Today we will learn how to install cPanel/WHM on CentOS 8. CPanel is a popular web hosting control panel for Linux-based operating systems. It has two great user interfaces:
- A server management interface
- A client-oriented graphical interface
cPanel File Manager, file and directory recovery, disk usage, backups, FTP accounts, FTP connections and manage domains. It creates databases, such as MySQL database, Remote MySQL and PHP MyAdmin. This work with all internet browsers. It increases website loading speed. WHM stands for Web Host Manager. WHM is a web-hosting administrative control panel for Linux-based operating systems. Along with cPanel, WHM provides a complete control panel for managing accounts and domains on the server.
A web browser’s control panel contains all the tools needed to design a website. Control panels like cPanel/WHM make things easy. So there is no need for a website administrator and full-time tech team to design the website.
cPanel is an end-user control panel while WHM is a reseller control panel. However, to use cPanel it is essential to know cPanel, WHM, and how to properly install cPanel on Centos 8.
Pre-requisites for installing cPanel/WHM on CentOS 8
cPanel/WHM cannot be installed on every device with CentOS. Installing cPanel/WHM on CentOS 8 requires a few things. Following are the prerequisites for installing cPanel/WHM on CentOS 8.
- 64-bit CentOS
- Minimum 1 GB Random Access Memory (RAM)
- Minimum 20 GB free space on hard disk
- Valid cPanel license
- Standard Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN)
Installing cPanel/WHM on CentOS 8
Installation of cPanel/WHM is a complex process, involving several steps to execute. Following are the various steps to install cPanel/WHM on CentOS.
Step 1: Creating the server hostname
If the host server does not have a standard, fully qualified domain name, create it. Run the following command to create a hostname.
hostnamectl set-hostname
For example, in cpanel.tithi.lan, Cpanel is the hostname and tithi.lan is the domain name
Step 2: Installation of tar on the server
If the server does not have tar, install it. Run the following command to install tar. Ignore this step if tar is already installed.
yum install tar
Step 3: Installing Perl on the server
If the server does not have Perl, install it. Run the following command to install Perl. Ignore this step if Perl is already installed.
yum install perl
Step 4: Installing curl on the server
If the server does not have a curl, install it. Run the following command to install CURL. Ignore this step if CURL is already installed.
yum install curl
Step 5: Download and run the auto-installer script
Run the following command to download the auto-installer script.
curl -o latest -L https://securedownloads.cpanel.net/latest
Run the following command to run the auto-installer script.
# sh latest
Step 6: Curtain Installation
Screen installation is required when SSH protocol is used to connect to the server. Run the screen command to check if there is a screen in the operating system path.
If there is a screen in the operating system path, the system will return /usr/bin/screen. If you don’t have Server Screen, install it. Run the following command to install Screen. Ignore this step if the server is not connected using the SSH protocol.
yum install screen
Step 7: Access WHM
After installing cPanel, the next step is to access the web host manager. Reboot the system. Access WHM with the following URL:
https://SERVER_IP:2087
Step 8: Accept the End User License Agreement
Login with user root and password. After reading this the end user agrees to the license agreement.
Step 9: Activate cPanel
cPanel should be activated after accepting the end-user license agreement. To activate cPanel and receive a cPanel notification, go to the Setup Networking section and enter the server contact email address and server contact SMS address.
Step 10: Add the hostname and resolver
Add the server hostname and resolver entries in the Networking section of the set-up. Google or ISP resolvers can be added here.
Step 11: Select Main Network/Ethernet Device
Select Main Network/Ethernet Device from the Setup Networking section and click the Save button. The main IP address of the specified server is the device IP.
Step 12: Set up the IP address
Add the static IP address for the main server. Choose an IP address from the network interface card.
Step 13: Add nameservers and hostnames
Add nameservers in the empty fields, select a checkbox and click the Save button.
Step 14: FTP Configuration
This step includes adding FTP configuration, mail server configuration, and MTA. Select any option in FTP to configure FTP. If you want to disable FTP, select the Disable option. Pure-FTPD is the most widely selected nowadays.
Step 15: Enable Cphulk
Enable Cphulk from the Cphulk Brute Force Protection section to block IP addresses from which brute force attacks are sent.
Step 16: Setup quotas
Click Use File System Quota to check disk space availability and send a notification. Click Finish Setup Wizard to complete the installation. The WHM home page will now appear.
Problems installing cPanel/WHM on CentOS 8
There may be some issues while installing cPanel/WHM on CentOS 8. Additional steps are taken to resolve this issue. If nothing resolves the issue, open a ticket with cPanel Customer Care Services for additional assistance. There are the following issues while installing cPanel/WHM on CentOS.
License errors
Reasons for license errors include invalid hostnames, incorrect time and date, connection problems with cPanel, and expired licenses. License errors can be resolved by checking the IP address of the license to see if the license is valid or expired, checking server connectivity, checking to resolve, checking the hostname is valid, and updating the server time and date.
Security issues on the website
Website security issues are caused by cPanel, and WHM servers install self-signed certificates, which modern web browsers do not recognize as secure. Website security issues can be resolved by purchasing a certificate from Purchase and Install an SSL Certificate.
RPMs or .deb packages failures
Reasons for failure of RPMs or .deb packages include a package that does not exist on the server, rogue RPMs, inability to unpack new packages to the correct location, the system classifying a package as obsolete, and full or immutable destination directories.
Error message during Perl installation
During Perl installation, the following error message appears if the installation of Perl fails.
Deadly! Perl must be installed before proceeding!
High CPU load
The main cause of high CPU load is memory pressure from intermittent sleep. Try these sleep disturbances to solve this problem.
Hostname problem
The main problem with the hostname problem is that the hostname setting is lost when a server is hosted in the cloud. To resolve this issue, you must create a client exit hook script that sets the hostname correctly.
Conclusion
On Centos, cPanel is recommended for maximum server resource utilization and stability. You can start working with your server without logging in using the control panel. Imagine placing an order for a Linux or Windows server. Additional software like Apache, Nginx, MySQL, phpMyAdmin, etc. needs to be installed on it. If you want to upload files, an FTP server is also essential. For an experienced administrator, this may take a few hours, but if you are new to it, it may take a few days to understand and set it up properly. The control panel can perform all the tasks performed by the complementary software within a minute, so you can be sure that nothing will go wrong and everything will work as intended.
Easy to install and use cPanel/WHM version 94 on CentOS 8. CentOS supports cPanel without any issues. Compared to the previous versions of CentOS, CentOS 8 features the most significant changes. CentOS 8 removed support for the TCP Wrappers package, which affected the functionality of cPanel and WHM. One of the most important aspects of website optimization on CentOS 8 is knowing how to install cPanel/WHM on CentOS 8. Hopefully, now we can install cPanel/WHM on CentOS 8.
