CPanel 1.01 User Guide

CPanel 1.01
User Guide
DOCUMENTATION VERSION: 1.01

Table of contents

1 What is CPanel? 8

2 How do I get help? 9

3 How do I use CPanel? 10
3.1 CPanel themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.2 Logging on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.2.1 Logging out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.3 Mail Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.3.1 Reading your email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
NeoMail summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Horde summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.3.2 Email Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Reading an email account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Conﬁguring Outlook Express to read email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Changing an email account’s quota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Changing an email account’s password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Deleting an email account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.3.3 Setting your default email address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.3.4 Auto-Responders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Editing an auto-responder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Deleting an auto-responder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.3.5 Blocking email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Deleting a spam ﬁlter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.3.6 Forwarders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Deleting an email forwarder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.3.7 Mailing Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Editing a mailing list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Deleting a mailing list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.3.8 Spam Assassin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Disabling Spam Assassin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.3.9 Altering your Mail Exchanger (MX Entry) setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

1

TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS

3.4 Account Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.4.1 Changing your domain password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.4.2 Subdomains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Subdomain Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Adding subdomain redirection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Removing subdomain redirection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Deleting a subdomain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.4.3 Parked Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Deleting a parked domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.4.4 FTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Adding an FTP account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Downloading FTP access logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Changing the password on an FTP account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Deleting an FTP account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Setting Anonymous FTP access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Removing Anonymous FTP access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Adding an Anonymous FTP message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Controlling FTP sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.4.5 Error pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.5 Access Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.5.1 File Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Creating a new folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Uploading files in File Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Creating a new file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Editing a file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Renaming a file or folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Changing file/folder permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Deleting a file or folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Restoring an item from the Trash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Emptying the Trash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.5.2 Web Protect Directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Adding an authorized user . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Changing an authorized user’s password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Removing an authorized user . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Removing password protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3.5.3 Raw access logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3.5.4 Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Generating a backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Restoring your web site from a backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3.5.5 SSL Shell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

2


3.5.6 Index Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
3.6 Advanced Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.6.1 mySQL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Removing a database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Creating a mySQL user . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Removing a user . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Grant a user’s permissions to a mySQL database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Removing a user’s permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Managing mySQL databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Adding host access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Removing host access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.6.2 Cron Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Deleting a cron job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.6.3 Mime Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Deleting a Mime type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.6.4 Apache Handlers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Deleting an Apache handler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.6.5 Redirects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Removing a redirect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
3.6.6 Preventing hotlinks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Disabling hotlink protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.7 Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.7.1 Web / FTP Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Analog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Webalizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Latest visitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Bandwidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Error Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.7.2 Chat Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Entropy Chat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Melange Chat System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
phpMyChat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3.7.3 Addon Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Modifying an addon script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Removing an addon script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
3.7.4 CGI Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Introduction to CGI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Simple CGI Wrappper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Random HTML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Guestbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

3


Modifying the guestbook template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Viewing the guestbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Managing the guestbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Advanced Guestbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Managing the Advanced Guestbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Counter Maker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Resetting a counter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Java CountDown/CountUp Maker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
CGI EMail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
FormMail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Entropy Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Editing the search engine template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Rebuilding the search index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Entropy Banner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Uploading new banners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Modifying the rotation and URLs of banners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.7.5 Network Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Domain Lookup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Trace Route . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
3.7.6 Interchange Shopping Cart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3.7.7 Agora Shopping Cart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Modifying an Agora Shopping Cart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.7.8 Search Engine Submit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.7.9 Frontpage Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Uninstalling Frontpage Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.7.10 Forum / Bulletin Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Modifying a forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
3.7.11 OpenPGP keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Importing a key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Deleting a key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

4

List of ﬁgures

1.1 CPanel logo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.1 Default theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.2 Iconic theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.3 Blue Lagoon theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.4 Logging on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.5 Mail Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.6 Reading your email (NeoMail) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.7 Adding an email account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.8 Reading your email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.9 Changing an email account’s quota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.10 Changing an email account’s password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.11 Setting your default email message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.12 Adding an auto-responder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.13 Editing an auto-responder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.14 Adding a spam ﬁlter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.15 Adding a forwarder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.16 Add a mailing list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.17 Enabling Spam Assassin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.18 Altering your Mail Exchanger (MX Entry) setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.19 Account Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.20 Changing your domain password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.21 Adding a subdomain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.22 Adding subdomain redirection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.23 Removing subdomain redirection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.24 Parking a domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.25 FTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.26 Adding an FTP account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.27 Downloading FTP access logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.28 Changing the password on an FTP account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.29 Setting Anonymous FTP access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.30 Removing Anonymous FTP access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.31 Adding an Anonymous FTP message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

5

LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF FIGURES

3.32 Creating a customized error page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.33 Access Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.34 Creating a new folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.35 Uploading files in File Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.36 Creating a new file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.37 Editing a file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.38 Renaming a file or folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.39 Changing file or folder permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.40 Deleting a file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.41 Restoring a file from the Trash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.42 Emptying the Trash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.43 Protecting a directory with a password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.44 Adding an authorized user . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.45 Changing an authorized user’s password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3.46 Removing an authorized user . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3.47 Removing password protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3.48 Downloading a backup file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.49 Generating a backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.50 Restoring your web site from a backup file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3.51 MindTerm SSL Shell window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
3.52 Changing index settings for a directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.53 Advanced Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.54 Creating a mySQL database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.55 Creating a mySQL user . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.56 Granting a user’s permissions to a mySQL database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.57 Removing a user’s permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.58 Adding host access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.59 Removing host access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.60 Adding a cron job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.61 Adding a Mime type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.62 Adding an Apache handler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.63 Redirecting a web page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.64 Enabling hotlink protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.65 Disabling hotlink protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.66 Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.67 Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.68 Using Webalizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
3.69 Checking how much bandwidth is being used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.70 Installing Entropy Chat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
3.71 Installing Melange Chat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

6

LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF FIGURES

3.72 Installing phpMyChat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3.73 Adding a script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
3.74 Modifying an addon script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
3.75 Removing an addon script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
3.76 CGI Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
3.77 Installing the Advanced Guestbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
3.78 Previewing a counter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.79 Resetting a counter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.80 Previewing a clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
3.81 Testing the Entropy search engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
3.82 Testing the Entropy search engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
3.83 Looking up a domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
3.84 Using the Trace Route tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3.85 Entering the shopping cart as an administrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3.86 Installing an Agora Shopping Cart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.87 Submitting your site to search engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3.88 Installing Frontpage Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.89 Uninstalling Frontpage Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.90 Installing an XMB forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
3.91 Generating a public and private key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
3.92 Importing a key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

7

CHAPTER 1. WHAT IS CPANEL?

1 What is CPanel?
CPanel is a fully-featured web-based control panel that allows you to manage your domain through a web interface.
The idea is to transfer as much of the control and responsibility of managing your web site to you. You have the
ability to manage all aspects of email, ﬁles, backup, FTP, CGI scripts, and web site statistics. Refer to page 10
for more information on how to CPanel’s features.

Figure 1.1: CPanel logo

8

CHAPTER 2. HOW DO I GET HELP?

2 How do I get help?
This manual is designed to help you ﬁnd the information you require as quickly as possible. If you are unsure
how to do something or you have a problem, try the following approaches:

• Table of contents – The Table of contents allows you to scan through the topics that are available in a
logical order. It is worth taking a few minutes and reading the Contents to familiarize yourself with the
help.
• Index – The Index lists key words and where they appear in the help. Use the Index when you know the
type of thing you are looking for but are unsure where the information might be.

9

CHAPTER 3. HOW DO I USE CPANEL?

3 How do I use CPanel?
CPanel provides a complete range of functionality to manage all aspects of your web site. The following areas
are available:

• Mail Menu – The Mail Menu area allows you to manage all aspects of your email, from adding new
accounts, managing mailing lists, and setting spam filters.
• Account Settings – The Account Settings area deals with all the tools that you need to control your
account using CPanel, changing your web site, creating custom error pages, using subdomains, and other
tools.
• Access Menu – The Access Menu area deals with all the tools that you need to control your own access
to your web site using CPanel, including managing files, protecting directories, backing up your site, and
using SSL to access your web site.
• Advanced Menu – The Advanced Menu area deals with a number of options that you normally would
not need to use very often, including cron jobs, mime types, Apache handlers, and a number of other useful
tools.

• Tools – The Tools area contains a large number of different utilities, from web site statistics to pre-installed
CGI scripts and shopping carts, to Frontpage Extensions and OpenPGP keys.

3.1 CPanel themes
Themes are the visual representation of the CPanel user interface – in other words, what CPanel looks like.
CPanel comes in two standard themes:

• Default – Has a front page that displays all of your account information, and all functions are found in
menus at the top of the window.

Figure 3.1: Default theme

• Iconic – Has a front page that displays all of the central functions with account information on one page.
Because this theme uses more graphics, it is slower to load.

10

3.1. CPANEL THEMES CHAPTER 3. HOW DO I USE CPANEL?

Figure 3.2: Iconic theme

• Blue Lagoon – Has a front page that displays all of the central functions with account information on one
page. Because this theme uses more graphics, it is slower to load.

Figure 3.3: Blue Lagoon theme

Your hosting provider may allow you to change between these two themes. This documentation has been written
using the Default theme as a reference.

