The purpose of this documentation is to provide as much information to you on the features of cPanel Version 11. Selecting from the “Main Topics” on the right side of this web site will bring you to the main page for that section. If needed a main page will show a table of contents with links to sub-topics contained within that section, otherwise, it will show the info you are looking for directly on the main page.

Feedback
All of the documents in the cPanel 11 Manual have a link to the right of the topic name. Click on the link to provide feedback directly to our technical writer. Please note the link is not a method for getting support, rather it is an effective way for you to request more documentation on a particular topic. You can also provide feedback on steps, shortcuts, or general configuration settings that you think are important for all users. You can also provide feedback from this page by clicking on the link below:

Common Questions

Below you will find a list of common questions specific to using cPanel 11. Each set of questions is categorized for you to find what you need quickly. Each question is linked to a document for further information.

Advanced Questions

• How do I setup customized Apache Handlers?
• How do I customize my web site’s Error Pages?
• How do I create custom MIME Types?

Backups

• How do I create a backup of my web site, directory or hosting account?

Bandwidth

• How do I view how much bandwidth my web site has used today, this month, or this year?

Blogs

• How do I install B2Evolution on my web site?
• How do I install WordPress on my web site?

Bulletin Boards

• How do I install YaBB on my web site?
• How do I install phpBB on my web site?

Chat

• How do I install phpMyChat on my web site?

CMS

• How do I install E107 on my web site?
• How do I install Geeklog on my web site?
• How do I install Mambo on my web site?
• How do I install Nucleus on my web site?
• How do I install PostNuke on my web site?
• How do I install Xoops on my web site?
• How do I install phpWiki on my web site?

CronJobs

• How do I setup a CronJob?

Databases

• How do I check my MySQL database?
• How do I create a user in MySQL?
• How do I create a user in PostgreSQL?
• How do I create a MySQL database?
• How do I create a PostgreSQL database?
• How do I delete a MySQL database?
• How do I delete a PostgreSQL database?
• How do I delete a user from my MySQL database?
• How do I delete a user from my PostgreSQL database?
• How do I use phpMyAdmin?
• How do I use phpPgAdmin?
• How do I setup remote access to my MySQL databases?
• How do I repair my MySQL database?

Overview

cPanel and WHM use comprehensive installers that take most of the effort out of installing the complex cPanel and WHM software packages. You will need the following to install cPanel and WHM:

• A basic server install of one of the supported operating systems.
• A cPanel license (cPanel and WHM will not run without a license file).

NOTE: You may obtain a license from an authorized cPanel distributor or partner. You may also obtain a free 15-day test license.

Before You Begin

cPanel and WHM can only be installed on a blank server with a fresh operating system install. No data should be on the server that you wish to keep. This includes, but is not limited to, web pages, configuration files, user accounts and scripts. The installer will make many changes to your system including the downloading and configuring of needed packages for you. Because of the considerable amount of changes that cPanel will make to the system, the suggested method of uninstalling the cPanel and WHM software is to reformat the server.

A fresh install with minimal installation options is recommended. Development tool libraries (gcc, C, etc) and wget are required.

• cPanel and WHM will install Apache, MySQL, exim, PHP, etc. You will not need to install any of these services beforehand.
• You should ensure your package management (or ports) system is properly configured (yum, apt-get, up2date, ports).
• You will need to make sure that /etc/resolv.conf contains valid name-servers that allow you to resolve domains properly.

Example > If you would like to test this, try: dig domain.com @serverip

SYNTAX: Replace “domain.com” with the name of a well known domain and replace “serverip” with the IP address of a name-server in “/etc/resolv.conf”

The hostname of this server should be a fully qualified domain name that will not be used elsewhere on the server. You should never set your hostname to a name that is already used (www, ftp, mail, etc) or to the name of an account on the server (www.domain.com). This means that your hostname should never be a domain name and especially not the name of your domain!!

If you would like cPanel, Inc to do your installation for you and you have obtained a license, you may request it. Please make sure to provide your IP address, the root password of your server and the operating system installed on the server. We do not charge for installations.

