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:
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.
The "/tmp" directory is a special directory that is required to be writeable by all users and processes on the system. In general, directories that are writable by all users and processes are a cause for security concern, however this directory is a special case. To minimize any security impact as a result of having an unsecured directory will verify and potentially remount the partition with the "no exec" option. Additionally, the installer will ensure that the sticky bit is set on the directory and that the other permissions are correct. If "/tmp" is not mounted on a separate partition, the installer will create a file system disk image of 512 MB and mount "/tmp" on the newly created disk image with the "no exec" directive. Under most circumstances, 512 MB is sufficient for the "/tmp" partition; however, your system may require additional space. It is therefore recommended that you include a separate partition for the "/tmp" mount point (sized according to your size specification) prior to installing cPanel.
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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.
At this time, the following configurations are not recommended and not supported by cPanel:
- Network Address Translation (NAT)
- Operating systems not listed as supported on www.cpanel.net
Choosing to use one of the above configurations can and most likely will result in unexpected experiences when trying to use cPanel and WHM. We strongly recommend that you do not use them.
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)
To Install cPanel and WHM
Make sure you are logged in as root and perform the following commands:
- # cd /home
- # wget http://layer1.cpanel.net/latest
- # sh latest
The installer has now started, and can take between 30 and 60 minutes depending on your machine. If you are asked any questions press the
Enter key or
q if there is no default. After the installation has completed, you will need to setup WebHost Manager - refer to
Logging on for the First Time for more information.
NOTE: You must be on a stable Internet connection to install cPanel. If your shell session disconnects during the installation of cPanel, the installation will be aborted. You can restart the installation by using
sh latest again however, we recommend reformatting your machine and starting over, ensuring there are no problems with the installation.