11

3.1. CPANEL THEMES CHAPTER 3. HOW DO I USE CPANEL?

Many hosting providers write their own themes, which may be as simple as changing the font type and background
color to as complex as reorganizing the CPanel layout and where functions are displayed. You may not be able
to ﬁnd information quickly in this documentation if you are using this documentation with a customized CPanel
theme – please ask your hosting provider for more information.

12

3.2. LOGGING ON CHAPTER 3. HOW DO I USE CPANEL?

3.2 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

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

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

Figure 3.4: Logging on

3.2.1 Logging out
You should explicitly log out whenever you have finished using CPanel, as this tells the web server that you have
finished that session. If you do not log out, the server automatically closes your session after a set period of time,
but there is a small chance that a hacker could use that open connection.
To log out:

1. Click on the button. This is located on the opening page of CPanel in both the default and
iconic themes.

13

3.3. MAIL MENU CHAPTER 3. HOW DO I USE CPANEL?

3.3 Mail Menu
The Mail Menu area allows you to manage all aspects of your email, from adding new accounts, managing mailing
lists, and setting spam filters. There are quite a number of options available, so take your time. Note: All email
options can be used in conjunction with each other. For example, you could set up an auto-responder on your
main account to email an ”Out of Office” message, a forwarder to send the email to your uncle’s house where you
are staying, and a spam filter to reject all email with ”credit” in the subject line. This flexibility is what makes
email so powerful as a communication medium.

Figure 3.5: Mail Menu

3.3.1 Reading your email

You can read your online email using NeoMail or Horde. Both of these popular webmail scripts allows
you to read your email, save them, keep an address book, and perform all of the other basic email functions
that you are used to. The main difference between NeoMail and an offline email applications, such as Eudora or
Microsoft Outlook Express, is that all of these functions are performed online, rather than on your own computer,
and offline applications generally provide many more features. NeoMail or Horde is optional. You can still use
your favorite offline email applications, if you prefer. You can even use a combination of NeoMail or Horde and
another tool – you can check your e-mail online, perhaps when you’re at work, and download your email to your
computer when you get home. You can automatically configure Outlook Express , or manually configure other
mail applications.
To read your email online:

1. Click on the Web Mail link in the Mail Menu area to access your default email account, or click on the
Add / Remove accounts link and click on the Read Webmail link next to the account that you want
to read.
Note: You can also save this link as a bookmark, so that you can access it without having to use CPanel.
2. Click on the web application that you would like to use.
3. You are now in the NeoMail or Horde window for your default email address. Refer to the page 15 if you
need more information about using NeoMail or page 16 if you need more information about using Horde.

14


Figure 3.6: Reading your email (NeoMail)

NeoMail summary
NeoMail is fairly self-explanatory. The text below describes the main buttons in NeoMail and what they do. This
is provided as a summary reference, and not a detailed description of how to use NeoMail. If you do not know
how to use some of the features, please contact your hosting administrator. Note: You can not use HTML code
in NeoMail – plain text only.
NeoMail functions:

• Inbox – Choose a folder to display. The default folder is your Inbox.

• Compose – Compose a new email message and send it using the Send button. You can not use HTML
code – plain text only.

• Refresh – Refreshes the displayed page. Use it to check if new mail has arrived since the window was
opened.

• User Preferences – Displays the Preferences page, which allows you to set a variety of options., such
as default language, number of messages displayed per page, and your email signature.

• Address Book – Displays your Address Book of saved email addresses. Click on an address to
create a new email with their email address automatically added.

• Folders – Allows you to create new folders and delete old ones. Useful for organizing your email.

• Empty Trash – Empties the neomail-trash folder.

• Logout – Closes the connection between you and Neomail.

• Page Navigation – Navigate to the ﬁrst, previous, next, last, or speciﬁc
page of email.

15


• Move – Moves the selected items to the displayed folder – the default folder is the
trash. Click on the on the tick box next to the specific message to select, or click on the All tick box to
select all messages in this window.

Horde summary
The Horde email application has many more features than NeoMail. The text below describes the main buttons
in Horde and what they do. This is provided as a summary reference, and not a detailed description of how to use
Horde. If you do not know how to use some of the features, please contact your hosting administrator. Horde
functions (available from the top menu bar):

• – Displays your inbox with all your current mail that has not been viewed, moved, or deleted.

• – Write a new email message. There are several options available, such as using an address book to
choose the recipient(s) of your email, adding attachments, and using special characters in the email.

• – Organize your mail messages into different folders. You can have as many different folder as you
want.

• – Set a large number of options on how you use Horde. Please read the description of a setting
carefully before applying it.

• – Search for a particular email message. You can search by almost any field in the email, and search
through any folder.

• – Displays the Horder online help. Please read this help when you have any questions or problems.

• – Stores email addresses of contacts. Click on any email address to create a new email message
to that person.

• – Logs you out of the Horde application. You should always do this when you have finished using
Horde.

Additional Horde functions (available from the bottom menu bar):

• – Displays a calendar on which you can enter events.

• – Create notes for your future reference.

• – Create a list of tasks that you need to perform.

3.3.2 Email Accounts

You can set up as many POP (Post Office Protocol) email accounts as you require, up to your maximum
limit. Each one of these is in the standard email formation of address@yourdomain.com. As with your default
email address, you can access these accounts through NeoMail or through your own offline email application.

16


To add an email account:

1. Click on the Add / Remove accounts link in the Mail Menu area.
2. Click on the Add Account link.
3. Enter the first part of the email address and the password for the account in Email and Password fields.
4. Enter the maximum size limit of this mailbox in the Quota field, if required. The size limit is in megabytes.
Not entering a number means that the mailbox size is only limited by the available disk space.

5. Click on the button.
6. Your new account has been added. Refer to page 18 if you want to use Outlook Express to read email
received by the new account.

Figure 3.7: Adding an email account

Reading an email account
As with your default email account, you can read your email online using NeoMail, or download it to your offline
email application.
To read your email accounts online:

Note: You can also save this link as a bookmark, so that you can access it without having to use CPanel.

2. Click on the button next to the required email address.
3. You are now in the NeoMail window for your email address. Click on any message link to read the message,
and use the toolbar to reply to the email, or perform any other function. Refer to page 15 if you need more
information about using NeoMail.

17


Figure 3.8: Reading your email

Configuring Outlook Express to read email
Because Microsoft Outlook Express is the most popular email application available, you can automatically con-
figure Outlook Express from CPanel. This saves time in manually configuring your email application and avoids
errors. Note: This will only work if you have Microsoft Outlook installed on your machine and are running any
version of Windows.
To automatically configure Outlook Express:

2. Click on the Outlook (Express) AutoConfig link next to the required account.
3. Read the message in the alert window and click on the OK button. You may need to repeat this step two
or three times.
4. Click on the Open this file from its current location radio button, and click on the OK button in the
File Download window.
5. Click on the Yes button in the Registry Editor window and repeat for the last window. Outlook Express
has now been configured for this account. You need to repeat this process for as many accounts as you want
to access through Outlook Express.

Changing an email account’s quota
You can change the size limit on any of your email accounts whenever required.
To change an email account’s quota:



3. Enter the new quota in the New Quota field. You can remove a quota limit from the email account by
erasing all information in the field or entering the word unlimited.

Your quota has now been changed for that account.

18


Figure 3.9: Changing an email account’s quota

Changing an email account’s password
You can change the password on any of your email accounts whenever required. It is useful to occasionally do
this to maximize your email security. You should always change your password if you think someone else has
access to your account. Note: Make sure that you change the password in your oﬄine email application as well,
or you will not be able to upload or download email to this account.
To change an email account’s password:


3. Enter the new password in the New Password ﬁeld.

Your password has now been changed for that account.

Figure 3.10: Changing an email account’s password

Deleting an email account
You can delete an email account when the account is no longer needed. You can not delete your default account.
Warning: Make sure you download any mail that you want to keep, as deleting the account will delete all of the
mail still in that account. You can not recover this information once the account has been deleted.
To delete an email account:


2. Click on the button next to the unwanted email address.


19


3.3.3 Setting your default email address

Any email that is sent to an unknown account at your domain name, such as unknown@yourdomain.com,
gets automatically rerouted to your default email account. All web site accounts are automatically assigned a
default email address – user@yourdomain.com – which you can change, if required.
To set your default email address:

1. Click on the Default Address link in the Mail Menu area.
2. Click on the Set Default Address link.
3. Enter the complete email address of the new default in the field next to your web site name drop-down list.
Note: You can enter :blackhole: to throw away all incoming mail, or :fail: to bounce the email back to
the sender.

4. Click on the button. Your new default email address has now been set.

Figure 3.11: Setting your default email message

3.3.4 Auto-Responders

Auto-responders are email messages that are sent automatically when an email arrives for a specific
email account. auto-responders are most commonly used for an ”Out of Office” style message to inform your
correspondents that you are not available, without you having to reply manually. You can have more than one
auto-responder on one account. You can use plain text or include HTML code in the auto-responder, and choose
from a wide variety of character sets.
To add an auto-responder:

1. Click on the Auto-Responders link in the Mail Menu area.
2. Click on the Add AutoResponder link.
3. Enter the address of the account that the auto-responder responds to in the Email field.
4. Enter your name or address in the From field. You do not have to put anything in this field.
5. Enter the subject line of the auto-responder in the Subject field.
6. Click on the required character set for this auto-responder from the Character Set drop-down list, if
required.
7. Click on the HTML Message tick box if you want to include HTML code in the auto-responder.
8. Enter the auto-responder message in the Body field. You can not use HTML code in this field – plain text
only.

