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Webinoly provides comprehensive tools for managing existing sites, including enabling/disabling, deletion, listing, redirects, and detailed site information.

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Enable and Disable Sites

Temporarily disable or re-enable sites without deleting them.

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Disable a Site

Disable a site (keeps files, removes from active configuration): 
sudo site example.com -off
This removes the site from /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ but keeps:
  • Configuration in /etc/nginx/sites-available/
  • All site files in /var/www/
  • Database (if WordPress)
  • SSL certificates

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Enable a Site

Re-enable a disabled site: 
sudo site example.com -on
This creates a symlink in /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ to activate the site.
NGINX is automatically reloaded after enabling/disabling sites (unless -nginx-reload=off is set).

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Deleting Sites

Permanently remove sites from your server.

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Delete a Single Site

sudo site example.com -delete
1

Database Deletion Prompt

For WordPress sites, you’ll be asked:
Delete Database [Y/n]?
  • Y - Delete database and all data (default)
  • n - Keep database intact
2

SSL Certificate Prompt

If SSL is enabled, you’ll be asked:
Revoke SSL Cert [Y/n]?
  • Y - Revoke and delete certificate (default)
  • n - Keep certificate for future use
3

Site Removal

Webinoly removes:
  • NGINX configuration files
  • Site files in /var/www/
  • Database (if confirmed)
  • SSL certificate (if confirmed)
  • Cache files
  • Upstream configurations (for reverse proxy)

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Unattended Deletion

Delete without prompts:
Delete everything (database, SSL, files):
sudo site example.com -delete=force

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Delete Subfolder Sites

Delete a subfolder site: 
sudo site example.com -delete -subfolder=/blog
This removes:
  • Subfolder configuration files
  • Files in /var/www/example.com/htdocs/blog/
  • Database (if WordPress subfolder)
  • Cache configuration for subfolder

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Delete All Sites

Remove all sites from your server: 
sudo site -delete-all
You’ll be prompted for confirmation: 
All site files will be deleted.
Only databases linked to WordPress sites will be removed, others will remain untouched.
Are you sure [y/N]?

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Unattended Delete All

sudo site -delete-all=force
System sites are protected:
  • default - Default NGINX site
  • Tools site - Admin tools site
These sites are never deleted, even with -delete-all.

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List All Sites

View all sites on your server: 
sudo site -list
Displays:
  • Site domain names
  • Site type (HTML, PHP, WordPress)
  • Status (enabled/disabled)
  • SSL status
  • WordPress version (if applicable)
  • Cache status

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Force WWW/Non-WWW Redirect

Force all traffic to use www or non-www version of your domain.

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Force Non-WWW (Root Domain)

Redirect www to non-www (default): 
sudo site example.com -force-redirect=root
Result:
  • www.example.com → example.com
  • http://www.example.com → https://example.com (if SSL enabled)

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Force WWW

Redirect non-www to www: 
sudo site example.com -force-redirect=www
Result:
  • example.com → www.example.com
  • http://example.com → https://www.example.com (if SSL enabled)

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Disable Force Redirect

Allow both www and non-www: 
sudo site example.com -force-redirect=off
Both versions will work independently.

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WordPress Integration

Force redirect automatically updates WordPress database:
  • -force-redirect=www → Updates to https://www.example.com
  • -force-redirect=root → Updates to https://example.com
Database home and siteurl options are automatically updated.
  • Force redirect only works on root domains, not subdomains
  • Subdomains (blog.example.com) should not use force redirect
  • SSL redirect takes precedence (HTTP → HTTPS happens first)

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Domain Forwarding

Redirect an entire domain to another URL.

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Create a Forwarding Domain

sudo site old-domain.com -forward=https://new-domain.com
All requests to old-domain.com redirect to new-domain.com.

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Forward with Path Preservation

By default, the original request path is preserved: 
old-domain.com/page → new-domain.com/page
old-domain.com/blog/post → new-domain.com/blog/post

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HTTP Codes

Forwarding uses 301 (permanent) redirect by default. Customize with redirections feature.

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Redirection Manager

Create custom redirects for specific paths.

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Create a Redirect

sudo site example.com -redirection -from=/old-page -to=/new-page

sudo site example.com -redirection -from=/old -to=/new

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Redirect Types

Permanent redirect (default):
sudo site example.com -redirection -from=/old -to=/new
Uses HTTP 301 (moved permanently).

