Top Menu

Logging on

You need to log on in order to use CPanel to manage your web site.

To log on:

1. Enter the address of your CPanel in your web browser. The address needs to be in the form of http://www.yourdomain.com:2082 or https://www.yourdomain.com:2083

2. Enter your user name and password in the User Name and Password fields.

3. Click on OK button. You will now be logged on to CPanel.

General server information

You can view a variety of information about the server from the home page. The following links are available:

• Service Status - Displays information about the status of the web services currently running.

• Installed Perl Modules - Displays a list of Perl modules that are currently installed. You can click on each module to view information about that module.

• Documentation - Displays the online help for CPanel.

To view general server information:

Click on the Click to View link next to the required option in the General server information area.

Change Password

Your domain password is the password you use to log on to your CPanel. You should change this occasionally to maximize your site security. You should always change your password if you think someone else has access to your account.

To change your domain password:

1. Click on the Change Password button on the home page.

2. Enter your current password in the Old Password field.

3. Enter your new password in the New Password and New Password (again) fields.

4. Click on the Change your password now! button. Your password has now been changed.

 

 

File Manager

The File Manager allows you to manage your site through HTML, rather than an FTP tool or other third-party application. You can upload, create or delete files, organize files in folders, and change file permissions. While not as sophisticated as most FTP tools, File Manager is free and gives you all the basic functionality necessary to manage your site.

Note: All of the other topics in this section assume that you are already in File Manager.

To open and navigate in File Manager:

1. Click on the File Manager button on the home page.

2. Navigate by using the following:

   • Open a folder by clicking on the folder icon.

   • Go up a level by clicking on the Up one level link.

   • Use the path links at the top of the window to move up and down the path.

   • Select a folder, so as to view or modify its properties, by clicking on the folder name link.

Disk Usage

The Disk Usage Viewer enables you to see exactly how much disk space is being taken up by various parts of your web site. Several different viewing options are available:

• Show Parent Directories - Displays the parent directories as individual items.

• Show More Directory Depth - Displays directories one level deeper as individual items.

• Show Less Directory Depth - Displays directories one level higher as individual items.

• Show Top Level - Displays the top level of the web site.

• Clear File Usage Cache - Deletes all file usage information from the cache and recalculates all disk usage information.

• Show Small Files - Displays very small files.

• Show File Size as bytes/Megabytes - Displays file sizes as bytes or megabytes. There are 1024 bytes to one megabyte.

Most of the above viewing options have a reverse option. For example, if Show Small Files is chosen, Hide Small Files is now displayed.

To use the Disk Usage Viewer:

1. Click on the Disk Usage button on the home page.

2. A list of items that take up space on your web site is now displayed, from largest to smallest. Click on the required buttons to view the use of space on your web site.

Backup

The Backup area allows you to download the daily, weekly, or monthly backup file of your entire web site, or a particular MySQL, alias, or filter backup file. If your computer crashes, or your personal backups are destroyed, these files allow you to recover your site in a convenient manner (you could also use FTP to download each file, but it would take much longer as the files are not compressed).

How often a backup is created is decided by your web host. Contact your hosting administrator for more details.

Important: You should keep your own backup copy of your web site as well. Do not rely solely on the backup provided by your web host. Having multiple backups in different locations provides security against permanently losing information.

Note: A complete web site backup file includes everything - from web pages to images to scripts to access logs. A large site will have a large backup file, and will take some time to download.

To download a backup file:

1. Click on the Backup button on the home page.

2. Click on the Daily, Weekly, or Monthly backup file to download the entire system backup for the indicated time, or click on the link underneath the required area to download an SQL, Alias, or Filter backup file. Refer to Generating a backup if you need to generate a backup first before downloading it.

   Note: To download any previous stored backups, click on the Generate/Download a Full Backup link, and click on any backup that is listed.

3. Save the file to disk.

   Note for Windows users: This file is in .tar.gz format (a GZIP archive file that contains a TAR archive file). This is a common archive format used on Unix machines, in the same way that .zip is a common Windows archive format. Most compression utilities should be able to uncompress a .tar.gz file.

Password protect directories

You can protect directories within your site from browsers by using a password to protect them. This allows you to restrict material to only authorized users or store sensitive material online. This has the same appearance and effect as the password protection on CPanel.

To password protect a directory:

1. Click on the Password protect directories button on the home page.

2. Navigate to the directory that you want to protect. Select a folder by clicking on the folder name link, or open a folder by clicking on the folder icon.

