Replying to [hosting] What To Delete And What To Keep ?

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• .Cpanel-datastore - cPanel stores the config info for various functions you perform through it
• .Htpasswds - Prevents un-authorized users from view the directory
• .Trash - The trash - you deleted files through cPanel File Manager land up here
• .Contactemail - Addressbook data (most likely)
• .Contactsavetime - Logs
• .Lastlogin - Logs for last login info

Folders

• etc - Anything extra - this dir is pretty much needed for various config data and scripts
• mail - Logs your mail actions as well as you actual mails are stored in here
• public_ftp - The directory users will see if they login to your sites ftp anonymously
• public_html - What users see when they visit your URL
• tmp - Used for storage of temporary files generated during the operation of various scripts - similar to the Windows TEMP directory.
• www - This is actually NOT a folder but a symbolic link which points to your public_html folder. So any file operation you perform on this happens on your public_html

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download .cpanel-datastore[hosting] What To Delete And What To Keep ?

I understand from a previous ? that .Cpanel-datastore is necessary. I have tried to download this file from my web files, however permission was denied. I contacted the server, but no response. Is there another way to access this file which is part of "my" website files??

Your assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance, Regards, Gregory

Thankx m^e, appriciate your explaining so much, I realise how some of us like myself can get a lil annoying .. but thanks for clearing out the doubts

Regards
Dhanesh.

Thanks a lot, miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG, these definitions are useful for all of us.

Ok this needs some clarification. You can safely delete all other files and folders EXCEPT the following:

Files beginning with a "."

• .cpanel-datastore - cPanel stores the config info for various functions you perform through it
• .htpasswds - Prevents un-authorized users from view the directory
• .trash - The trash - you deleted files through cPanel File Manager land up here
• .contactemail - Addressbook data (most likely)
• .contactsavetime - Logs
• .lastlogin - Logs for last login info

Folders

• etc - Anything extra - this dir is pretty much needed for various config data and scripts
• mail - Logs your mail actions as well as you actual mails are stored in here
• public_ftp - The directory users will see if they login to your sites ftp anonymously
• public_html - What users see when they visit your URL
• tmp - Used for storage of temporary files generated during the operation of various scripts - similar to the Windows TEMP directory.
• www - This is actually NOT a folder but a symbolic link which points to your public_html folder. So any file operation you perform on this happens on your public_html

You shouldn't delete the above files/folders at any cost. As for .fantasticodata - it stores information about scripts that you install through Fantastico. If you don't use fantastico at all, this file is unnecessary and can be deleted without any harm.

You'll find a bunch of files+folders with the _vi prefix or extension - those are for Frontpage extensions - which none of us use (hopefully). So even those can be deleted without any hitch. If you got questions about any other folders, do post back - but the ones above in the list are quite necessary.

you should keep them all

some definitions may be wrong....feel free to correct me if you find an error
.cpanel-datastore - Is where Cpanel stores all there information regarding your site
.fantasticodata - Is where Fantastico stores all there information regarding your site
.htpasswds - Prevents un-authorized users from view the directory
.trash - The trash
etc - Anything extra
mail - logs and things regarding your mailboxs
public_ftp - The directory users will see if they login to your sites ftp anonymously
public_html - What users see when they visit your URL
tmp - Temporary files
.contactemail - Logs
.contactsavetime - Logs
.lastlogin - Logs
www - Same as public_html

So point blank is that anything having a " . " before the file name is a important file and SHOULD NOT be deleted ? ... But then again .. i have .Fantasticodata .. I know i havent installed fantastico ever .. only that i just clicked the link and browsed through it a bit and there it created a ".fantasticodata" file .. i could delete that could i ?

.trash would contain all the files that i delete ? or rather its like recycle bin in windows that delets everything but if ever needed .. we could ask support to recover it ? ..

etc is extras .. now iwouldent need this folder .. so its safe to delete it right ?

I donot or havent configured any mail ... just been there and tried out the features .. this might have again created files regarding to mail .. so i could delete .. mail, .contactemail, .contactsavetime ?

Last the "tmp" folder .. you said this was the temporary folder .. so i assume this could be deleted too ?

LOL .. sorry to bug ya guys .. its just plain annoying i know .. but i just wanted to know more about this whole structure and what it does etc ..

Regards
Dhanesh.

you should keep them all

some definitions may be wrong....feel free to correct me if you find an error
.cpanel-datastore - Is where Cpanel stores all there information regarding your site
.fantasticodata - Is where Fantastico stores all there information regarding your site
.htpasswds - Prevents un-authorized users from view the directory
.trash - The trash
etc - Anything extra
mail - logs and things regarding your mailboxs
public_ftp - The directory users will see if they login to your sites ftp anonymously
public_html - What users see when they visit your URL
tmp - Temporary files
.contactemail - Logs
.contactsavetime - Logs
.lastlogin - Logs
www - Same as public_html

Do the " . " dot in a file name suggest that it is important ? or are they just temp files ? what all can i delete from here that wont be any use to me (as in the default way when we first get our hosting).

Well, a dot at the beginning of filename means a hidden files. In most case, you ftp client won't display that file to you. Why is the file hidden? Because it contain important information like configuration, data. If you delete those file, you'll meet lots of trouble. DON'T delete them. Let the server handle them.


PS:A dot at the beginning is vaild in *NIX only, you can't create such a file in Windows

www is the place where you have to put your site files.
www/index.html is the main page of your site, and all the folders in your programs are starting from there.
So, you put everythingyou want in www. you delete what you want to (maybe taking a backup), everything in www concerns the way your programs work.
the other files you have to avoid modifying. they are for astahost usage, saying your name, where your mails are, etc.
the ".something" files are somehow "invisible" files, "." saying "don't show to normal users" in Unix/Linux conventions.
All the files in www are your responsability, if you delete something you are able to repair.
All the other files are out of your responsabilityl, if you delete them things will stop working, and you will have to request for repair.
Hope this helped.
Yordan

This was asked many times and again i am asking the same .. but with a little difference .. could someone please explain how the creation of folders and file work in the hosted root (not www or public_HTML but before that in " \ ") suppose i open Fantastico and close decide not to install anything .. a folder called .fantastico or sumthing comes up in " \ " why ? or rather is there any importance of this file if i dont install anything from fantastico or incase i do install an add-on .. would deleting the folder .fantastico cause any harm to that addon ?

I have the following file structure in " \"

.cpanel-datastore
.fantasticodata
.htpasswds
.trash
etc
mail
public_ftp
public_html
tmp
.contactemail
.contactsavetime
.lastlogin
www

Do the " . " dot in a file name suggest that it is important ? or are they just temp files ? what all can i delete from here that wont be any use to me (as in the default way when we first get our hosting).

Could you also please explain the necessary thing i'd need to know while deleting a folder etc .. just for my knowledge .. kinda inquisitive ..

Regards
Dhanesh .