This thread is making me itch. 50 sites, 6 providers, no configuration management. What happens when you need to rotate a cert or update PHP across all of them?
Small agency workflow: how do you handle 50 shared hosting accounts?
tomchan
Member OP
Randyaround I do them one by one like a caveman. Some providers have one-click, some don't. The variance is the real time sink.
works on my bench ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
pavel_train
Member
Write a shell script that SSHes in and does it. Or use ansible. The unix philosophy: automate the boring stuff.
tomchan
Member OP
Pavel_train shared hosting mate. No SSH on half of these. cPanel and prayer.
works on my bench ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I use Hostinger for my smaller clients, their hPanel is actually decent for bulk operations. But for 50 sites I'd probably go with RunCloud or something similar to manage them all from one dashboard.
RunCloud + DigitalOcean was my setup for years. Now I just use Cloudways, pay the premium, sleep better. Not for everyone though.
Cloudways is nice but the markup is real. You're paying someone else to manage what you could manage yourself. At 50 sites the math changes though.
tomchan
Member OP
Hadn't considered Cloudways seriously. Their pricing is per-app right? So 50 sites would be... not small.
works on my bench ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Cloudways starts around $11/app on DO. Do the math. For 50 sites you're in "hire someone to manage WHMCS" territory.
Back to the actual question though: for pure tracking, I ended up with a Google Sheet that feeds into a Google Calendar via Apps Script. Free, ugly, works. Renewal dates as all-day events, color-coded by provider.