3. Click on the tick box next to the icon.

4. Enter the name that you want to appear in the Protected Resource Name field. This is optional and purely for the user's benefit.

5. Click on the Save button. Generally, you now need to add at least one authorized user to enable access to the directory.

Error pages

Error pages are displayed to Internet users when any one of a variety of errors occur, such as when a user enters an incorrect URL or is not authorized to access a specific directory in your web site. Companies often customize error pages to brand them with a specific corporate image and a link to their home page. You do not have to customize these pages - the error page is always available, whether customized or not.

Note: Custom error pages that are smaller than 10k in size will not display properly in Internet Explorer. Insert a large amount of text into a comment to create the required size.

To create or modify a customized error page:

1. Click on the Error pages button on the home page.

2. Click on the button of the required error page, such as the 403 button.

3. Enter the HTML code for the error page. You can use the buttons at the top of the page to insert variables into the displayed code.

   Example:

   <h1>404 Not Found</h1>
   <p>The requested page, <!--#echo var="REQUEST_URL" --> ,is not available.</p>

4. Click on the Save button.

Subdomains

Subdomains are a way of creating separate accounts within your master account, which are accessed as separate URLs. For example, you could set up a "timber" subdomain on your master account "hardware.org.mart", which would be accessed as "timber.hardware.org.mart". A lot of larger businesses use subdomains to establish branding and focus on separate product lines, because a subdomain creates a separate URL and web presence. However, you do not create a new CPanel when you create a subdomain. You still perform most administration functions for the subdomain through your master CPanel.

Practically, a subdomain is a sub folder within the public_http level of your account that has it's own cgi-bin directory. The "timber" example above creates a new top-level folder called timber, with a cgi-bin sub-folder. Upload your files for the subdomain to this location, including a separate home file (such as index.htm).

Currently you cannot create e-mail accounts with the subdomain extension. A workaround for this is to create an account called "sales-timber@hardware.org.mart", or similar.

To add a subdomain:

1. Click on the Subdomains button on the home page.

   Note: You can only successfully create a new subdomain once your DNS number has successfully propagated for this account.

2. Enter the text for the new subdomain in the field in the available field. You must conform to domain name conventions for the addition to the name.

3. Click on the Add button. A folder with the same name as the subdomain has now been added to your public_html folder, with a cgi-bin sub-folder (if CGI scripts are enabled on your account).

MySQL

SQL stands for Structured Query Language. SQL is an international standard in querying and retrieving information from databases. MySQL is essentially an SQL server - it responds to requests for information that are written in SQL. You can communicate with MySQL using a wide variety of programming languages (PHP being one of the most common). MySQL is Open Source software and free for use.

Refer to the following link for more information about MySQL :

• MySQL - The MySQL homepage.

• MySQL and PHP tutorial - A good introduction to using the two Open Source technologies together.

To create a MySQL database:

1. Click on the MySQL databases button on the home page.

2. Enter the name of the database in the Db field.

3. Click on the Add Db button. The database will be added to the /var/lib/mysql folder.

   You need to create at least one database user and grant that user permission to use the new database.

PostgreSQL

SQL stands for Structured Query Language. SQL is an international standard in querying and retrieving information from databases. PostgreSQL is, like MySQL, essentially an SQL server and database - it responds to requests for information that are written in SQL. You can communicate with PostgreSQL using a wide variety of programming languages, including PHP, Perl, and Python. PostgreSQL is Open Source software and generally free for commercial or personal use.

The following links provide good introductory information about PostgreSQL :

• PostgreSQL documentation - a good source of reference material.

• PostgreSQL FAQ

To add a PostgreSQL database:

1. Click on the PostgreSQL databases button on the home page.

2. Enter the name of the database in the Db field.

3. Click on the Add Db button. The database will be added to the /var/lib/mysql folder.

   You need to create at least one database user and grant that user permission to use the new database.

SSL Shell/Telnet access

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, which is a means of providing encrypted communications on the Internet. CPanel provides you with an online SSL Shell (an application) that allows you to log in to the Linux computer that is your web server and make changes at the server side. You use Telnet (the Internet standard protocol for remote login) commands through the SSL Shell to activate the web server.

Note: If you do not know exactly what you are doing, you can potentially cause problems on your web server. Please contact your hosting administrator if you are not sure how to use SSL.

Some useful links:

• Introduction to Linux commands - an easy introduction to using a Linux computer.

