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Web 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 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews. Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, Packt Publishing, nor its dealers or distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book. Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. 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 ]