20



Figure 3.12: Adding an auto-responder

Editing an auto-responder
Modify an auto-responder if you need to alter the details of the message or if you set it to the wrong account.
To edit an auto-responder:


2. Click on the button next to the auto-responder that you want to edit.

3. Edit the Email, From, Subject, Character Set, HTML Message, and Body ﬁelds as required. Refer
to page 20 if you are not sure what you can do in each ﬁeld.

4. Click on the button to edit the auto-responder.

21


Figure 3.13: Editing an auto-responder

Deleting an auto-responder
Delete an auto-responder when you no longer need to use it. If you use the auto-responder at frequent inter-
vals, such as an ”Out of Office” message, you can modify it to point to a nonexistent email account, such as
store@yourdomain.com, and then simply change the account name back when you need it again. Refer to page
21 for more information.
To delete an auto-responder:


2. Click on the button next to the auto-responder that you want to delete.

3.3.5 Blocking email

You can block an email using spam filters. There are many definitions of spam, but one of the most
useful ones is the following: ”Spam: unsolicited email, usually of a commercial nature.”
Spam is the electronic version of junk mail, and has been around since the Internet was created. Spam filters
are a way of filtering your email to remove unwanted mail based on a variety of criteria. You can block any sort
of email, not just mail of a commercial nature. Blocked mail is deleted automatically – it does not even bounce
back to the sender. These filters are quite flexible – some examples are provided after the instruction on how to
add a spam filter below. All filters are cumulative.
Useful spam links:

• Six simple things you can do to prevent spam
• Alternate definition of spam
• Usenet definition of spam

22


Also refer to page 26 for another approach to dealing with spam.
To add a spam filter:

1. Click on the Block an E-mail link in the Mail Menu area.
2. Click on the Add Filter link.
3. Click on the required header field in the first drop-down list. These are the various fields in any email
message.
4. Click on the required filter action in the second drop-down list. This action will act on the text entered in
the third field.

• equals – match the text exactly (whole words only). ”Credit” will block ”Credit”.
• matches regex – matches the text based on regular expression (regex) rules. Regular expressions are
a powerful but complex area. You do not need to use regular expression filters for most circumstances.
Refer to these two good introductory tutorials – Using Regular Expressions and Learning to Use
Regular Expressions – for more information.
• contains – match the specified text in any circumstance. ”porn” will block ”porn” and ”pornography”.
• begins with – match the specified text when it is the beginning of a word. ”porn” will block ”porn”
and ”pornography” but not ”teenporn”.

5. Enter the filter text in the third field. This text is case sensitive.


Example:
To block all email from ”john@paradise.net”, enter: From, equals, john@paradise.net
To block all email from paradise.net, enter: From, contains, paradise.net
To block all references to pornography, enter: Any Header, contains, porn

Figure 3.14: Adding a spam filter

Deleting a spam filter
Delete a spam filter when you no longer need it. There is no way to modify a spam filter – if you have made a
mistake, simply delete the filter and start again.
To delete a spam filter:

1. Click on the Block an E-mail link in the Mail Menu area.
2. Click on the button next to the spam filter that you want to delete.

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3.3.6 Forwarders

Forwards simply allow you to automatically forward email sent to one account to another account.
This is useful when you work at two separate locations, or have gone on holiday. To forward mail from one
account to two or more accounts, just add two or more forwards for the account that is being forwarded.
To add a forwarder:

1. Click on the Forwarders link in the Mail Menu area.
2. Click on the Add Forwarder link.
3. Enter the first part of the email address that will be forwarded in the first field in the ”Add forwarder”
area.
4. Enter the full email address that the forwarder will forward mail to in the second field.


Figure 3.15: Adding a forwarder

Deleting an email forwarder
Delete an email forwarder when you no longer need it. There is no way to modify an email forwarder – if you
have made a mistake, simply delete the forwarder and start again.
To delete an email forwarder:

1. Click on the Forwarders link in the Mail Menu area.
2. Click on the button next to the forwarder that you want to delete.

3.3.7 Mailing Lists

CPanel includes a popular mailing list script called Mailman. Mailing lists are an ideal tool for
communication between far flung participants and can be about anything you want. Mailman allows you to
set up a mailing list with a large number of configurable options, such as who is on the list, where mailing lists
messages are sent, and whether you include welcoming messages to new subscribers. The Mailman documentation,
which is incorporated into its Administration panel, is clear and helpful, and should be referred to for all questions
about using the script. The instructions in this section deal with how to set up, modify, and delete a Mailman
mailing list from your CPanel.
The Mailman homepage is at the following address for more information:
http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman.html

24


Note: It is a good idea to be aware of spam and its definition before setting up a mailing list – refer to page 22
for more information.
To add a mailing list:

1. Click on the Lists link in the Mail Menu area.
2. Click on the Add List link.
3. Enter the name of the mailing list in the List Name field, the password for the list in the Password field,
and the domain it is for in the Domain drop-down list.

4. Click on the button. The list is created in the /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/mailman/lists
folder.

Figure 3.16: Add a mailing list

Editing a mailing list
There are many different configurable options available with the Mailman script. This procedure shows you how
to open up the Administration panel so that you can modify the script options. Use the Mailman documentation
that is included in the Administration panel to answer any specific questions you might have.
To edit a mailing list:


3. Log in to the mailing list with your password. You are now in the Mailman Administration panel and can
adjust options as you require.

Deleting a mailing list
Delete a Mailman mailing list when you no longer want the list to be active. Warning: Deleting the mailing list
will delete all archives, current mail, and members email addresses. If you want to keep any of this information,
be sure to download or otherwise copy these files before deleting the mailing list. Once the mailing list is deleted
the information is unrecoverable.
To delete a mailing list:

2. Click on the next to the mailing list that you want to delete.


25


3.3.8 Spam Assassin

Spam Assassin is a mail filter installed on a mail server used to identify spam. It checks for spam
using a large number of pre-set rules that check the header, body, and sender of all email messages sent to your
domain mailbox. For more information about Spam Assassin, refer to the following links:

• Spam Assassin – Spam Assassin web site.
• Spam Assassin rules – A list of all the rules that Spam Assassin currently uses.

Also refer to page 22 for more information about spam and setting up filters.
To enable Spam Assassin:

1. Click on the Spam Assassin link in the Mail Menu area.


Figure 3.17: Enabling Spam Assassin

Disabling Spam Assassin
You can disable Spam Assassin whenever you require. If you are not able to receive a non-spam email it is a good
idea to disable Spam Assassin and resend the email.
To disable Spam Assassin:

1. Click on the Spam Assassin link in the Mail Menu area.


3.3.9 Altering your Mail Exchanger (MX Entry) setting

CPanel manages your email through its own mail server. However, by altering your MX (Mail Exchange
Record) Entry you can point your email to another mail server, if this is required. Note: CPanel will not be
able to manage your email if you change your MX Entry setting.
To alter your MX Entry setting:

1. Click on the Modify Mail Exchanger (MX Entry) link in the Mail Menu area.
2. Click on the Change a MX Entry link.
3. Enter the domain name of the new MX Entry in the available field.
Note: You can only change the entry to a domain name (e.g. yourdomain.com), not an IP (Internet
Protocol) address.

26


Note: You can change the MX Entry back to its default settings by clicking on the
button.

Figure 3.18: Altering your Mail Exchanger (MX Entry) setting

27

3.4. ACCOUNT SETTINGS CHAPTER 3. HOW DO I USE CPANEL?

3.4 Account Settings
The Account Settings area deals with all the tools that you need to control your account using CPanel, changing
your web site, creating custom error pages, using subdomains, and other tools.

Figure 3.19: Account Settings

3.4.1 Changing your domain password

Your domain password is the password you use to log on to your CPanel. This is useful to occasionally
do 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 link in the Account Settings area.
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 button. Your password has now been changed.

Figure 3.20: Changing your domain password

3.4.2 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.com”,
which would be accessed as ”timber.hardware.com”. 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.

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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 can not create email accounts with the subdomain extension. A workaround for this is to create
an account called ”sales-timber@hardware.com”, or similar.
To add a subdomain:

1. Click on the Sub Domains link in the Account Settings area.
Note: You can only successfully create a new subdomain once your DNS number has successfully propa-
gated 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 button. Click on the Sub Domains link to return to the Subdomains window to
confirm that it has been added. 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).

Figure 3.21: Adding a subdomain

Subdomain Statistics
You can view statistics specifically for each subdomain using the Analog and Webalizer tools. Refer to page 61
and page 62 for more information on how to use these tools.
To view subdomain statistics:

1. Click on the Sub Domain Stats link in the Account Settings area.
2. View the statistics as required. Refer to page 61 and page 62 for more information on how to use the
Webalizer and Analog statistics tools.

Adding subdomain redirection

You can redirect Internet traffic from a particular subdomain to another location. This is usually used
when the web pages that made up the subdomain have been moved to another location.
To add subdomain redirection:

2. Click on the required subdomain from the first drop-down list.

29


4. Enter the redirection address in the available ﬁeld. Make sure that you end the address with a trailing slash
(e.g. http://yourdomain.com/).