• Directory of Linux Commands - good reference site of Linux commands.

• MindTerm - an OpenSource Java SSL Shell used in CPanel.

• PuTTy - an excellent Telnet/SSL utility: small; fast; and free (for Windows).

To use the SSL Shell:

1. Click on the SSL Shell/Telnet shell access button on the home page.

   Note: You need to have Java Applets enabled on your browser for the SSL Shell to start.

2. You are now in the SSL Shell window. Press the Enter key to logon. Please refer to the links at the beginning of this topic if you need more information about logging on and what you can do through the SSL Shell.

Frontpage Extensions

Frontpage Extensions allow you to publish your web site using Microsoft Frontpage. These extensions can occasionally become corrupted, so you can uninstall and then reinstall Frontpage Extensions whenever required.

To (re)install Frontpage Extensions:

1. Click on the Setup Frontpage Extensions button on the home page.

2. Click on the Install / Reinstall Extensions button.

Web/FTP Stats

The Web / FTP Statistics area presents you with a wide variety of information about your web site, from the latest visitors to a detailed monthly summary of hits, as well as providing an error log. Use the Statistics tools to keep track of what pages are being visited most often, and where they are being referred from.

For more information about exactly what these web site statistics mean, refer to the following excellent articles:

• Measuring Web Site Usage

• How the web works

Raw Access Logs

You can download the raw access logs that contain all the recorded hit information that your site has received. These logs are only really useful if you have a preferred reporting tool that you prefer to use, rather than the variety of reporting tools presented in this section.

To download the raw access logs:

1. Click on the Raw Access Logs button on the home page.

2. Save the file to disk.

   Note: The access logs are in .gz (GZIP compression) format.

Raw Log Manager

Raw access logs contain all the recorded hit information that your site has received. You can set the Raw Log Manager to archive this information every month and/or delete the previous month's log at the end of every month. The following options are available:

• Archive Logs in your home directory at the end of each month - Save the raw access logs in a compressed file in your home directory at the end of every month.

• Remove the previous month's archived logs from your home directory at the end of each month - Delete last month's archived file at the end of each month.

To set the Raw Log Manager:

1. Click on the Raw Log Manager button on the home page.

2. Click on the required tick boxes to set the Raw Log Manager.

3. Click on the Save button.

Subdomain Stats

You can view statistics specifically for each subdomain using the Analog and Webalizer tools.

To view subdomain statistics:

1. Click on the Subdomain Stats button on the home page.

2. View the statistics as required.

Search Engine Submit

CPanel allows you to submit your web site details to several search engines at one time. Some pointers on this process:

• This is not a guaranteed way of becoming registered by these search engines, as some may charge a registering fee. It is always best to check each search engine site individually to see what their registration policy currently is.

• It may take several weeks (4-8 weeks is common) before your web site will appear on a search engine.

• Do not submit your site multiple times to the same search engine within a short period of time, as the search engine may ban you from its list.

To submit your site to one or more search engines:

1. Click on the Search Engine Submit button on the home page.

2. Click on the tick boxes next to the search engines that you want to submit to.

3. Enter the address of your site in the URL field and your contact e-mail address in the Email field.

4. Enter a short description of your site in the Comments field.

5. Enter the keywords of your site in the Keywords field. These are the handful (3-6) of words that are predominantly used by search engines to index your site. Separate each key word by a comma.

6. Choose the language of the site in the Language drop-down list and the country in which the site is located in the Country drop-down list.

7. Choose the category that your web site best fits into from the Category drop-down list.

8. Click on the Submit button.

Chatroom

Entropy Chat is a simple chat script that offers basic features.

To install Entropy Chat:

1. Click on the on the Chatroom button on the home page.

2. Copy and paste the displayed HTML code into your web page. Feel free to alter the appearance of the form as required.

3. Upload your page and test the script.

PhpMyChat

PhpMyChat is a PHP chat room script that uses a MySQL database to store information. Refer to the PhpMyChat home page for more information about this script.

To install PhpMyChat:

1. Click on the on the PhpMyChat button on the home page.

2. Enter the directory in which to install PhpMyChat in the available field. This must be a top-level directory on your site.

