cPanel

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cPanel Help

cPanel Documentation

  • The link below will send you to the cPanel Documentation, this will familiarize you with the interface and it's functions:
  1. https://documentation.cpanel.net/display/ALD/cPanel+User+Documentation
  2. For a different version of cPanel, please see this page: https://documentation.cpanel.net/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1507796

cPanel Video Tutorials

  • The link below will send you to our SmarterMail Video Tutorials Wiki:
  1. https://wiki.hostek.com/CPanel_Tutorials#cPanel

Helpful Links

  • This link will take you to our Shared SSL Wiki:
  1. https://wiki.hostek.com/Shared_SSL#Linux_cPanel_Customers
  • This link will take you to our Default Document Wiki:
  1. https://wiki.hostek.com/Default_document#Changing_the_Default_Document_in_Linux_cPanel
  • This link will take you to our MIME Types Wiki:
  1. https://wiki.hostek.com/Mime_types#Adding_MIME_Types_in_Linux_cPanel

cPanel Demo

  • Here is a link to our cPanel Demo for you to test and see if you like cPanel:
  1. https://cp4.hostek.com:2083/login?user=demouser&pass=DemoPassword1$

cPanel Basics

How to Reset your cPanel Password

  1. Log in to cPanel
    • (Example: http://myawesomedomain.com/cpanel)
  2. If you don't recall your current password please see the options below:
    1. If your browser has automatically logged you into your cPanel, you should be able to retrieve the password that your browser is using. Our Web Browser Saved Password Retrieval Wiki has all the details.
    2. If you still know your cPanel Username and have access to the email address associated with your cPanel User, make sure you're on the cPanel Login page and click the Reset Password link.
    3. Please contact support at https://support.hostek.com or via email to support@hostek.com to reset your password.
  3. Locate and click on the drop-down menu next to the "Logout" button.
  4. Click on Password & Security
  5. Type in your existing password into the "Old Password" box
    • If you don't recall your current password please see the options below:
    1. If your browser has automatically logged you into your cPanel, you should be able to retrieve the password that your browser is using. Our Web Browser Saved Password Retrieval Wiki has all the details.
    2. If you still know your cPanel Username and have access to the email address associated with your cPanel User, you can go back to the cPanel Login page and click the Reset Password link.
    3. Please contact support at https://support.hostek.com or via email to support@hostek.com to reset your password.
  6. Type in a new strong password into the "New Password" box
  7. Click on the Change your password now! button

Create a Subdomain

  • To add a new Subdomain in Cpanel follow the steps listed below.
  1. Log into your cPanel > Domains section > Subdomains menu:
  2. Enter the following details for your subdomain: 
       Subdomain: the name of your subdomain 
       Domain: Choose the domain name you wish to create subdomain for from this drop-down menu 
       Document Root: the root directory for your subdomain (for example, it can be /public_html/subdomain)

3.Click on Create:

Advanced DNS Zone Editor

  • Important: When a Domain is added to cPanel all DNS records are automatically generated for that domain in our system(in most cases).
  1. First you must Login to cPanel
    • (Example: http://myawesomedomain.com/cpanel)
  2. Under the Domains section click on Advanced DNS Zone Editor, which will take you to the DNS Records in our system.

Add a Record

  • To add a new DNS Record, perform the following steps:
  1. Login to cPanel
    • (Example: http://myawesomedomain.com/cpanel)
  2. Under the Domains section click on Advanced DNS Zone Editor
  3. If this account owns more than one domain, select the domain that you wish to manage from the Domain menu.
  4. Select any record type, here are some definitions:
    • Type: A Record:
      • This record maps hostnames to IP(IPv4) Addresses. A records are essential because they allow DNS servers to identify and locate your website and its various services on the Internet. Without appropriate A records, your visitors cannot access your website, FTP site, or email accounts.
      • Remember cPanel configures your DNS records so that visitors can resolve your website and its services, such as FTP and email.
      • Only add A Records when you add a service that cPanel & WHM or your service provider does not provide.
    • Type: AAAA Record:
      • This record maps hostnames to IPv6 addresses.
    • Type: CNAME Record:
      • This record creates an alias for another domain name, which DNS looks up. This is useful, for example, if you point multiple CNAME records to a single A record in order to simplify DNS maintenance.
      • Note: You cannot point a CNAME record at an IP address.
    • Type: SRV:
    • This record provides information about available services on specific ports on your server.
      • Note: The SRV record must point at a hostname with an A (or AAAA) record. You cannot point an SRV record at a CNAME record.
    • Type: TXT:
    • This record contains text information for various services to read. For example, TXT records can specify data for the SPF (Sender Policy Framework) or DKIM (Domain Keys Mail Identifier) email authentication systems.
  5. Enter the appropriate information for the record type that you select.
  6. Click Add Record.

