Table Of ContentWeb Host Manager
Administration Guide
Run your web host with the popular Web Host Manager software
Aric Pedersen
BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI
Web Host Manager
Administration Guide
Copyright © 2006 Packt Publishing
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critical articles or reviews.
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However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
First published: August 2006
Production Reference: 1110806
Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.
32 Lincoln Road
Olton
Birmingham, B27 6PA, UK.
ISBN 1-904811-50-7
www.packtpub.com
Cover Image by www.visionwt.com
Credits
Author Indexer
Aric Pedersen Mithil Kulkarni
Reviewers Proofreaders
Tony Butler Martin Brooks
Brian Coogan Chris Smith
David Mytton
Production Manager
Development Editor Patricia Weir
David Barnes
Layouts and Illustrations
Technical Editor Shantanu Zagade
Divya Menon
Cover Designer
Editorial Manager Shantanu Zagade
Dipali Chittar
About the Author
Aric Pedersen has been using cPanel and WHM on a daily basis for over six
years both as an end user for his own websites and as a systems administrator. He
currently works as a systems administrator for several hosting companies and also
for Netenberg.com, the creators of Fantastico Deluxe (a popular script auto-installer
for cPanel). Aric has been providing companies and end users with web hosting and
related documentation for several years.
As always, this book could not have been completed without the
assistance of numerous people. I’d like to take the time to thank a
few more of them:
To my mother and Allen: You’re the best.
To my brothers Ken, Big Steve, and Michael: You’re the best bunch
of brothers a kid ever had. Thanks to all of you for keeping my life
interesting.
To Ilias: Not only do you make some great products, you’ve also
been great to work with.
To Tony: For once again stepping up to the plate in a time of need.
T o Pete: I hope this helps.
And finally to the readers: I hope you will find my cPanel and WHM
books are a valuable resource that you will refer to time and again.
About the Reviewers
Tony Butler has been an IT Consultant and systems architect to some of the largest
financial institutions in Europe for the past 10 years. He has also been using cPanel
and WHM, both personally and professionally for over five years. He started a web
hosting business in 2002 targeting the SME market with a strong focus on customer
service, and in 2004 he acquired another successful host with similar customer-
centric philosophies. In December 2005, Tony's hosting business was bought out as
he shifted his focus more towards his family and personal life.
Although my part in this book was small, it took no small amount of
time to acquire the experience which allowed me to act as technical
reviewer. As such, I would like to thank:
My wife Yvonne for her love and support over the years, and for
being so tolerant when I spent many a long night and weekend
supporting my web hosting clients!
My sons, Lucas and Daniel, for providing so much joy in my life.
Aric for his invaluable support, both technical and otherwise over
the past five years, and for giving me the tools to help me to help
him with this book :-)
My web hosting clients, who were so tolerant and understanding in
(rare) times of crisis, and a pleasure to deal with at quieter times.
Brian Coogan is owner and technical director of White Dog Green Frog, a
cPanel-based Webhosting company in Melbourne, Australia that has been hosting
sites for over 4 years. Brian has had over 20 years of experience with Unix
administration, including working for over 10 years as a consultant and trainer in
Unix Administration for Fortune 100 companies including Hewlett-Packard and
Telstra. Brian has also worked as an IT manager, software developer, youth crisis
worker, and high school teacher and has interests in health and longevity. Brian is
based in Melbourne, Australia.
David Mytton is a young web developer based in the UK. Although he spends
much of his time programming for the Web, he is also a keen writer, having written
articles for web development resource SitePoint.com and International PHP Magazine,
as well as for his own website. These articles have also included interviews of famous
personalities such as Andi Gutmans and Zeev Suraski (PHP architects & Zend
Founders), Matthew Mecham (Invision Power Services CEO & Lead Developer), and
Nick Lindridge (ionCube Founder). In between running his software development
company, Olate Ltd. (www.olate.co.uk), he enjoys scuba diving and fencing.