3. Enter the administrator's user name and password in the Admin Username and Admin Password fields.

4. Click on the Install button.

5. Click on the entry page link to go to the new chat room.

Bulletin Board

CPanel allows you to install a pre-made forum called phpBB. The phpBB is a PHP web-based bulletin board. Unlike an e-mail list or newsgroup, the phpBB creates a forum on your web site that allows users to post questions and receive replies, all from their web browser. This allows you to choose from a variety of graphical interfaces and smilies - little faces that communicate the mood of the writer . Once a forum has been created you can modify it extensively, from adding new sub-forums to changing the visual appearance of the board. Be sure to visit the phpBB web site - http://www.phpbb.com/ - for more information on how to customize and use your phpBB

Note: Keep in mind that each separate installation of phpBB takes up several megabytes, and will grow in size with the popularity of the forum.

To install a phpBB forum:

1. Click on the Bulletin Board button on the home page.

2. Enter the name of the forum folder in the available field. Note that the folder must be on the top level of your site.

3. Click on the Install button.

Scripts Library

The Scripts Library area provides an easy to use method of installing and uninstalling complex scripts. The following scripts are available:

• osCommerce - An online shop e-commerce solution under on going development by the open source community. Refer to the osCommerce home page for more information.

• InvisionBoard - A free-to-use forum software package. Refer to the InvisionBoard home page for more information.

• PHP-Nuke - An open source content management system. Refer to the PHP-Nuke home page for more information.

To install a script:

1. Click on the Scripts Library button on the home page.

2. Click on the link to the required script.

3. Follow the online instructions.

Interchange shopping cart

The Interchange shopping cart is a fully-featured shopping cart that can be installed with the click of a button. The product is fully documented at the Interchange site - please refer to the Interchange web site if you have any questions about using the shopping cart.

To install the Interchange shopping cart:

1. Click on the Interchange shopping cart button on the home page.

2. Click on the Click here to access and install Interchange link.

Agora Shopping Cart

The Agora Shopping Cart is a fully featured shopping cart that can be installed with the click of a button. The product is fully documented at the Interchange site - please refer to the Agora web site if you have any questions about using the shopping cart.

To install the Agora Shopping Cart:

1. Click on the Agora Shopping Cart button on the home page.

2. Enter the administrators user name and password in the Admin User and Admin Pass fields.

3. Enter the location of the cart in the third available field. This must be a top-level directory on your site.

4. Click on the Install button.

Cron jobs

Cron jobs allow you to automate repetitive tasks on the server that hosts your web site. This is a powerful tool that allows you to take a hands-free approach to repetitive tasks. For example, you could add a cron job that automatically copies a MySQL database to a separate location on your site as a backup.

There are two different modes you can use to add a cron job:

• Standard - Provides a range of pre-set options that you can choose. This is the simplest method and is recommended.

• Advanced (Unix Style) - Provides the regular Unix style cron options. Recommended for users who are used to this method of entering cron entries.

Warning: You need to have a good knowledge of Linux commands before you can use cron jobs effectively. Check your script with your hosting administrator before adding a cron job.

To add or modify a cron job:

1. Click on the Cron jobs button on the home page.

2. If you want to use the Standard mode, click on the Standard button.

   1. Enter the e-mail address to send the results of running the cron job in the top field.

   2. Enter the command the you want to run in the Command to run field.

   3. Click on one option from each of the available lists.

   4. Click on the Save Crontab button. Your cron job has now been added or updated.

      Note: You can always click on the Reset Changes button to change the cron job back to whatever it was before you started entering information.

Network Tools

The Network Tools area has two available functions:

• Domain Lookup - Allows you to look up information about a particular domain.

• Trace Route - Allows you to trace the IP (Internet Protocol) route taken by your server to reach your current ISP (Internet Service Provider).

There are a number of free sites that offer similar functions. One of the most popular is http://www.network-tools.com/.

MIME Types

MIME types tell browsers how to handle specific extensions. Most MIME types are set globally on the server. For example, the text/html MIME type equates to htm, html, and shtml extensions on most servers, and this tells your browser to interpret all files with those extensions as HTML files. You can alter or add new MIME types specifically for your site (note that you can not alter the global MIME type values, only add to them). MIME types are often used to handle new technologies as they appear. When WAP technology first appeared no one had these extensions set up on their server. With MIME types, however, you could have set it up yourself and begun serving WAP pages immediately.

Warning: Make sure you check the list of pre-existing MIME types before adding new ones. Check with your hosting administrator before adding a MIME type, as they can easily alter the correct functioning of your web site.

Note: People often get confused as to the difference between MIME types and Apache handlers. Basically, MIME types tell your browser how to handle files, while Apache handlers tell the server how to handle files.