Figure 3.22: Adding subdomain redirection

Removing subdomain redirection
You can remove redirection from a subdomain at any time.
To remove subdomain redirection:

2. Click on the button next to the required subdomain.

Figure 3.23: Removing subdomain redirection

Deleting a subdomain
Deleting a subdomain does not delete the subdomain folder – you will need to do this manually.
To delete a subdomain:

2. Select the required subdomain from the ”Delete subdomain” drop-down list.

30


3. Click on the button. Click on the Sub Domains link to return to the Subdomain window to
confirm that it has been deleted.

3.4.3 Parked Domains

You can set up a domain name that you own to point to another domain name. This is known as
”parking” a domain. Example: You own the business.co.nz and innovation.co.nz domain names. You already
have a web site for business.co.nz, but you do not want to create a new website for innovation.co.nz at the
moment. By parking innovation.co.nz on top of business.co.nz, all URLs for innovation.co.nz will automatically
go to business.co.nz instead.
To park a domain:

1. Click on the Parked Domains link in the Account Settings area.
2. Enter the name of the domain that you want to park in the New Domain Name field.


Figure 3.24: Parking a domain

Deleting a parked domain
You need to delete a parked domain when you no longer own that domain or when you want to set up a separate
web site for the parked domain.
To delete a parked domain:

1. Click on the Parked Domains link in the Account Settings area.
2. Click on the required domain from the available drop-down list.


3.4.4 FTP
The FTP area deals with all the tools relating to setting up and managing FTP accounts, as well as managing
FTP sessions. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a method by which you can transfer files between computers,
usually using the Internet. There is a huge amount of information stored on FTP servers around the world which
can only be accessed by using FTP. When using FTP you use an application called a ”client” to connect to a
machine called a ”server”. There are a large number of FTP software packages available. Some of them are
built in to your browser (such as Internet Explorer), others are dedicated applications (such as such as CuteFTP
or WS FTP ), while still others are built into web applications (page 38 in CPanel is one example). Generally
speaking, if you are going to spend a lot of time using FTP or have a large amount of files to upload/download,
a dedicated FTP client is the way to go.

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CPanel allows you to set up FTP accounts so that certain external users can access a restricted part of your
system. You can also set up an anonymous FTP account so that anyone can access a restricted part of your
system. You can also manage these FTP sessions, cutting them off if they go on for too long.
Warning: FTP, by its very nature, allows external users to modify your web site (albeit a restricted area of
your web site). External users can upload, download, and delete files. Keep this in mind when you set up an
FTP account.

Figure 3.25: FTP

Adding an FTP account
An FTP account creates a folder on the public html level of your site that allows external users that know the
password to upload and download files from that location. Change your password if you think that your account
is being used incorrectly. Note: Please be aware that all users with the correct password will be able to add,
edit, and delete files from the directory that you specify for the FTP account, and any directories within the
stated directory.
To add an FTP account:

1. Click on the FTP Manager link in the Account Settings area.

3. Click on the Add Account link.
4. Enter the name of the FTP account in the Login field and the password for the account in the Password
field.
5. Enter the path to the directory to which this FTP account has access.
Warning: If you enter the top-level of the web site by entering a slash (/), all users with the correct
password will be able to add, edit, and delete all files on your site. It is advisable to limit an FTP account
to a smaller section of your web site.


32


Figure 3.26: Adding an FTP account

Downloading FTP access logs
You can download raw FTP access logs for your domain at any time. These are useful for monitoring exactly
what FTP actions have occurred on your domain.
To download FTP access logs:


3. Click on one of the URLs listed at the bottom of the window, or copy and paste that URL into an FTP
client application.

Figure 3.27: Downloading FTP access logs

Changing the password on an FTP account
It is a good idea to regularly change your password. You should always change your password if you think
someone else has access to your FTP account.
To change a password on an FTP account:



4. Enter the new password in the New Password ﬁeld.


33


Figure 3.28: Changing the password on an FTP account

Deleting an FTP account
Deleting an FTP account is as simple as creating as creating the account. Deleting the account does not delete
the folder or its contents, but it does prevent anyone from accessing that folder through FTP.
To delete an FTP account:



Setting Anonymous FTP access
Anonymous FTP access allows anyone to access your public ftp folder. There are two options available:

• Allow anonymous access to ftp://ftp.yourdomain.com – This allows to view, download, and delete ﬁles from
your public ftp folder.
• Allow anonymous upload to ftp://ftp.yourdomain.com/incoming – This allows to view, upload, download,
and delete ﬁles from your public ftp/incoming folder.

Warning: Anonymous FTP allows anyone access to a restricted area of your site. It is generally safest to not
enable Anonymous FTP. If you do enable it, you are responsible for the bandwidth and space used.
To set Anonymous FTP access:


3. Click on the Allow anonymous access to ftp://ftp.yourdomain.com tick box or the Allow anony-
mous upload to ftp://ftp.yourdomain.com/incoming tick box. You must click on both tick boxes
to enable uploads.


34


Figure 3.29: Setting Anonymous FTP access

Removing Anonymous FTP access
Removing Anonymous FTP access is as simple as enabling the access. Removing access does not delete your
public ftp folder or its contents (you should not delete this folder anyway), but it does prevent anyone from
accessing that folder through FTP.
To remove Anonymous FTP access:


3. Remove the tick from the Allow anonymous access to ftp://ftp.yourdomain.com tick box or the
Allow anonymous upload to ftp://ftp.yourdomain.com/incoming tick boxes.


Figure 3.30: Removing Anonymous FTP access

Adding an Anonymous FTP message
You can add a message that appears in all FTP clients that access your public ftp folder. This is usually used
to add copyright notices or other warnings or comments based on the available ﬁles.
To add an Anonymous FTP message:



35


3. Enter the message that you want visitors to see in the text area. You can not enter HTML code – plain
text only. This is created as a welcome.msg text file.


Figure 3.31: Adding an Anonymous FTP message

Controlling FTP sessions
You can view and terminate FTP sessions using the provided FTP session controls. This is useful for general
information and stopping unwanted FTP activity.
To control FTP sessions:


3. All active FTP sessions (FTP connections that are actively uploading or downloading files) are listed. Click
on the button next to a session to terminate that session.

3.4.5 Error pages

Error pages are served 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 link in the Account Settings area.

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

36

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


Figure 3.32: Creating a customized error page

37

3.5. ACCESS MENU CHAPTER 3. HOW DO I USE CPANEL?

3.5 Access Menu
The Access Menu area deals with all the tools that you need to control your own access to your web site using
CPanel, including managing files, protecting directories, backing up your site, and using SSL to access your web
site.

Figure 3.33: Access Menu

3.5.1 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 link in the Access Menu area.
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.

Creating a new folder
Folders are a very useful way of adding organization and structure to your web site. They make maintenance
of the site much easier, as you can easily see what files are in which folder. Most web sites include at least an
/image folder to keep all the image files separate from the HTML files.
To create a new folder:

1. Navigate to the area in which you will create the new folder.
2. Click on the Create New Folder link.
3. Enter the name of the new folder in the available field in the top-left corner of the window.

4. Click on the button. The new folder will appear in the main display area.

38


Figure 3.34: Creating a new folder

Uploading files in File Manager
You can use File Manager to upload files to your web site, up to 12 files in one go. Although useful, a third-party
FTP client has many more features and does not limit you to the number of files you can upload at one time.
Refer to the page 31 section for more information.
To upload files in File Manager:

1. Navigate to the folder where you want to upload your files.
2. Click on the Upload file(s) link.

3. Click on the button next to one of the top fields.
4. Search for and double-click on the first file to upload.
5. Repeat the above steps for each file you want to upload.
6. Click on the Overwrite existing files tick box if you want to overwrite existing files of the same name.

7. Click on the button when you have finished selecting files. The status of the upload will appear
in the top-right corner of your window. The contents of the folder is displayed in the main area, including
your uploaded files.

Figure 3.35: Uploading files in File Manager

39


Creating a new file
For small text files it can be easier to create them online, rather than on your home computer and uploading the
file. You can create text files, such as HTML, PHP, or plain TXT, but not binary files.
To create a new file:

1. Navigate to the folder where you want to create your text file.
2. Click on the Create New File link.
3. Enter the name of the file to be created in the available field in the top-right corner of your window. You
do need to add the file extension to the name, for example script.pl for a Perl script, not just script.
4. Select the type of document from the drop-down list. Each type of file adds specific information to the text
file:

• Text Document – No text is added to the file.
• HTML Document – No text is added to the file.
• Perl Script – Automatically adds the path to Perl to the top of the file. Make sure to double-check
that the path is correct.
• Shell Script – Automatically adds the path to the Shell executable to the top of the file. Make sure
to double-check that the path is correct.

5. Click on the button. The file has now been created and the display updated to show the new
file. Refer to page 40 to add text to these new files.

Figure 3.36: Creating a new file

Editing a file
Editing a pre-existing file through File Manager allows you to make immediate changes to your web site, without
having to upload a new version of the file. This is useful for small changes, but would be inefficient for large
amounts of coding.
To edit a file:

1. Navigate to the folder where the file is located.
2. Click on the name of the file.
3. Click on the Edit File link in the top-right corner of your window. This will open a new window with the
contents of the file displayed.
Note: Clicking on the Show File link will display the contents of the file. However, you will not be able
to make any changes to the file.
4. Alter the text of the file as you wish.