The Following Partitioning Scheme Is Recommended

Item	Setting
/boot	35 MB (Megabytes)
/usr	8192+ MB (8192MB if you have a 80GB drive, 10240MB for a 100GB drive, 20480MB for a 200GB drive, etc.)
/var	2500+ MB
/tmp	512+ MB
/	2048 MB
/home	Grow to fill disk
swap	2x memory size

NOTE: Different partition schemes are suitable for different types of hosting. Some servers may require space to be allocated in different ways than others. This recommended scheme is an attempt to provide enough space for many different types of hosting but it is no substitution for real world experience. This partition scheme may need to be varied to suit the needs of your specific setup.

Custom Configurations

cPanel provides a number of tools within the cPanel and WHM Software to handle custom server and client configurations. Tools like those in our EasyApache system which allow you to configure modules, compile options, httpd.conf modifications, etc. We also include a set of hooks /usr/local/cpanel/hooks/ to allow you to perform specific actions based on events. Our goal is to be flexible and allow you to run your servers in the way you wish for them to be run.

Minimum System Requirements

• P266
• 256 Meg of ram
• 20 GB of space (Partition sizes required to host multiple account. Less than 500MB is needed for new files)

Logging On For The First Time

When you log on to WebHost Manager for the first time you will need to set up the basic settings on your server. After you have completed these initial steps you can log into WebHost Manager normally. Refer to Logging on for more information.

Steps

1. Enter the address of your WebHost Manager into your web browser. The address needs to be in the form of http://www.yourdomain.com:2086/ or https://www.yourdomain.com:2087/.
2. Enter your user name (root) and password (the root password of the server) in the User Name and Password fields.
3. Click on Ok.
4. Click on Next in the first page.
5. Read the legal agreement and click on the I Agree or I Disagree button.
6. Enter the IP address you wish to use to set up virtual hosts in the Main Shared Virtual Host IP field. This IP address is the IP address that all accounts will be created on by default (unless they are accounts with dedicated IP addresses).

NOTE: This IP address is used for shared IP domains. You can add other IP addresses to the server for dedicated IP domains but should place all shared IP domains on this IP address.

1. Enter the server administrator’s contact details in the Server Contact E-Mail Address and Server Contact Pager Address fields.
2. Enter the name of the default cPanel theme that you want to use in the Default cPanel Theme field. This theme will appear for all newly created accounts whose package does not specify a theme. Refer to Themes for more information about themes.
3. If you are using a device other than eth0 as your primary connection to the Internet, please enter it in the Alternate Main Ethernet Device field.
4. Enter the default home directory where new user accounts will be created and the prefix that matches other user partitions in the Default Home Directory and Home Directory Prefix fields. If you enter a prefix such as “home”, all directories with “home” in them will be used to store accounts. This means that entering “home” as your home directory prefix will create new accounts in /home /home2 /usr/home /home3 or any other directory with “home” in the name, even if your default home directory is set to /home. For this reason, you should never use a directory with the word “home” in it to store backups.
5. Enter the current hostname of your server in the Hostname field.

NOTE: Your hostname should be a Fully Qualified Domain Name that will not be used elsewhere on the server. You should never set your hostname to an name that is already used (www, ftp, mail, etc) or to the name of an account on the server (www.domain.com). This means that your hostname should never be a domain name and especially not the name of your domain!!

1. Enter the name of the type of Apache logs that you want to receive. Two options are available:

• Combined – All information is logged, including referrers, user agents, and requested files.
• Access – Only information about requested files is logged.

NOTE: These log files are logs of the access to files and sites on your server. The more information included in the logs will give you more information about who is accessing the server. Beware though, the more you need to log, the more CPU power it will take to create and review the logs.

1. Enter the minimum user ID value to be assigned when creating new accounts in the Minimum UID field. Usually, values below 500 are reserved for system users and should not be used. We do not recommend setting the Minimum UID below 500 for this reason.

NOTE: Every user on the system is assigned a user ID value. These numbers go along with their username as a way for the system to identify the user.

1. Enter up to four nameserver names in the Primary Nameserver, Secondary Nameserver, Tertiary Nameserver, and Fourth Nameserver fields. The Primary Nameserver and Secondary Nameserver fields are mandatory.

