Floris
10th August 2007, 01:16 AM
Tip of the day : Rename your admincp/ and modcp/ directories
Author: Floris - http://www.vBulletin-Fans.com/
As an extra security layer you could rename your admincp and modcp directories to prevent automated bots that crawl web sites from trying to exploit your vBulletin (if it is exploitable).
I recommend to use less obvious names that are a bit harder to guess. An example for admincp could be "staffarea" or "privatecp" or "adminsonly". And an example for the modcp could be the same as above, or "modsonly".
It's not that people can get in if they know the name. A username and password is still required, but if they use scripts that automatically try to break in they will end with a 404-page not found error.
Ok, how to change these two directories?
You have to do two things.
1- Change the actual name of the directories. You can do this by connecting to your web server with your FTP client and find the forum directory where you can see the two directories admincp and modcp listed. Select the directory and right click your mouse and select 'rename', now give the dir its new name, and repeat this for the other dir too.
and then 2- Change the vBulletin's config.php file to reflect these changes, so vBulletin knows where to find it in the future. With your FTP go inside the includes/ folder and find the config.php file. And back it up to your hard drive. And then edit it.
Find these variables : // ****** PATH TO ADMIN & MODERATOR CONTROL PANELS ******
// This setting allows you to change the name of the folders that the admin and
// moderator control panels reside in. You may wish to do this for security purposes.
// Please note that if you change the name of the directory here, you will still need
// to manually change the name of the directory on the server.
$config['Misc']['admincpdir'] = 'admincp';
$config['Misc']['modcpdir'] = 'modcp'; On the right side where it says admincp and modcp change it to your new directories' names and save the file.
For example, on one of my forums it looks like this: // ****** PATH TO ADMIN & MODERATOR CONTROL PANELS ******
// This setting allows you to change the name of the folders that the admin and
// moderator control panels reside in. You may wish to do this for security purposes.
// Please note that if you change the name of the directory here, you will still need
// to manually change the name of the directory on the server.
$config['Misc']['admincpdir'] = 'adminarea';
$config['Misc']['modcpdir'] = 'staffarea';
And you're done!
Now, important to remember, if you in the future upgrade your forum do not forget to change the directories on your newly unpacked .zip file to reflect the changed names. And if you also update your config.php file to reflect the changes here too.
vBulletin-Fans.com hopes you learned something from this great tip and if you also have a great tip you can submit it on vBulletin-Tutorials.com here (http://www.vbulletin-tutorials.com/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=591), or on vBulletin.com here (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=109). Don't forget to subscribe to this forum (http://www.vbulletin-tutorials.com/subscription.php?do=addsubscription&f=591) to get daily tips on how to best secure, optimize, manage and operate your vBulletin powered forum.
Floris & Staff
vBulletin Fans Network
http://www.vbulletin-tutorials.com/
Author: Floris - http://www.vBulletin-Fans.com/
As an extra security layer you could rename your admincp and modcp directories to prevent automated bots that crawl web sites from trying to exploit your vBulletin (if it is exploitable).
I recommend to use less obvious names that are a bit harder to guess. An example for admincp could be "staffarea" or "privatecp" or "adminsonly". And an example for the modcp could be the same as above, or "modsonly".
It's not that people can get in if they know the name. A username and password is still required, but if they use scripts that automatically try to break in they will end with a 404-page not found error.
Ok, how to change these two directories?
You have to do two things.
1- Change the actual name of the directories. You can do this by connecting to your web server with your FTP client and find the forum directory where you can see the two directories admincp and modcp listed. Select the directory and right click your mouse and select 'rename', now give the dir its new name, and repeat this for the other dir too.
and then 2- Change the vBulletin's config.php file to reflect these changes, so vBulletin knows where to find it in the future. With your FTP go inside the includes/ folder and find the config.php file. And back it up to your hard drive. And then edit it.
Find these variables : // ****** PATH TO ADMIN & MODERATOR CONTROL PANELS ******
// This setting allows you to change the name of the folders that the admin and
// moderator control panels reside in. You may wish to do this for security purposes.
// Please note that if you change the name of the directory here, you will still need
// to manually change the name of the directory on the server.
$config['Misc']['admincpdir'] = 'admincp';
$config['Misc']['modcpdir'] = 'modcp'; On the right side where it says admincp and modcp change it to your new directories' names and save the file.
For example, on one of my forums it looks like this: // ****** PATH TO ADMIN & MODERATOR CONTROL PANELS ******
// This setting allows you to change the name of the folders that the admin and
// moderator control panels reside in. You may wish to do this for security purposes.
// Please note that if you change the name of the directory here, you will still need
// to manually change the name of the directory on the server.
$config['Misc']['admincpdir'] = 'adminarea';
$config['Misc']['modcpdir'] = 'staffarea';
And you're done!
Now, important to remember, if you in the future upgrade your forum do not forget to change the directories on your newly unpacked .zip file to reflect the changed names. And if you also update your config.php file to reflect the changes here too.
vBulletin-Fans.com hopes you learned something from this great tip and if you also have a great tip you can submit it on vBulletin-Tutorials.com here (http://www.vbulletin-tutorials.com/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=591), or on vBulletin.com here (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=109). Don't forget to subscribe to this forum (http://www.vbulletin-tutorials.com/subscription.php?do=addsubscription&f=591) to get daily tips on how to best secure, optimize, manage and operate your vBulletin powered forum.
Floris & Staff
vBulletin Fans Network
http://www.vbulletin-tutorials.com/