40


5. Click on the button when you have finished altering the file. The file has been saved and any
changes will take effect from now on.

Figure 3.37: Editing a file

Renaming a file or folder
You can quickly rename a file or folder if you originally labeled a file or folder with the wrong name, or if the
name needs to be updated. This is useful if a small number of files need to be changed, since you do not need to
upload any files for the changes to take effect, but inefficient if you needed to rename your entire site.
To rename a file or folder:

1. Navigate to the file or folder.
2. Click on the Rename File link in the top-right corner of your window.
3. Enter the new name for the file or folder in the text field. You need to enter an extension if it is a file, such
as .html for HTML files.

4. Click on the button. The file name has now been changed and the display updated to show
the modified file.

Figure 3.38: Renaming a file or folder

41


Changing file/folder permissions
All files on UNIX (including Linux and other UNIX variants) machines have access permissions. These tell the
operating system how to deal with requests to access these files. There are three types of access:

• Read – Denoted as r, files with read access can be displayed to the user.
• Write – Denoted as w, files with write access can be modified by the user.
• Execute – Denoted as x, files with execute access can be executed as programs by the user.

Access types are set for three types of user group:

• User – the owner of the file.
• Group – other files which are in the same folder or group.
• World – everyone else.

The web server needs to be able to read your web pages in order to be able to display them in a browser. The
following permissions need to be set in order for your web site to function properly.

• All HTML files and images need to be readable by others. The setting for this is 644 (readable by User,
Group, and World, and writable by User), and is set automatically when you upload files.
• All folders need to be executable by others. The setting for this is 755 (readable by User, Group, and
World, writable by User, executable by User, Group, and World), and is set automatically when you create
a folder.

• All CGI files (all files in the cgi-bin folder) need to be executable by other. The setting for this is 755
(readable by User, Group, and World, writable by User, executable by User, Group, and World), and is
not set automatically when you upload files. You need to change file permissions manually. Refer to the
page 67 topic for more information.

Warning: It is important that none of your files or folders are writable by anyone else. Any file or folder which
is writable by others can be erased by them. Generally there is no problem, just be careful in how you set your
permissions.
To change file or folder permissions:

1. Navigate to the file or folder that you need to change.
2. Click on the name of the file or folder.
3. Click on the Change Permissions link in the top-right corner of the window.

4. Click on as many tick boxes as you require to create the right permission. The permission numbers under-
neath the tick boxes will update automatically.

5. Click on the button when you have finished setting the permission. The new permission level
has now been saved and the display updated to show the modified file.

42


Figure 3.39: Changing file or folder permissions

Deleting a file or folder
CPanel includes a Trash folder, which operates the same way as the Windows Recycle Bin. All deleted files are
automatically placed in the Trash folder and can be restored to their original positions by a simple click. However,
once you empty the Trash folder, the files are permanently deleted. Refer to page 44 for more information.
To delete a file or folder:

1. Navigate to the file(s) or folder(s) that you want to delete.
2. Click on the name of the file or folder to display the item’s properties in the top-right corner of your window.
3. Click on the Delete File link. The deleted file or folder is now displayed in the Trash area. Refer to page
43 if you deleted the wrong file or folder by accident.

Figure 3.40: Deleting a file

Restoring an item from the Trash
You can easily restore a deleted file from the Trash by moving it from the Trash to another folder. Restored
folders are automatically moved back to their original location. However, you will not be able to restore the item
if you have emptied the Trash since deleting it – it has been permanently destroyed.
To restore an item from the Trash:

1. Click on the icon of the item that you want to restore in the Trash area on the bottom-right of the window.
The folder or file will be automatically returned to its original location.

43


Figure 3.41: Restoring a file from the Trash

Emptying the Trash
Warning: Make sure you do not need any of the files or folders in the Trash before you empty it, because the
files are deleted permanently once the Trash is emptied.
To empty the Trash:

1. Click on the Empty trash link in the Trash area. All of the files in the Trash have now been permanently
deleted.

Figure 3.42: Emptying the Trash

3.5.2 Web 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 Web Protect link in the Account Settings area.
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.

Generally, you now need to add at least one authorized user to enable access to the directory. Refer to page

44


Figure 3.43: Protecting a directory with a password

Adding an authorized user
You can control who can access protected directories by adding authorized users. Generally, at least one authorized
user needs to be added, otherwise no-one will not be able to view the directory.
To add or modify an authorized user:

2. Navigate to the required directory. Select a folder by clicking on the folder name link. Open a folder by
clicking on the folder icon.
3. Enter the user’s name in the Username field, and their password in the Password field.


Figure 3.44: Adding an authorized user

Changing an authorized user’s password
You can change an authorized user’s password at any time. This is useful if they have forgotten their password
or they think someone has access to their account. It is a good idea to regularly change passwords.
To change an authorized user’s password:


3. Enter the user’s name in the Username field, and their new password in the Password field.


45


Figure 3.45: Changing an authorized user’s password

Removing an authorized user
Remove authorized users when they no longer should have access to a particular directory. This maintenance
task is often forgotten and leaves a hole in your security, so remember to perform this procedure as soon as it is
required.
To remove an authorized user:

3. Select the required user in the Active Users list.


Figure 3.46: Removing an authorized user

Removing password protection
Removing password protection is as simple as adding it. You do not need to remove user authorization for the
directory, as all the users will be automatically deleted when you remove the password protection.
To remove password protection from a directory:


2. Navigate to the protected directory. Select a folder by clicking on the folder name link. Open a folder by

3. Untick the tick box next to the icon.


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Figure 3.47: Removing password protection

3.5.3 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 link in the Access Menu area.
2. Save the file to disk.
Note: The access logs are in .gz (GZIP compression) format.

3.5.4 Backup

The Backup area allows you to download the daily 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 – more
control, but it would take longer). 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 link in the Access Menu area.
2. Click on the link underneath the required area to download today’s backup file. Refer to page 48 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.

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Figure 3.48: Downloading a backup file

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.

Generating a backup
You can generate a backup at any time. This is useful if you have just made some changes to the site and you do
not want to have to wait for the routine backup (usually daily or weekly) before downloading the backup.
To generate a backup:

2. Click on the Generate/Download a Full Backup link.
3. Click on the location for the backup from the Backup Destination drop-down list. The following locations
are available:

• Home Directory – Saves the backup in the public html level of your site.
• Remote Ftp Server – Saves the backup on a specified remote FTP server.
• Remote Ftp Server (passive mode transfer) – Saves the backup on a specified remote FTP server
that will only accept passive (PASV) mode FTP transfer. Please refer to your hosting administrator
or the remote FTP server if you have questions about passive mode transfer.

4. Enter your email address in the Email Address field. An email will be sent to this address when the
backup has completed.
5. Enter the FTP address, user name, and password in the Remote Server, Remote User, and Remote
Password fields if you are saving the backup file at a remote location.

6. Click on the button. An email will be sent to the specified address when the backup has
finished and can be downloaded.

Figure 3.49: Generating a backup

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Restoring your web site from a backup
In the unlikely event that your web site or other files are deleted from your web host’s servers, you can restore
the web site using your most recent backup file.
To restore your web site from a backup file:


2. Click on the button next to the relevant area that you want to restore.
3. Search for and double-click on the relevant backup file (in .gz format).

Note: You may need to wait for a few minutes to upload and restore a large web site file.

Figure 3.50: Restoring your web site from a backup file

3.5.5 SSL Shell

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 link in the Access Menu area.
Note: You need to have Java Applets enabled on your browser for the SSL Shell to start.

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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.

Figure 3.51: MindTerm SSL Shell window

3.5.6 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:

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1. Click on the Index Manager link in the Access Menu area.
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.


Figure 3.52: Changing index settings for a directory

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3.6. ADVANCED MENU CHAPTER 3. HOW DO I USE CPANEL?

3.6 Advanced Menu
The Advanced Menu area deals with a number of options that you normally would not need to use very often,
including cron jobs, mime types, Apache handlers, and a number of other useful tools. Generally you only need to
use these tools to perform unusual tasks. mySQL database control is also situated in this area, and is becoming
a very popular tool in web site design.

Figure 3.53: Advanced Menu

3.6.1 mySQL

SQL stands for Structured Query Language. SQL is a international standard in querying and
retrieving information from databases. mySQL is essentially an SQL server – it responds to requests for informa-
tion 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 generally free for use. Refer to the
following links for more information about mySQL :

• mySQL FAQ – a good place to start.
• 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 link in the Advanced Menu area.
2. Enter the name of the database in the Db ﬁeld.

3. Click on the 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. Refer
to page 53 and page 53 for more information.