Edit a Record

  • To edit a record, perform the following steps:
  1. Login to cPanel
    • (Example: http://myawesomedomain.com/cpanel)
  2. Under the Domains section click on Advanced DNS Zone Editor
  3. If this account owns more than one domain, select the domain that you wish to manage from the Domain menu.
  4. Click Edit next to the record that you wish to edit.
  5. Change the information in the text boxes as necessary.
  6. Click Edit Record to save your changes, or click Cancel to discard them.

Delete a Record

  • To delete a record, perform the following steps:
  1. Login to cPanel
    • (Example: http://myawesomedomain.com/cpanel)
  2. Under the Domains section click on Advanced DNS Zone Editor
  3. If this account owns more than one domain, select the domain that you wish to manage from the Domain menu.
  4. Click Delete next to the record that you wish to remove.
  5. Click Delete.

MX Entry/Record Management

  • This feature allows you to route a domain's incoming mail to a specific server by modifying your MX Records/MX Entries.

Configure Email Routing

  • Warning: Misconfigured MX entries can completely disable your ability to receive mail.
  • To change how your server routes mail for a [your] domain, perform the following steps:
  1. Login to cPanel
    • (Example: http://myawesomedomain.com/cpanel)
  2. Under the Email section click on MX Entry
  3. Select the desired domain from the menu.
  4. Select one of the following options under Email Routing:
    • Automatically Detect Configuration: The server uses the current MX record or records for the domain to select the appropriate configuration from the list below.
    • Local Mail Exchanger: The domain accepts mail even if an MX record with higher priority exists. The server routes mail to both domains when this happens.
      • Note: Choose this option if your server uses smart hosts or another gateway service to filter mail.
    • Backup Mail Exchanger: The domain acts as a backup mail exchanger and holds mail in the queue if the primary exchanger is offline.
      • Note: Configure the primary MX entry to point to the appropriate exchanger.
    • Remote Mail Exchanger: The domain does not accept mail. Instead, it sends it to the primary mail exchanger.
      • Note: Configure the primary MX entry to point to the appropriate exchanger.
  5. Click Change.

Add a New MX Entry

  • To add a new MX entry to the domain, perform the following steps:
  1. Login to cPanel
    • (Example: http://myawesomedomain.com/cpanel)
  2. Under the Email section click on MX Entry
  3. Under the Add a New Record section, enter the priority of the new MX entry in the Priority text box.
      • Remember: Lower values denote higher priority. The highest priority is 0.
      • The primary mail server or servers (those with the lowest priority values) receives mail that is sent to your domain.
      • Backup, or secondary, mail servers (those with higher priority values) are for backup or other purposes.
      • If you assign the same priority value to multiple mail servers (and needs this level of mail server) the system distributes mail to those servers randomly.
  4. In the Destination text box, enter the hostname of the new mail exchanger.
      • Important: You must specify a fully qualified domain name (FQDN). You cannot specify an IP address here.
  5. Click Add New Record.

Delete a MX Entry

  1. Login to cPanel
    • (Example: http://myawesomedomain.com/cpanel)
  2. Under the Email section click on MX Entry
  • To delete an MX entry, perform the following:
  1. Click Delete next to the appropriate MX entry in the MX Records list.
  2. Click Delete to confirm.

Edit an MX Entry

  1. Login to cPanel
    • (Example: http://myawesomedomain.com/cpanel)
  2. Under the Email section click on MX Entry
  • To edit an MX entry, perform the following:
  1. Click Edit next to the appropriate MX entry in the MX Records list.
  2. Change the Priority or Destination as desired.
  3. Click Edit to confirm.