To add a MIME type:

1. Click on the MIME Types button on the home page.

2. Enter the MIME type that you want to add in the MIME Type field. Have a look at the list of system-wide MIME types to show you how to add a new one or add to a pre-existing one.

3. Enter the file extension in the Extension(s) field.

4. Click on the Add button

Apache handlers

Apache is an open-source HTTP server, and is used to serve your site. Apache handlers tell the server how to deal with web files that need to be processed on the server. For example, Apache is set up to process files with .pl extensions using Perl. However, if for some reason you also wanted to process files with .script extension using Perl, then you would have to set up a custom Apache handler for your site.

Note: People often get confused as to the difference between MIME types and Apache handlers. Basically, MIME types tell your browser how to handle files, while Apache handlers tell the server how to handle files.

Warning: Check with your hosting administrator before adding an Apache handler, as they can easily alter the correct functioning of your web site.

To add an Apache handler:

1. Click on the Apache handlers button on the home page.

2. Enter the file extension in the Extension(s) field. You need to add the . before the extension name.

3. Enter the Apache handler in the Handler field. Have a look at the list of system-wide Apache handlers to show you how to add a new one or add to a pre-existing one.

4. Click on the Add button

Manage OpenPGP keys

OpenPGP is a tool for secure online communication. CPanel uses GnuPG for its public-key cryptography so that users may communicate securely. Each person gets a pair of keys, called the public key and the private key. Each person's public key is published while the private key is kept secret. Messages are encrypted using the intended recipient's public key and can only be decrypted using their private key.

General documentation and comprehensive user guides are available at the GNU Privacy Guard site.

To generate a public and private key:

1. Click on the Manage OpenPGP Keys button on the home page.

2. Click on the Add Key link.

3. Enter your name, e-mail address, and nickname in the Your Name, Your Email, and Comment/NickName fields.

4. Enter the password for the key in the Key Password field.

5. Enter the expiry date for the key in the Expiry Date field. You can suffix the entered number with the following:

   • y = year

   • m = month

   • w = week

   • d = day

6. Choose the size of the key that you want to generate in the Key Size field. 1024 bytes is a common size.

7. Click on the Generate Key button. Note that it may take a few minutes to generate the key, depending on its size

HotLink Prevention

Hotlinking is when another web site owner links directly to one or more of your images or multimedia files and includes it on their web page. Not only is this theft of your intellectual property, you are paying for the bandwidth used by that site. Refer to this article for more information on hotlinking.

CPanel can prevent hotlinking by only allowing named sites (such as your own web site) to access files on your site.

To prevent hotlinking:

1. Click on the HotLink Protection button on the home page.

2. Enter any other addresses that you will allow to access your site other than the provided defaults in the central area.

3. Enter the protected extensions in the Extensions to allow field. Make sure you separate each extension with a comma.

4. Enter the address to redirect any hotlinking to in the Url to Redirect to field.

5. Click on the Allow direct requests tick box if you want to allow direct URL access to non-HTML files, such as images.

6. Click on the Activate button

Index Manager

The Index Manager enables you to control how directories on your web site are displayed. If there is no index.html in a particular directory, the contents of the directory will be displayed to the browser. This is usually undesirable and can cause security issues. You can set the four different options for any directory through the Index Manager:

• Default System Setting - Use the system setting for your hosting machine. This is set for all directories by default.

• No Indexes - Do not use any indexes. Any browser that accesses this directory will see a list of all files in the directory.

• Standard Indexing (text only) - Prevents browsers from viewing the contents of this directory. The browser receives a 403 (Forbidden) error. This option should be used for directories that do not contain image files.

• Fancying Indexing (graphics) - Prevents browsers from viewing the contents of this directory. The browser receives a 403 (Forbidden) error. This option should be used for directories that do contain image files.

To change index settings for a directory:

1. Click on the Index Manager button on the home page.

2. Navigate to the folder that you want to alter and click on its name.

3. Click on the radio button next to the option that you want to use for this folder.

4. Click on the Save button.

IP Deny Manager

The IP Deny Manager enables you to block access to your web site from specific IP addresses. This is useful to remove nuisance surfers who use a large amount of bandwidth or to prevent hotlinking to your site (refer to HotLink Prevention for more information about hotlinking).

To add an IP address to the IP Deny Manager:

1. Click on the IP Deny Manager button on the home page.

2. Enter the IP address that you want to block in the IP Address field.

3. Click on the Add button.