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Regex Redirects

Use regular expressions for complex patterns: 
sudo site example.com -redirection -from="^/blog/(.*)" -to="/news/$1" -regex=sensitive
Regex options:
  • sensitive - Case-sensitive regex (default)
  • insensitive - Case-insensitive regex
  • longest - Longest matching prefix

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Exact Match Redirects

Match exact path only (not prefixes): 
sudo site example.com -redirection -from=/ -to=/home -exact
This redirects only example.com/, not example.com/page.

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List Redirections

View all redirects for a site: 
sudo site example.com -redirection -list

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Delete a Redirect

Remove a specific redirect: 
sudo site example.com -redirection -from=/old-page -delete

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Delete All Redirects

Remove all redirects from a site: 
sudo site example.com -redirection -delete-all
Unattended: 
sudo site example.com -redirection -delete-all=force

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Site Information

Get detailed information about a site: 
sudo site example.com -info
Displays:
  • Site type (HTML, PHP, WordPress, Proxy, etc.)
  • WordPress version (if applicable)
  • Database details (if WordPress)
  • SSL certificate status
  • Cache configuration
  • Force redirect settings
  • Multisite status
  • Environment type
  • File locations

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Subfolder Site Information

sudo site example.com -info -subfolder=/blog

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Parked Domains

Create alias domains that point to an existing site.

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Create a Parked Domain

sudo site alias.com -parked=main-site.com
Requests to alias.com serve content from main-site.com.

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Parked Domain Features

  • Uses same files as main site
  • Separate NGINX configuration
  • Can have independent SSL
  • Can have different cache settings
  • Useful for multiple domains serving same content
  • Parked domains cannot be converted to multisite
  • Deleting a parked domain doesn’t affect main site files
  • Parked domains show a warning during deletion

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Default and Tools Sites

Webinoly maintains special system sites:

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Default Site

The default site handles requests that don’t match any configured domain: 
# Set a site as default
sudo webinoly -default-site=example.com

# Use blackhole default (recommended)
sudo webinoly -default-site=blackhole

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Tools Site

The tools site hosts admin tools (phpMyAdmin, etc.): 
# Set tools site
sudo webinoly -tools-site=example.com

# Reset to default
sudo webinoly -tools-site=default
System sites (default and tools) cannot be deleted unless explicitly forced or reassigned.

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NGINX Reload Control

By default, NGINX reloads after site operations. Disable for bulk operations: 
# Disable automatic reload
sudo webinoly -nginx-reload=off

# Perform multiple operations
sudo site site1.com -delete=force
sudo site site2.com -delete=force
sudo site site3.com -delete=force

# Manually reload once
sudo systemctl reload nginx

# Re-enable automatic reload
sudo webinoly -nginx-reload=on

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File Permissions

Webinoly automatically manages file permissions:
  • Site files: www-data:www-data
  • NGINX configs: root:root
  • Log files: www-data:adm
Permissions are reset after site operations.

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Logs

Access site logs: 
# Access log
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/example.com.access.log

# Error log
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/example.com.error.log
Manage logs with the log command (see Log Management documentation).

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Backup Before Major Changes

Before deleting or making major changes: 
# Backup site files
sudo tar -czf ~/example.com-backup.tar.gz /var/www/example.com

# Backup database (WordPress)
sudo mysqldump -u root database_name > ~/database-backup.sql

# Backup NGINX config
sudo cp /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com ~/example.com-nginx.conf

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Best Practices

Site Cleanup

  • Regularly review and remove unused sites
  • Delete test sites after use
  • Keep only necessary redirections
  • Monitor disk usage

Backups

  • Always backup before deletion
  • Test backups periodically
  • Store backups off-server
  • Document backup procedures

Monitoring

  • Check logs regularly
  • Monitor site status
  • Track SSL expiration
  • Review redirections periodically

Organization

  • Use clear naming conventions
  • Document site purposes
  • Maintain site inventory
  • Use staging sites for testing

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Common Workflows

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Migrate Site to New Domain

# Clone site to new domain
sudo site new-domain.com -clone-from=old-domain.com

# Enable SSL on new site
sudo site new-domain.com -ssl=on

# Set up forwarding from old domain
sudo site old-domain.com -forward=https://new-domain.com

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Temporary Maintenance

# Disable site temporarily
sudo site example.com -off

# Perform maintenance
# ...

# Re-enable site
sudo site example.com -on

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Clean Up Old Sites

# List all sites
sudo site -list

# Delete unused sites
sudo site old-site1.com -delete=force
sudo site old-site2.com -delete=force

# Review and clean redirections
sudo site active-site.com -redirection -list
sudo site active-site.com -redirection -delete-all

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