cPanel File Permissions

User, Group, and World, Permissions
Permission Description
0 No Permission
1 X
2 W
3 WX
4 R
5 RX
6 RW
7 RWX
Permissions breakdown
Permission Description
R Read
W Write
X Execute
  • There are 2 methods used when adjusting file/folder permissions.
  1. Login to the File Manager in cPanel
    1. When you have selected a file or folder click the key icon at the top to change the permissions.
  2. Use a FTP client to connect to the server
    1. Select the file and choose the change permission option.
    2. If an option is not listed right click the file and select file permissions.
  • The the right you will see a breakdown of the Permissions:
  • Default file and folder permissions:
  1. Files: 644
  2. Folders: 755

cPanel Webmail

Accessing Webmail

  1. Log in to cPanel (i.e. http://www.yourdomain.com/webmail/)
  2. Click on Webmail.
  3. Click on Go to Webmail Login.
  4. Choose one of the three available Webmail Programs: 1)NeoMail 2)Horde 3)SquirrelMail
  5. For this tutorial we will use SquirrelMail, but all three are fairly similar.
  6. From the main screen Click on Options. (From here you can change many settings within your Webmail.)
  • Note: You do not have to login to cPanel in order to access your Webmail.

Creating Folders and Sub-folders

  1. While in the Options menu, Click on Folders.
  2. Place the desired name into the box below the Create a Folder title.
  3. If you already have a folder created, you can use the drop-down menu right below the name box, to choose a sub-folder location.
  4. Click on Create.
  5. In order to see the new folder listed, Click on Refresh Folder List.
  • Note: You can create as many folders as you need.

Adding an Entry to the Address Book

  1. While in the Options menu, Click on Addresses.
  2. All of the fields are required, except for the 'Additional Information' box.
  3. Click Add Address

Composing Email

  1. While in the Options menu, Click on Compose.
  2. To select a Email Address from your Address Book, click on Addresses
  3. You can choose how to send them, by ticking the boxes beside: To, CC (Carbon Copy), or BCC (Blind Carbon Copy).
  4. Click on Use Addresses.
  5. Next, fill out your Subject and the body of the message.
  6. You can also send an attachment, just Scroll Down to the bottom of the page.
  7. Beside the Attach box, Click on Browse.
  8. Choose the file.
  9. Click on Add
  10. To complete everything, Click on Send on the bottom of the page.

Deleting and Moving Mail

  1. From your Inbox
  2. Tick the box next to the email(s) of choice.
  3. To trash your Email(s) Click on Delete.
  4. To place your Email(s) in a different folder, Click the drop-down menu and choose the folder you wish to move the Email(s) to.
  5. Click on Move

Create an Email Account in cPanel

  1. Login to cPanel.
  2. Click on Email Accounts.
  3. There will already be a Default Email Account listed.
  4. Fill out the boxes labelled: Email, Password, Password( Again).
  5. Be sure to choose the correct domain name (If you have Parked Domain and/or a Addon Domain) '@ drop-down menu' .
  6. You can set the Mailbox Quota Limit if you wish.
  7. Click on Create
  8. Click on No (This can be done later.)
  • From the Email Accounts page you can Access Webmail, Change Quota, Change Password, Configure Mail Client, and Delete.

Create a Default (Catchall) Email Address in cPanel

  • Video tutorial here
  • Logging in to cPanel.
  1. Click on Default Address.
  2. Enter the desired email address in the Forward to Email Address box.
  3. Now Click on Change.
  • Note: All emails sent to an address you have not defined, will go to the email address you enter.

How to Manage Apache SpamAssassin Settings

Whitelisting an Email Address

  1. Login to your cPanel
  2. Click on "Apache SpamAssassin™" in the Email section
  3. If SpamAssassin doesn't show as Enabled here on this page, click on "Enable Apache SpamAssassin™" button.
  4. Click on the "Apache SpamAssassin™ Configuration" button
  5. Put the Email Address in the "whitelist_from" box
  6. Click the "Save" button

Blacklisting an Email Address

  1. Login to your cPanel
  2. Click on "Apache SpamAssassin™" in the Email section
  3. If SpamAssassin doesn't show as Enabled here on this page, click on "Enable Apache SpamAssassin™" button.
  4. Click on the "Apache SpamAssassin™ Configuration" button
  5. Put the Email Address in the "blacklist_from" box
  6. Click the "Save" button

cPanel Mailing Lists

How to Create a Mailing List

  1. In your cPanel account click on Mailing Lists under the Mail section.
  2. Type in your List Name in the text box.
  3. Type a secure but memorable Pass-phrase in the Password field.
  4. Confirm the password in the Password (Again) field.
  5. Then click on Add Mailing List.

