WHM tutorials

Web Host Manager (WHM) is the administrator backend/reseller center area. This is where you add, modify and delete cPanel accounts under your reseller plan.

This tutorial describes main features of WHM, and it will be mostly useful for beginners and non-root users.

Full WHM documentation with advanced features can be found here

You can use any of the following URLs to login to WHM:

http://mysite.com/whm
http://mysite.com:2086
https://mysite.com:2087
Note: A colon symbol following an IP address or a domain name denotes a specific port number. These port numbers are responsible for guiding data packets transmitted between 2 computers to specific processes taking place on either machine.

When using secure connection (port 2087), you may get a message

This Connection is Untrusted

Please ignore this warning. Due to the fact the certificate used for cPane/WHM/Webmail connections is issued to the server hostname, and not to the domain name used in the link, browsers may recognize it as invalid. Simply add this URL to trusted and you will not get this warring again.

In Firefox:

WHM - secure connection

WHM – secure connection

How to add a trusted site to:
Internet Explorer
Safari
Google Chrome

With this WHM Demo, you can test the available options and thus have more knowledge of what you are subscribing to.

Packages

Before creating an account, you should first create a Feature List and a Package, where you assign account quotas. One package can be assigned to multiple cPanel accounts.

You can also type in account quotas manually without using a package. This is useful only in case you want to set a unique quota to a single account.

Feature Manager

The feature manager allows you to disable/enable features inside of each user’s cPanel. Once you build a feature list, you should edit the package you wish to assign it to and add the feature list.

Main > Packages > Feature Manager

Add a Package

Here you set disk space, bandwidth, the number of domains, FTP accounts, etc.

Main > Packages > Add a Package

There is also an option to edit or delete the package in the left panel under ‘Packages’ menu.

Account Functions

Create a New Account

Main > Account Functions > Create a New Account
  1. Set the main domain, cPanel password and username. The username is normally first 8 characters of the main domain. However, you can manually type any username you wish, the only restriction is that it cannot begin with a number.
  2. Select a Package, previously created by you, from a drop down list.
  3. Locale defines a default language of a cPanel interface.
  4. Your reseller nameservers are set by default in DNS Settings.Use the nameservers specified at the Domain’s Registrar needs to be checked only in case the main domain will be using third party namesevers.
    In most cases leave local (your own reseller) nameservers.
  5. Mail Routing Settings
  • Local Mail Exchanger

This must be used if the email for a cPanel account is served by local (WebHostingBuzz) mail servers – a default value.

  • Remote Mail Exchanger

Must to be checked if email for a cPanel account is served by third party mail servers, Google for instance.

If you change MX records to Google ones, but still have Local Mail Exchanger in Mail Routing Settings, email service may not function properly

Upgrade/Downgrade an Account

In order to change account quotas, you must upgrade or downgrade an account.

Main > Account Functions > Upgrade/Downgrade an Account

Suspend/Unsuspend an Account

Main > Account Functions > Suspend/Unsuspend an Account

If you try to unsuspend an account that is actually bandwidth limited, the unsuspension will not work. You must modify the account’s bandwidth limit instead.

Main > Account Functions > Limit Bandwidth Usage

Terminate an Account

Main > Account Functions > Terminate an Account

You can remove all the information about an account or keep the DNS zone (needed if you have moved a domain between servers in the same DNS trust relationship, and wish to remove the old domain).

Account Information

List Accounts

To see all accounts, as well as their quotas, cPanel username or the package assigned, go to

Main > Account Information > List Accounts

These options, and other ones described below, are also available on the left panel.

By clicking the ‘+’ sign next to the main domain of a resold account, you will get a form which enables you to change the cPanel account’s password.

Show Accounts over Quota

The next menu allows you to see accounts that use too much resources, especially useful on shared hosting.

Main > Account Information > Show Accounts over Quota

View Bandwidth Usage

To see which account uses too much bandwidth, go to

Main > Account Information > View Bandwidth Usage

DNS Functions

The DNS Functions tool contains all DNS records of a particular cPanel account, such as A records, NS records, CNAME records, etc. If you need to change any value, it can be done via

Main > DNS Functions

All necessary records are created automatically. If you are unsure about what to do, it’s recommended not to change anything to prevent domain name malfunction.

Add a DNS Zone

This feature allows you to set up a DNS zone on your server. A DNS zone is an administrative space or portion of the domain name system. This space is responsible for directing traffic to the correct locations.

When you add a domain to your server, WHM automatically configures its DNS zone; therefore, the Add a DNS Zone feature is primarily for adding DNS zones for remote domains.

You should exercise caution when adding a DNS zone, as improperly configuring DNS data can prevent visitors from accessing a domain.

Main > DNS Functions > Add a DNS Zone
WHM - add DNS zone

WHM – add DNS zone

Under Account Selection, you may view a list of domains and users currently residing on your server.

To search the list, enter a partial domain or username in the appropriate text box under the Account Search heading.

WHM will display options matching your search criteria; click the correct domain or username. The corresponding account will appear under Account Selection.

Delete a DNS Zone

This tool allows you to delete DNS zones from your server. You may delete multiple zones at once, or delete a single zone.

Main > DNS Functions >  Delete a DNS Zone

You can also delete multiple zones by using command-click in Mac® OS or control-click in Windows® to select the zones you wish to delete.

If zones are grouped together in the list, click the first desired zone and shift-click the last zone to select all the zones in between.

Edit a DNS Zone

This feature allows you to edit the records in a domain’s DNS zone file.

Edit DNS Zone screen displays a table of editable text fields containing the DNS entries for the domain.

Main > DNS Functions >  Edit a DNS Zone

The column headings are:

Domain – the name of the domain associated with the entry.

TTL – the time to live, or length of time that the DNS entry should be cached by the client.

Record type – the type of DNS record.

There are several DNS record types you may see here. The following are the most common:

  • SOA

The start of authority record. This contains authoritative information — that is, information on record with an accredited domain name registrar — about the domain.

  • NS

A nameserver record. This specifies the hostname that clients will refer to when they look for your domain.

  • A

An address record. This matches your domain name to an IP address.

  • MX

A mail exchange record. This matches your domain name to a list of servers which handle mail for your domain, tagging each with a priority (the highest priority is 0).

  • CNAME

A “canonical” name record, which matches your domain name to an alias. This is useful if you are running a server besides Apache, such as an FTP server, on a separate port.

See also: WHM documentation


Was this article helpful?
Spread the word!
  • Alejandra Torres Barboza

    Where do I see the programming setup of the cPanel? Can anybody tell me how many languages are available?