500 you suggested adding a whole new level of access just to accommodate one new feature. Why not just add the feature to the reseller level?

Now if you had a list of features that would be in the sub admin level that are not currently in the reseller level that would be different.
Well, I didn't get into specifics because I was only brainstorming on possible options. There certainly could conceivably be other "admin" type features besides DNS administration that might be useful to have available to other accounts besides the main admin account especially under the scenario I mentioned where multiple trusted people are sharing the same server.

Well you didn't post it in the feature request section. If you want DA to see it as a feature request then you might want to post it there. Otherwise they might not see it here unless someone brings it to their attention.
I wasn't specifically asking for the sub-admin feature though, which is one reason why my posts are not in a feature request forum. I was only brainstorming. However, the main reason why I wasn't posting in a feature request section regarding the reseller DNS administration is because I just replied to someone else's existing thread. And there already was a reply from DirectAdmin support saying that, while it is lower priority, the feature may come to a future version. All I said was I'd like to see it too!

Peace...

[jlasman]

Go ahead and argue. I need an excuse to close the thread :D.

Feature requests should be in the Feature Request subforum. It's always okay to start a thread to make a feature request that hasn't been suggested before.

Jeff

[dlong500]

Go ahead and argue. I need an excuse to close the thread :D.

Feature requests should be in the Feature Request subforum. It's always okay to start a thread to make a feature request that hasn't been suggested before.

Jeff

Are you referring to me? Did you not read what I just posted? I only REPLIED to a thread that already existed for over year! Who cares if its not in the right section? I can't move it there, all I did was reply to it.

Good grief, the (perceived) hostility is astounding to me. I've been very grateful for the information both you and floyd have given in the DirectAdmin forums as I've been migrating to DirectAdmin, but this is just odd to me. I post a simple "I'd like that too" reply to an existing thread and I immediately get someone who doesn't want the feature and two people who jump all over my motives and "incorrect" thread location. You yourself posted a reply to the thread in Feb 2007 also saying you'd like the feature.

Close the thread if you'd like. It obviously isn't helping anyone anymore. I just think there are more civilized ways to respond to people than what happened here today.

[tillo]

Sorry if you feel I wasn't civilized :o it wasn't my intention to upset you.
I just did a modest contribution to the subject because I have experience in software design. What's asked here is an exception to a well implemented model (sysadmin/manager/customer), and IMHO shouldn't be accepted.

My opinion (or "my 2 cents", like I said) means that you can think about it differently and you can share your motives, but there is no point on heating up; no hostility at all.
I guess that's the same for the others.

[dlong500]

Sorry if you feel I wasn't civilized
I wasn't directing my statement specifically at you. I understand your point of view and respect that. I guess I just had a rough day in general and wasn't expecting a bunch of criticisms to what I thought was an innocuous post.

Back to the issue at hand however, I do understand your issue of having a cleanly separated model for the control panel and I completely agree with that. In this particular case, however, the DNS administration is one area that I think would be useful to a reseller not only for the sake of saving time (however little it may be) but also for the ability to add zones without having to add dummy user accounts for sites not hosted on the server. If this is already an option for resellers then please let me know. Some admins may not want resellers to be able to do this, but in my situation it would be nice.

Also, considering that the DNS administration is already available to the admin level, then I don't think it breaks the "model" to add it to the reseller level. Otherwise you could just argue that an admin should also just log in as the user to edit DNS settings.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents (or maybe more like 2 bucks) on the subject. :D

[floyd]

Webmin will do what you want.

[jlasman]

I'm sorry if you saw my post as hostile. Surely you realize that every time there's a new post to a thread that thread goes to the top of everyone's list of new posts... it wastes a lot of everyone's time if the post is not relevant to the original discussion.

You're right; the thread has served its purpose. It's now closed.

And I'm sorry if you think my suggestion that you actually post in the Feature Request subforum is hostile. It was meant as a simple suggestion as to how to get your suggestion considered.

Jeff

[jlasman]

In this particular case, however, the DNS administration is one area that I think would be useful to a reseller not only for the sake of saving time (however little it may be) but also for the ability to add zones without having to add dummy user accounts for sites not hosted on the server. If this is already an option for resellers then please let me know.
It's not. To allow resellers to create DNS accounts separately you also need to have a way to limit the amount of DNS zones and even records in zones, that they can create; otherwise your reseller can buy your least expensive reseller account and build a huge DNS hosting business on top of it. So there's a good reason, at least for now, to limit DNS changes to users for the domains they set up; those limits are already built in to DirectAdmin.

Another consideration is that for better or for worse, DirectAdmin checks to see if a domain exists on the server by looking at the zone files. So if a reseller sets up DNS first, and then sets up the user, the user creation will fail.
Some admins may not want resellers to be able to do this, but in my situation it would be nice.
Then you've got three options :) :

Build a plugin, hire someone else to build a plugin, or create a Feature Request in the proper forum.

Jeff

[jlasman]

Webmin will do what you want.
I think that what the poster wants is allow his resellers to create their own DNS zones, and I don't think Webmin or Usermin offers that.

Jeff