How to Reset the Mailing List Password

  1. In your cPanel account click Mailing Lists under the Mail section.
  2. Under the Functions area click on Change Passwordfor your Mailing List.
  3. Type a secure but memorable pass-phrase in the Password field .
  4. Re-type to confirm the password in the Password (Again) field.
  5. Then click on the Change Password tab which will reset your password.
  • Note: You may also generate/use a Random Password by clicking on Password Generator and then copy and pasting it into both password text boxes.

Forwarding

How to add an Email-level Forwarder

  1. In your cPanel account click Forwarders under the Mail section.
  2. Clink on Add Forwarder button.
  3. In the Address to Forward section type in a Username you would like to set.
  4. Next type in the Destination email address, into the section Forward to email address
  5. Then click on Add Forwarder button to complete.
  • Note - You may Delete and Trace the forwarding address you created under the Functions section.

How to add a Domain-level Forwarder

  1. In your cPanel account click Forwarders under the Mail section.
  2. Clink on Add Domain Forwarder button below.
  3. Choose the appropriate domain and type in the Destination email address in the To section.
  4. Then click on the Add Domain Forwarder button to complete.

How to view the Access Logs

  1. Login to cPanel
  2. In the "Logs" section, click on "Raw Access Logs"
  3. Click on the link for the log file you want to download
  4. Unzip the .gz with a program such as 7zip
  5. Open the file with notepad or your favorite text editing program

How to find the publishing folder

  • Also referred to as the "webroot" or "home path", the publishing folder is where you put site files.
  • This directory is live, "published" to the web.
  • Our Linux/cPanel plans use the folder "public_html" as the publishing folder.
  1. You can confirm this by viewing the "Stats" section in your cPanel.

cPanel Errors

Error Handling

  • The link below will send you to our Error Handling Wiki:
  1. https://wiki.hostek.com/Error_Handling#cPanel

Excessive 404 errors causing IP address to be blocked

  • On our shared Linux cPanel servers, generating excessive "404: File does not exist" errors will result in the IP address of the visitor generating the errors to get temporarily blocked.
  • The purpose for this temporary block is for performance and manageability of the server and your site.
  • Consider this: Assume that one visitor generates the full number of 404: File does not exist errors within a few minutes minutes and the site in question has 100 visitors over the course of the day. That is 20,000 errors in one day getting logged. So over the course of a month that is over 600,000 additional errors for the site being logged. With no restrictions, a busy site with bad code generating multiple 404 errors could very well generate millions of errors being logged in a very short amount of time. Now multiply that by the number of sites on the server. As you can imagine, this can quickly cause the server error log to swell to an unmanageable size.

Common Errors

  • This wiki goes over known cPanel errors that appear often and provides fixes and/or workarounds for them.
 Sorry, cannot determine nameserver IPs. Please make sure that the domain is registered with a valid domain registrar.
  • This is caused by the VPS not being able to lookup whois info for the domain.
  • A work around:
  1. Log in to WHM.
  2. Select Server Configuration.
  3. Select Tweak Settings.
  4. Select the Domains tab.
  5. Change the setting for Allow unregistered domains.
  6. Click Save.

AwStats

AwStats is a software that displays website traffic statistic. AwStats includes statistical information for monthly, daily, and hourly averages in easy to read graphs and tables.

How To Access and Use

  1. First, access your cPanel. If you are unsure of how to access your cPanel, first consult your Account Welcome E-mail. If you no longer have the Account Welcome e-mail or are unsure of the correct credentials, submit a ticket at https://support.hostek.com for assistance.
  2. Next, find the AwStats button under Metrics. You will now see your domain with an hourglass View icon next to it. If you have multiple domains, you may see multiple domains to select.
  3. Once you select the hourglass View icon next to your domain, you will be redirected to AwStats.
  • After being redirect to AwStats, you see will many options on the left. Under 'When', you can choose to see statistical information for the entire month, each day with the month, each day of the week, and even each hour during the day.
  • Under 'Who', you can see the location (by IP) of visitors who have accessed your website, Hosts, Authenticated users, and Robots (bots) who have accessed your website.
  • Under 'Navigation', AwStats provides information on how long visitors stayed on your site, types of files requested, downloads from your site, most popular URL's, the operating system of visitors, and browsers used by visitors.
  • Next, the 'Referrers' section shows what websites your visitors were referred from, if any.
  • Last, under the 'Others' section you are able to view HTTP status codes thrown by visitor. You can see the wiki at https://wiki.hostek.com/HTTP_Errors for more status code information.
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