Table of Contents
Preface 1
Chapter 1: Introduction to WHM and Dedicated Server/VPS Hosting 5
What are WHM and cPanel and How Do They Work Together? 5
What WHM Can Do 6
What WHM Cannot Do 6
System Requirements for WHM and cPanel 7
Important Considerations before Shopping for a Server or VPS 8
What Do You Plan to Do with Your Server or VPS? 8
Do You Currently Have Any Experience of Offering cPanel Hosting to
Paying Customers? 9
What Kinds of Hosting Customers are You Going to Focus On? 9
Low-End Customers: Cheap and (Hopefully) Cheerful 9
Mid-Range Customers: Growing Needs, Growing Profits 10
High-End Customers: Welcome to the Big Time! 10
What Kind of Server do you Need? 11
Shopping for a VPS or Dedicated Server 11
Finding Deals 12
Important Things to Consider Before Sealing the Deal 12
Support is Critical 13
Additional Fees, Included Extras, Upgrade Charges 14
The Data Center Itself 14
Location, Location, Location 14
Billing and Cancellation Policies 15
General Purchasing Advice 15
Summary 16
Chapter 2: Setting Up Your Server with cPanel and WHM 17
Accessing Your Server for the First Time and Determining
if You Need to Install cPanel and WHM 17
Getting the Tools You Need to Access Your Server 18
Log into Your Server 18
Table of Contents
Are cPanel and WHM Installed Already? 21
How to Install WHM and cPanel 22
Accessing WHM and Finishing the Installation Process 24
Finishing Installation 25
WHM Setup: The License 25
WHM Setup: Basic Information 25
Basic Information: Contact Details 25
Basic Information: Default Themes and Directories 27
Basic Setup: User IDs and Networking 29
Basic Setup: Hostname, Nameservers, and DNS Values 30
Basic Setup: CGI and Apache Logging 32
WHM Setup: Disk Quota Setup 33
WHM Setup: Nameserver Setup 33
WHM Setup: DNS Resolvers 34
WHM Setup: Setting the MySQL Root Password 35
Summary 35
Chapter 3: Additional Server Configuration 37
Welcome to Root WHM! 37
cPanel Builds: Choosing the Right One for You 41
Updating cPanel 44
About File and Directory Permissions 47
Setting Up Server Contact Information 48
The Contact Manager 49
Set Your Server's Hostname 52
Setting the Server's Clock and Date 54
Setting Up Extra Hard Drives 55
Choose Your Data Backup Strategy! 56
Tweak Settings: Additional Configuration 60
Display and Domains 60
Mail 62
MySQL and Notification 65
Software 67
Stats, Logs, and Status 68
System 72
cPAddons 76
Statistics Software Configuration 77
Summary 79
Chapter 4: Apache, PHP, Perl, and Databases 81
Apache: Web's Best Friend 82
PHP: Hypertext Processor 82
Perl: The Programming Language that Powers cPanel 83
[ ii ]
Table of Contents
MySQL: A Database for the Masses 83
PostgreSQL: The "Other" Database 84
Configuring Apache on a cPanel Server 84
Configuring or Updating the Back-End Copy of Apache and PHP 84
Configuring or Updating the Front-End Copy of Apache and PHP 85
Apache-Related Configuration Options - Part 1 86
PHP Configuration Options 87
Apache-Related Configuration Options - Part 2 93
Installing Zend Optimizer 94
Configuring and Working with Perl 95
Installing Perl Modules in WHM 96
Installing Perl Modules Using the Perlinstaller Script 96
Installing Perl Modules Using CPAN 97
Checking Perl Scripts and Automatically Installing the Needed Modules 97
Upgrading and Working with MySQL 98
Upgrading MySQL 98
Adding MySQL Remote Hosts in WHM 99
Changing a MySQL User or Database Password 100
Resetting MySQL's Root Password 100
Repairing MySQL Databases in WHM 101
Resetting the Local MySQL Root Password 101
Setting Up a Remote MySQL Server in WHM 102
Showing MySQL Processes 103
phpMyAdmin 103
Restarting MySQL 104
Installing and Working with PostgreSQL 104
Installing PostgreSQL 105
Restarting PostgreSQL 105
Summary 106
Chapter 5: Working with User Accounts 107
Transferring User Accounts from Other Servers 108
Transferring Multiple Accounts from another Server Using the Root or
Administrator Password 109
Transferring a Single Account from another Server Using the Root or
Administrator Password 110
Transferring Multiple Accounts from an Alabanza Server 111
Transferring a Single Account Using the Username and Password for the
Account (cPanel Servers Only) 112
Alternative Methods of Moving User Accounts from Other Servers 114
Review Copy Accounts Log 115
[ iii ]
