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.

Overview

The System Reboot Menu allows you to check on the status of your server and display a lot of valuable information about your server.

To access the System Reboot Menu, click on System Reboot, on the main screen of your WebHost Manager interface.

Forceful Server Reboot

A Forceful Server Reboot forces the system to restart and may not always shutdown all running processes. This process should not be used unless a Graceful Server Reboot does not work.

Steps

1. To access the System Reboot Menu, click on System Reboot, on the main screen of your WebHost Manager interface.
2. Click on Forceful Server Reboot.
3. Click on Ok.

Graceful Server Reboot

A Graceful Server Reboot attempts to shutdown all processes on your server and then reboot the system. This is a similar process to the reboot command.

Steps

1. To access the System Reboot Menu, click on System Reboot, on the main screen of your WebHost Manager interface.
2. Click on Graceful Server Reboot.
3. Click on Ok.

Overview

WebHost Manager can display a variety of system information that indicates the current health of the system:

Current Disk Usage

Displays the current amount of disk space being used on each hard drive and partition.

Current CPU Usage

Displays the current CPU usage divided by process. More information about each process is available by clicking on each process’s PID (Process ID).

Current Running Processes

Displays all currently running processes and their location.

To access the System Health Menu, click on System Health, on the main screen of your WebHost Manager interface.

Background Process Killer

You can set WebHost Manager to automatically detect and kill any one of the following processes (if a process is killed, you will be emailed with information about that process):

• BitchX
• bnc
• eggdrop
• generic-sniffers
• guardservices
• ircd
• psyBNC
• ptlink
• services

It is recommended that you do not allow any of these processes to run on your servers. You can also add trusted users who will not have these processes killed.

1. To access the System Health Menu, click on System Health, on the main screen of your WebHost Manager interface.
2. Click on Background Process Killer.
3. Click on the checkboxes next to the processes that you want to automatically kill. It is recommended that you do not allow any of these processes to run on your servers.
4. Enter the name of any trusted users in the available field, if required. Enter one user per line. All users with a uid of less than 99 (including root, mysql, named, and cpanel) are automatically trusted.
5. Click on Save.

Show Current CPU Usage

This functions displays the current CPU usage divided by process. More information about each process is available by clicking on each process’s PID (Process ID).

Steps

1. To access the System Health Menu, click on System Health, on the main screen of your WebHost Manager interface.
2. Click on Show Current CPU Usage.
3. You can display more detailed information about each process by clicking on the PID of that process.

Show Current Disk Usage

This function displays the current amount of disk space being used on each hard drive and partition.

Steps

1. To access the System Health Menu, click on System Health, on the main screen of your WebHost Manager interface.
2. Click on Show Current Disk Usage.
3. The disk space used on each drive and partition will be displayed.

Show Current Running Processes

This function displays all currently running processes and their actual location on your server.

Steps

1. To access the System Health Menu, click on System Health, on the main screen of your WebHost Manager interface.
2. Click on Show Current Running Processes.
3. The current running processes on your server will be displayed.

Overview

Packages enable you to create your own custom web hosting packages and are a critical function in WebHost Manager. These packages form the core service of your web hosting business, and your pricing structure needs to be carefully thought out. WebHost Manager helps you in this process by allowing you to customize a large number of parameters, from disk space and bandwidth to the number of sub-domains and MySQL databases, as well as specifying whether CGI and shell access are allowed, and what cPanel default theme are provided.

To access the Packages Menu, click on Packages, on the main screen of your WebHost Manager interface.

Add Packages

Packages allow you to create accounts with a preset amount of disk space, bandwidth, e-mail accounts, etc, and are very useful for your business. With packages, you can cut precious minutes off the time it takes to create a new account.

Steps

1. To access the Packages Menu, click on Packages, on the main screen of your WebHost Manager interface.
2. Click on Add Packages.
3. Enter the name of the package and the maximum disk space the account can occupy in The Package Name and Quota Fields.
4. Indicate whether shell access is allowed in the Shell Access Checkbox.
5. Enter the maximum number of items allowed in the Max FTP Accounts, Max Email Accounts, Max Email Lists, Max SQL Databases, Max Sub Domains, Max Park Domains, and Max Addon Domains Fields.
6. Indicate whether CGI access and FrontPage Extensions are allowed in the CGI Access and FrontPage® Extensions checkboxes.
7. Enter the maximum bandwidth in megabytes allowed by the account in the Bandwidth Limit Field.
8. Click on the Default cPanel Theme for the account in the cPanel Theme Field.
9. Click on the default feature list for the account in the Feature List Field.
10. Click on Create.

Troubleshooting

If you do not wish to put a specific limit on a feature, type unlimited in the field next to that feature.

Delete Packages

If you no longer wish to offer a certain account package, you can delete it from your package list. This will not affect customers who are currently using this package.

Steps

1. To access the Packages Menu, click on Packages, on the main screen of your WebHost Manager interface.
2. Click on Delete Packages.
3. Click on the package name you wish to delete, and then click on Kill.

Troubleshooting

Deleting a package will not delete or modify accounts currently using that package.

Edit Packages

You can alter all aspects of a package whenever you need to change the package. These changes will not affect accounts that were created with the changed package, however it will affect new accounts using this package.

Steps

1. To access the Packages Menu, click on Packages, on the main screen of your WebHost Manager interface.
2. Click on Edit Packages.
3. Click on the required package and click on Edit.
4. Alter the fields as required. Refer to Packages for a description of each field.
5. Click on Edit when you have finished editing the package.

Feature Manager

The Feature Manager enables you to control the functions that are available in your customer’s cPanel. You can create one or more feature lists, each with their own functionality, which you then can assign to each new customer when you create the account.

Steps

1. To access the Packages Menu, click on Packages, on the main screen of your WebHost Manager interface.
2. Click on Feature Manager.
3. Enter the name of the feature list that you need to add in the Feature List Name Field and click on Add.
4. Click on the required checkboxes to enable or disable various features.
5. Click on Save when you have finished editing the feature list.

Troubleshooting

Click Edit to edit a feature list, or Delete to delete one.