Figure 3.54: Creating a mySQL database

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Removing a database
Removing a database will delete that database from it’s online location. Be sure that you have saved a copy of
the database if you want to keep any of the information in the database. Removing a database will not remove
any user’s but it will remove all user’s permissions to that database.
To remove a database:


2. Click on the button next to the specific database.

Creating a mySQL user
You need to create a mySQL user before that user is able to use the database. This does not automatically allow
the user to use a database – you need to grant that user permissions to the specific database first. Refer to page
To create a mySQL user:

2. Enter the user’s name in the Username field and the user’s password in the Password field.


Figure 3.55: Creating a mySQL user

Removing a user
Removing a user deletes that user – it removes all database permissions that the user has and does not allow that
user access to any mySQL databases.
To remove a user:


2. Click on the button next to the specific user in the Users area.

Grant a user’s permissions to a mySQL database
Once you have created a user to use a database you need to grant that user permission to use the database. If
you have not yet created a user, refer to page 53 for more information.
To grant user permissions to a mySQL database:


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2. Choose the specific user from the User drop-down list and the specific database to grant permissions to
from the Db drop-down list.

3. Click on the button. The user now has permission to use that database and sample
connection strings are shown in the mySQL window.

Figure 3.56: Granting a user’s permissions to a mySQL database

Removing a user’s permissions
A user will no longer be able to access a particular database when you have removed their permissions to that
database.
To remove a user’s permissions:


2. Click on the button next to the specific user underneath the name of the database in the Databases
area.

Figure 3.57: Removing a user’s permissions

Managing mySQL databases
CPanel includes a web-based mySQL management tool called phpMyAdmin. This tool allows you to manage
all aspects of your database structure and data. Refer to the phpMyAdmin documentation link, which is
http://yourURL/3rdparty/phpMyAdmin/Documentation.html, if you need to know more about using
phpMyAdmin.
To manage mySQL databases using phpMyAdmin:

2. Click on the phpMyAdmin link at the base of the window. Refer to the phpMyAdmin documentation
link, which is http://yourURL/3rdparty/phpMyAdmin/Documentation.html, if you need to know
more about using phpMyAdmin.

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Adding host access
You can allow external web servers to access your mySQL databases by adding their domain name to the list of
hosts that are able to access databases on your web site. localhost stands for your own web server.
To add host access:


2. Enter the domain name or IP number of the host that you wish to add in the Host ﬁeld.


Figure 3.58: Adding host access

Removing host access
You can remove an external web server’s access to your mySQL databases at any time.
To remove host access:


2. Click on the button next to the web server that you want to remove.

Figure 3.59: Removing host access

3.6.2 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. 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:

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1. Click on the Cron Jobs link in the Advanced Menu area.
2. Enter the times for the cron job in the Minute, Hour, Day, Month, or Weekday
fields. Refer to the following page to check exactly how to enter values in these fields –
http://www.redhat.com/support/resources/tips/cron/cron.html .
3. Enter the cron job script in the Command field.

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

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

Figure 3.60: Adding a cron job

Deleting a cron job
You can delete any cron job at any time. If you are unsure what a cron job is doing it is safer to delete it and
check the code with your hosting administrator.
To delete a cron job:

1. Click on the Cron Jobs link in the Advanced Menu area.
2. Click on the button next to the required cron job.

3.6.3 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 link in the Advanced Menu area.
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.

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


Figure 3.61: Adding a Mime type

Deleting a Mime type
You can delete any custom Mime types at any time. However, you can not delete system-wide Mime types –
please contact your hosting administrator if you have a problem with one of these.
To delete a Mime type:

1. Click on the Mime Types link in the Advanced Menu area.
2. A list of customized Mime types is displayed underneath the User Defined Mime Types area. Enter the
details of one of these in the Mime Type and Extension(s) fields.


3.6.4 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 link in the Advanced Menu area.

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.


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Figure 3.62: Adding an Apache handler

Deleting an Apache handler
You can delete any custom Apache handler at any time. However, you can not delete system-wide Apache
handlers – please contact your hosting administrator if you have a problem with one of these.
To delete an Apache handler:

1. Click on the Apache Handlers link in the Advanced Menu area.
2. A list of customized Apache handlers is displayed underneath the User Defined Handlers area. Enter
the details of one of these in the Extension(s) and Handler fields.


3.6.5 Redirects

The Redirects area allows you to redirect Internet traffics from one web page to another. This is usually
used when a web page has been moved to another location.
To set up a redirect:

1. Click on the Redirects link in the Advanced Menu area.
2. Enter the address of the web page to move in the first field.
3. Enter the redirection address in the second field.
4. Choose one of the following options in the drop-down list:

• Temporary – This tells Internet traffic agents (browsers, search engines, etc.) that this is only a
temporary redirection, and that they should return to this initial location again in the future for the
same page.
• Permanent – This tells the Internet traffic agents to go to the redirection address in the future, as
the old address will never be used again.


Figure 3.63: Redirecting a web page

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Removing a redirect
You can remove a redirect at any time. There is no way to modify a redirect – if you need to change the details
of an existing redirect, you need to delete the existing one and start again.
To remove a redirect:

1. Click on the Redirects link in the Advanced Menu area.

2. Click on the required redirect in the Remove Redirect drop-down list.


3.6.6 Preventing hotlinks

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 Preventor link in the Advanced Menu area.
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.


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Figure 3.64: Enabling hotlink protection

Disabling hotlink protection
You can disable hotlink protection at any time.
To disable hotlink protection:

1. Click on the HotLink Preventor link in the Advanced Menu area.


Figure 3.65: Disabling hotlink protection

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3.7. TOOLS CHAPTER 3. HOW DO I USE CPANEL?

3.7 Tools
The Tools area contains a large number of diﬀerent utilities, from web site statistics to pre-installed CGI scripts
and shopping carts, to Frontpage Extensions and OpenPGP keys.

Figure 3.66: Tools

3.7.1 Web / FTP Statistics

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 actually mean, refer to the following excellent articles:

• Measuring Web Site Usage
• How the web works

Figure 3.67: Statistics

Analog

The Analog reporting tools presents the most comprehensive coverage of web server statistics available
for your web site using CPanel. Refer to the following links for more information about the Analog tool:

• Analog documentation – All available Analog documentation.
• Analog reports – A detailed description of all available Analog reports.

To use the Analog tool:

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1. Click on the Analog link in the Web / FTP Stats area.
2. Click on the month that you are interested in.
3. You are now presented with the Web Server Statistics page for your web site. You can browse the report
online, or print it for more detailed perusal offline. Take your time – there is a lot of information available.

Webalizer

The Webalizer tool creates a graphical summary display of usage of your site. This is useful to give
you a quick and clear overview of your web site activity.
To use Webalizer:

1. Click on the Webalizer link in the Web / FTP Stats area.
2. Browse the results.

Figure 3.68: Using Webalizer

Latest visitors

This quick tool lists the last 300 visitors that have visited your site in the last 24 hours. Note that visitors
are defined as requests from servers, not individual people.
To view the most recent visitors:

1. Click on the Latest Visitors link in the Web / FTP Stats area.
2. Browse the results. You can click on the Referrer link to open the referring site page, or click on the URL
link to open the file that was requested.

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Bandwidth

The Bandwidth tool generates an overall summary of the amount of bandwidth that your site is
using. This is generated from HTTP traffic (looking at your web site, downloading files, etc.) and possibly FTP
traffic. However, this does not include any other type of traffic, the most notable of which is POP3 – email.
Depending on what files you send and receive through e-mail, this amount could be considerable. Contact your
hosting administrator if you want to check how much bandwidth you are using.
To check how much bandwidth is being used:

1. Click on the Bandwidth link in the Web / FTP Stats area.

Figure 3.69: Checking how much bandwidth is being used

Error Log

The error log contains all HTTP errors that occur when visitors attempt to view your site, such
as requested files not found, etc. The Error Log tool is a presentation of the last 300 entries in your error log.
A central use of this tool is to locate suspicious server activity, such as attempted virus attacks. Please contact
your hosting administrator if you have concerns about activity in your error logs.
To check your error log:

1. Click on the Error Log link in the Web / FTP Stats area.

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3.7.2 Chat Room

Chat rooms are scripts that allow any number of logged-in users to have a typed, real-time, on-line
conversation. There are several pre-installed chat scripts available:

• Entropy Chat – a simple chat script that offers basic features.
• Melange Chat System – a Java chat script that offers more advanced features.
• phpMyChat – a PHP/mySQL chat combination with a number of features.

Which script you choose is entirely up to you. As always, if the available script are inappropriate, there are many
free and chargeable scripts available on the Internet.

Entropy Chat

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

1. Click on the on the Chat Room link in the Tools area.
2. Copy and paste the displayed HTML code in the Install Entropy Chat section into your web page. Feel free
to alter the appearance of the form as required.
3. Upload your page and test the script.

Figure 3.70: Installing Entropy Chat

Melange Chat System

The Melange Chat System is a Java chat script that offers a number of advanced features. The steps
below are only for installation – for more information detailed information about using the Melange Chat System,
please refer to the user guide .
To install Melange Chat System:

1. Click on the on the Chat Room link in the Tools area.
2. Copy and paste the displayed HTML code in the Install Java Chatroom section into your web page as a
link.

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3. Upload your page and test the script.

Figure 3.71: Installing Melange Chat

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 Room link in the Tools area.
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.

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

Figure 3.72: Installing phpMyChat

3.7.3 Addon Scripts

Your web hosting provider may include a variety of additional scripts that you can use to add value to your
web site. Please contact your hosting administrator if a script that you want to use is not available. However,

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you can still install a wide variety of scripts by hand. The Addon Scripts area simply provides an easy to use
method of installing and uninstalling complex scripts. Note: The following instructions are generic and may
vary depending on the script.
To install an addon script:

1. Click on the on the Addon Scripts link in the Tools area.
2. Click on the script that you want to install.
3. Enter an administrator username and password in the Admin User and Admin Pass ﬁelds.
4. Enter the path to the install directory in the Install at this url ﬁeld. This must be a top-level directory.