NOTE: These nameservers need to be registered with a registrar before they will work. If possible, your nameservers should not be on this server. Using a nameserver on the server as well as external nameservers will help in the resolution of the domains on your server. The more diverse your nameservers are, the less chance your DNS information will be unavailable.

1. Choose whether or not to create an Apache script alias for /cgi-bin/ to /usr/local/apache/cgi-bin/. y = Yes, n = no. This alias means that Apache will treat any file in a /cgi-bin/ directory as a cgi script.
2. Enter your AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) username and password in the AIM Password and AIM Username fields.
3. Enter your ICQ user identification number, ICD ID and ICQ password in the Server Contact ICQ, ICQ ID, and ICQ Password fields.
4. Enter the IP address of the master nameserver in the Master Nameserver field, if required.

This will turn your server into a slave server if this option is enabled. It is advisable to establish a key trust relationship with the master nameserver after enabling this option. Refer to Establishing a trust relationship for more information.

1. Enter the IP address of the master cluster server in the Master Cluster Server if this server belongs to a server cluster.
2. Click on Save.
3. Click on Finish.
4. Click on Continue.

Troubleshooting

You can change your initial server settings at any time. Refer to Editing your server setup for more information.

Logging On

You will need to log on in order to use WebHost Manager to manage your web server. Remember, WebHost Manager gives a very high level of access to its users, and should only be used by trusted personnel.

Steps

1. Enter the address of your WebHost Manager in your web browser. The address needs to be in the form of http://www.yourdomain.com:2086/ or https://www.yourdomain.com:2087/.
2. Enter your user name (root) and password (the root password of the server) in the User Name and Password fields.
3. Click on Ok
4. The main screen of WebHost Manager will appear.

Troubleshooting

If your browser will not allow you to login using http://www.yourdomain.com:2086/ or https://www.yourdomain.com:2087/, try using http://www.yourdomain.com/whm.

Change Log

The WebHost Manager Change Log displays the change log for the version of cPanel and WHM and WHM that you are running. This will show all of the bug fixes, new features, and any other changes that have occurred since the last version of cPanel and WHM.

Steps

1. Log on to WebHost Manager. Refer to Logging on if necessary.
2. Click on Change Log at the top of the nav menu.

Overview

The Branding Editor allows you to edit many different aspects of the presentation of cPanel to your users. The best method is to create a new style and then edit it. It is recommended that you follow these steps so that you have a non-edited style to fallback to just incase something goes wrong with your new style.

Official cPanel Styles

cPanel installs with some of it’s own styles by default. Editing of the “Official cPanel Styles” on the server should always be avoided. Each time you perform an update of cPanel to the newest version, your changes will be overwritten and lost. The “Official cPanel Styles” are distributed with each new version and written to your server with each update.

Available Branding Styles

Any installed styles (whether an “Official cPanel Style” or a custom style) are listed for use on the “Branding Editor” page. The default style is [root] and will always be used if no other style is chosen.

Each installed style can have a custom thumbnail shown depicting it, however if you do not supply a thumbnail or the thumbnail is missing a default thumbnail will be used instead, thus showing a thumbnail that might not look like the actual theme in question.

Style Options

Each style has several available options that can be found in the “Available Branding Styles” list. They are as follows:

• Enable or disable style – Each style can be enabled or disabled by clicking in the checkbox below the name of the style.
• Apply to My Account – This will change the current style on your account. This will also change the style used by all of the sub-accounts under your main account.
• Apply to All Accounts – This will apply the style to all accounts already created. This will not set the default style to be used in the future for new accounts. You will still need to “Set Default for New Accounts” to apply this style for accounts created in the future.
• Set Default for New Accounts – This will set this style as the default for all new accounts created from this point on into the future. It will not set the default style for accounts that have been created in the past.
• Edit this Style – Allows the editing of the style. In the case of the “Official cPanel Styles”, it will create a copy of the style for you to edit instead of letting you edit it directly.

Introduction (continued..)

The purpose of this documentation is to provide as much information to you on the features of cPanel Version 11. Selecting from the “Main Topics” on the right side of this web site will bring you to the main page for that section. If needed a main page will show a table of contents with links to sub-topics contained within that section, otherwise, it will show the info you are looking for directly on the main page.