Figure 3.73: Adding a script

Modifying an addon script
CPanel provides access to the administrator’s page for the installed script (if such a page is available).
To modify an addon script:

2. Click on the script that you want to modify.
3. Click on the link to the required installation of the script. You opens a new web page that contains
administration information about the script.

Figure 3.74: Modifying an addon script

Removing an addon script
You can uninstall an addon script at any time. Note: This will delete the script and all information associated
with it. Make sure you have a backup of all important information unless you are sure that you want to delete
the information.
To remove an addon script:

2. Click on the script that you want to remove.
3. Click on the required installation in the available drop-down list.

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Figure 3.75: Removing an addon script

3.7.4 CGI Scripts

This CGI Center area allows you to use some pre-installed CGI scripts through CPanel. This section
contains information about using these scripts, as well as using CGI scripts in general.

Figure 3.76: CGI Scripts

Introduction to CGI

CGI (Common Gateway Interface) is a standard for running external programs from a Web server.
CGI allows the returned HTML page to be dynamic – for example, with a CGI script you could access information
in a database and format the results as part of an HTML page. Not surprisingly, CGI scripts are very popular
and used extensively throughout the World Wide Web. There are a number of very good introduction to CGI
documents available on the Web. The information given below is a summary of the most important points to
remember when using CGI. Please refer to the following for a more in-depth introduction:

• An instantaneous introduction to CGI scripts and HTML forms – a detailed introduction.
• Ada’s Introduction to CGI – a useful introduction.

Key points to bear in mind when using CGI scripts:

• The pre installed scripts available through CPanel are the easiest to use, but if a certain script does not do
exactly what you want, feel free to look for better scripts on the Web. You can usually find a script to do
almost anything, especially if you are prepared to pay.
• Read all available documentation on a particular script before using it. This will help avoid most problems.
• CHMOD (”Change Mode”) means change the permissions on a particular file (usually the script itself).
The CPanel File Manager allows you to quickly do this, as do most FTP tools.
• Important – after uploading cgi-bin scripts, CHMOD to 755 (unless the script documentation specifi-
cally states otherwise). For example, you need to CHMOD the pre-installed CPanel page 74 scripts to 755
to use them properly.
• Many scripts need to know the path to Perl (scripting language engine) and to sendmail (HTTP mail
engine). You can find this information on the front page of CPanel.
• Make sure you test your scripts repeatedly! Testing is vital to make sure everything is working to your
satisfaction.

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Simple CGI Wrappper

The CGI Wrap script creates a scgi-bin folder at the public html level of your web site. This
allows you to run scripts with your own user ID. The advantage of this is that you can run scripts that have the
same permissions that you do – you can write, edit, and delete files as you normally do. In a regular cgi-bin
folder, you can only do this if you set your directory permissions to 777 (world access) and file permissions to
666, both of which are quite dangerous as anyone can now modify your web site.
The disadvantage of this is that if there is a security breach in your script that another person can exploit, they
have access to your site in the same manner that you do – they can do anything. However, as long as the scripts
you run in the scgi-bin directory are secure, you have nothing to worry about.
Be sure to read the CGI Wrap user guide for more detailed information on using CGI Wrap.
For a more detailed description of the distinction between normal and wrapped cgi, refer to this article .
To install the Simple CGI Wrapper:

1. Click on the Simple CGI Wrapper link in the CGI Center area.
Your scgi-bin folder has now been set up. All cgi scripts that you would like to run under your own user
ID should be placed in this folder.

Random HTML

This simple script allows you to insert random pieces of text into your web page. This is useful for
daily quotes, helpful hints, or any other place where random text is useful.
To install the Random HTML script:

1. Click on the on the Random HTML link in the CGI Center area.
2. Enter each piece of random text in the box and make sure you put each piece of text on a new line. You
can not include new paragraphs within the one piece of text, as the script will separate each new paragraph
into a new piece of text.
3. Copy and paste the tag at the top of the page into your web page at the appropriate place.
4. Change your web page extension from .htm or .html to .shtml. This is the required file extension to use SSI
(Server Side Includes).

6. Upload the web page and test the script.

Guestbook

This is a simple guestbook script that allows you to create a guestbook that your visitors can sign.
You can modify the appearance of the guestbook, and view and manage guestbook entries. Note: A more
advanced guestbook , with many more features, is also available. However, this does take more time to set up,
and requires some mySQL knowledge.
To create a guestbook:

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1. Click on the Guestbook link in the CGI Center area.
2. Copy and paste the HTML code at the bottom of the page to your web page. Feel free to alter the
appearance of the form – as long as all the fields are available, the script will still work correctly.
This is the minimum you need to do to get the script working – upload the file, and you’re finished. Refer
to page 69 if you need to customize the appearance of the guestbook.
3. Upload the finished HTML page to test the script.

Modifying the guestbook template
You can modify the appearance of your guestbook template at any time.
To modify the guestbook template:

2. Click on the Edit Guestbook Template link.
3. Copy and paste any HTML code that you want into the template to alter it’s appearance.
Warning: Make sure you do not delete the ¡cgi>tag. This will cause the script to stop working.

5. Upload the finished HTML page.

Viewing the guestbook
You will want to be able to view your guestbook once visitors start leaving comments. You can keep the guestbook
private, or you can set it up so that anyone can view the guestbook.
To view the guestbook:

2. Click on the View Guest Book link.
3. You can now view the guestbook. If you want to make the guestbook available to anyone, open the viewing
page in its own frame (right-click in Internet Explorer).
4. Copy the URL show in your browser when viewing the guestbook and make it a link on the same page as
the sign-in form.

Managing the guestbook
You may want to delete entries in your guestbook, either when the page gets too large or if you do not want to
keep certain entries. This is easily handled through CPanel.
To view the guestbook:

2. Click on the Manage Guest Book link.
3. Click on the Delete This Entry link above any entry that you no longer want.

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Advanced Guestbook

The Advanced Guestbook script offers more features than the page 68 script by using PHP and a
mySQL database. Refer to page 70 if you need to manage your Advanced Guestbook after it has been set up.
To install the Advanced Guestbook script:

1. Click on the Advanced Guestbook link in the CGI Center area.

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


4. Click on the available link to change the admin password on the site.

Figure 3.77: Installing the Advanced Guestbook

Managing the Advanced Guestbook
You can manage all aspects of each Advanced Guestbook that has been set up at any time.
To manage an Advanced Guestbook:

1. Click on the Advanced Guestbook link in the CGI Center area.
2. Click on the required Guestbook in the Modify an existing Guestbook area.

Counter Maker

The Counter Maker script allows you to create three different items that you can put on your web
pages:

• Counter
• Clock

• Date

Counter

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This is a simple counter that displays the number of times a particular web page has been accessed. By putting
a counter on your home page, you can keep track of how many visitors have looked at your web site since the
counter was created. This is useful not only for your own information, but as a means of showing visitors how
popular your site is.
Clock
This is a simple clock that displays the time for the set time zone. It updates each time the page is loaded.
Another available CGI script is a Java clock , which displays the time dynamically, just like a digital watch.
However, Java may not be an acceptable technology to use, depending on the browsers your visitors are using.
Date
This is a simple date display that can be customized to display in a number of different formats.
All three items can be heavily customized, as required. You can do the following:

• Choose the display style from a large number of available styles.
• Further customize the display style by replacing one color with another.
• Choose the frame color and thickness around the item.
• Set time and date formats.
• Preview the item.

To create a counter, clock, or date:

1. Click on the Counter link in the CGI Center area.
2. Click on the Counter, Clock, or Date radio button.
3. If you are creating a clock, choose the time zone and format options in the TimeZone and TimeFormat
drop-down lists.
4. If you are creating a date display, choose the required date format in the Date Format field. M = Month,
D = Day, and Y = Year.
Example: If you choose the MMDDYY option, the 25th of December, 2003 will be displayed as 12– 25–
2003. If you choose the DDMMYY option, the same date would be displayed as 25– 12– 2003.
5. Enter the thickness of the border around the item in the Frame Thickness field. Zero removes any border
around the item.
6. Choose the maximum digits in your counter, if required.
7. Choose the style for the item from the Style drop-down list. To see an example of all of the styles, click on
the See Styles link.

8. Enter the red, green, and blue values for the border in the Frame Color fields. Click on the
button to see the border color. Most graphics programs will show you RGB colors, as will the Windows
Color Picker.
9. Enter the name of the counter in the Counter Name field. You can not duplicate item names within the
same CPanel.

10. Click on the button to see what your item will look like. Alter the criteria fields and keep
previewing until you are happy with the finished product.

71


Figure 3.78: Previewing a counter

11. Click on the button to create the HTML code that you can cut and paste into your
HTML page where you want it.
12. Upload your new HTML page to see how it works.

Resetting a counter
You may need to reset a counter to 0 at some stage, or set the counter number to some other number. This is
easily handled in CPanel.
To reset your counter:

1. Click on the Counter link in the CGI Center area.
2. Enter the name of the counter in the Counter Name ﬁeld.
3. Enter the new count number in the New Count ﬁeld.


Figure 3.79: Resetting a counter

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Clock

The Java Clock Maker allows you to create a real-time, dynamic clock, that counts the time just like
a digital wrist watch.
To create a Java clock:

1. Click on the Clock link in the CGI Center area.

2. Choose the time zone and format for the clock in the TimeZone and TimeFormat drop-down lists.
3. Choose whether you want a border or not in the Border drop-down list.
4. Choose whether you want the date to be shown in the Show Date drop-down list.
5. Alter the display and background colors in the Foreground Color and Background Color drop-down
lists.

6. Click on the button to preview the clock and create the HTML code to make it
work. Alter the clock and preview the result until you are happy with the display.

Figure 3.80: Previewing a clock

7. Copy and paste the HTML code to your web page.
8. Upload your new HTML page to test the results.

Java CountDown/CountUp Maker

This script creates a Java countdown or countup display, to or from a particular time. Note: This
Java applet, while easy to use, is only minimally customizable and does not present very well. Feel free to use
the script as long as you understand these limitations.
To set up the Java CountDown/CountUp Maker

1. Click on the Countdown button in the CGI Center area.

2. Choose the time zone for the clock in the TimeZone drop-down list.

73


3. Enter the date that you are counting down to or up from in the Month, Hour, Day, and Year drop-down
lists.
4. Click on the Make HTML button to preview the countdown and create the HTML code to make it work.
Alter the countdown and preview the result until you are happy with the display.
5. Copy and paste the HTML code to your web page.
6. Upload your new HTML page to test the results.

CGI EMail

CGI EMail is a simple, easy-to-use script that takes the results of any form and sends them to you
via email. Because it is already installed, minimal configuration is required to successfully use the script. The
following steps provide quick summarized instructions for CGI EMail. Be sure to read the CGI user guide for
detailed instructions on using CGI EMail.
To configure CGI EMail:

1. Create an HTML form with a number of named input fields. Refer to this page for more detailed information
of the action component of the form.
2. Create an email template (a .txt file) that displays the format in which you want your form information
displayed in the email. Make sure all your form name codes are one word and in square brackets [].

3. Upload the .txt and form files to your site.
4. Go to your cgi-bin directory and change the file permissions on cgiecho and cgiemail to 755.
5. Test the script. The cgiecho script is designed for testing online, so you do not have to wait for email to be
sent or received.

FormMail

One of the most popular form to e-mail scripts available is FormMail, by Matt Wright. The
script can be setup very quickly, and provides a number of customization options. CPanel was written a clone
of FormMail which operates in the same manner. The following steps provide quick installation instructions
for FormMail. Be sure to read the FormMail README file for more detailed information about customizing
FormMail.
Refer to the FormMail documentation for more information about customizing the FormMail clone script.
To set up FormMail:

1. Create the form on your web page, with the following fields:

<form action="http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-sys/FormMail.cgi" method="POST"textgreater
<input type="hidden" name="recipient" value="email@yourdomain.com"textgreater
<input type="hidden" name="subject" value="Feedback from web site"textgreater
<input type="hidden" name="redirect" value="http://www.yourdomain.com/thankyou.htm"textgreater

2. Upload the web page and test the form. Refer to the FormMail documentation first if you have any questions
about using the FormMail script.

74


Entropy Search

This script enables a nice, quick search engine that can help your visitors find information that they are
interested in more easily. The larger the site, the more important the search engine becomes. Warning: This
search engine searches all of the ASCII (text) files on your site. This includes HTML, PERL, plain text files, etc.
Since there is no way to limit the search engine, if any of these files contain sensitive information, either encrypt
the files or remove them from your site. This is a smart move anyway – you should not store sensitive information
on your web site without encryption.
To create an Entropy search engine:

1. Click on the Rebuild Search Index link under Entropy Search in the CGI Center area. This creates
(or recreates) the index file that the search engine uses to find information.
2. Click on the Back button on your browser and click on the Setup Search Engine link.
3. Copy and paste the HTML code into your web page.
4. Use the Search Query field to test the script.
This is the minimum you need to do to get the script working – upload the file, and you’re finished. Refer
to page 75 if you need to customize the appearance of the guestbook.

Figure 3.81: Testing the Entropy search engine

Editing the search engine template
You can alter the appearance of the search engine template at any time.
To edit the search engine template:

1. Click on the Setup Search Engine link in the CGI Center area.
2. Click on the Edit Search Results Template link.
3. Copy and paste any HTML code that you want into the template to alter it’s appearance.
Warning: Make sure you do not delete the ¡cgi>tag. This will cause the script to stop working.


75


5. Use the Search Query field to test the script.

Figure 3.82: Testing the Entropy search engine

6. Upload the finished HTML page.

Rebuilding the search index
You need to rebuild the search engine index whenever you make changes to your site, otherwise the search engine
will not be able to find the new material.
To rebuild the search index

1. Click on the Rebuild Search Index link under Entropy Search in the CGI Center area.

Entropy Banner

The Entropy Banner script allows you to create a set of revolving banner images, normally used
for advertising. You can upload and delete files, set priority on the images, and set URLs to which each image
points.
To set up an Entropy Banner:

1. Click on the Entropy Banner link in the CGI Center area.

2. Copy and paste the indicated tag into your web page.
3. Change your web page extension from .htm or .html to .shtml. This is the required file extension to use SSI
(Server Side Includes).


5. Search for and enter each banner that you want to upload in the available fields using the
buttons.

6. Click on the Overwrite existing files tick box if you want to overwrite existing files of the same name.


76


8. If you need to alter the URLs or priority of the images, go to the next step. Otherwise, upload the web
page and test the script.

10. Click on the High, Medium, or Low radio buttons for any banner that you need to change, and click on

the button. You need to do this for each banner that you need to alter.

11. Enter the URL for each banner image in the Linked to field, and click on the button. You need
to do this for each banner.
12. You are now finished. Upload the web page and test the script.

Uploading new banners
You can upload banners whenever new banners need to be added to the rotation. You can specify whether you
want the new banners to overwrite the old ones or not.
To upload new banners:


3. Search for and enter each banner that you want to upload in the available fields using the Browse... buttons.
4. Click on the Overwrite existing files: tick box if you want to overwrite existing files with new files of the
same name.
5. Click on the Upload button.
6. If you need to alter the URLs or priority of the images, go to page 77 . Otherwise, upload the web page
and test the script.

Modifying the rotation and URLs of banners
Modify the rotation of banners, and change their URLs, as you add and remove banners from your site.
To modify banners:



3. If you need to delete a banner, click on the button. Deleting and re-uploading banners is the
only way to change their rotation order.
4. Click on the High, Medium, or Low radio buttons for any banner that you need to change, and click on

the button. You need to do this for each banner that you need to alter.

5. Enter the URL for each banner image in the Linked to field, and click on the button. You need
to do this for each banner.
6. Upload the web page and test the script.

77


3.7.5 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/ .

Domain Lookup

The Domain Lookup tool allows you to look up information about a particular domain. It does this
by using a DNS (Domain Name System) lookup, which is a general-purpose replicated, data query service used
for translating hostnames into Internet addresses. DNS details are published for public use.
To lookup a domain:

1. Click on the Network Tools link in the CGI Center area.
2. Enter the domain that you want to find out more about in the Enter a domain to lookup field.


Figure 3.83: Looking up a domain

Trace Route

The Trace Route tool allows you to trace the IP (Internet Protocol) route taken by your server to
reach your current ISP (Internet Service Provider).
To use the Trace Route tool:

1. Click on the Network Tools link in the CGI Center area.
2. Click on the Trace Route link.

78


Figure 3.84: Using the Trace Route tool

3.7.6 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. Note: Some hosting sites do not use Interchange
Shopping Cart – please refer to your hosting administrator before installing the shopping cart.
Installing Interchange Shopping Cart will take up approximately 5 megabytes of space.
To install the Interchange Shopping Cart:

1. Click on the Interchange Shopping Cart link in the CGI Center area.
2. Click on the admin interface link to start customizing your shopping cart. Refer to the Interchange web
site if you have any questions.

Figure 3.85: Entering the shopping cart as an administrator

3.7.7 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 link in the CGI Center area.

79


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.


Figure 3.86: Installing an Agora Shopping Cart

Modifying an Agora Shopping Cart
You can modify an existing shopping cart at any time. Refer to the Agora web site if you have any questions
about using the shopping cart.
To modify an Agora Shopping Cart:

1. Click on the Agora Shopping Cart link in the CGI Center area.
2. Click on the required cart underneath the Modify an existing Cart heading.

3.7.8 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 link in the CGI Center area.
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 email 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.

80


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.


Figure 3.87: Submitting your site to search engines

3.7.9 Frontpage Extensions

Frontpage Extensions allow you to publish your web site using Microsoft Frontpage. These exten-
sions 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 link in the CGI Center area.


81


Figure 3.88: Installing Frontpage Extensions

Uninstalling Frontpage Extensions
If you are having problems publishing your site using Frontpage, the ﬁrst test is to uninstall and then reinstall your
Frontpage Extensions. If you are still having trouble with Frontpage after that, contact your hosting administrator
for help. Note: The password protection on any protected directories will be removed. Refer to page 44 for
more information about reapplying password protection.
To uninstall Frontpage Extensions:

1. Click on the Setup Frontpage Extensions link in the CGI Center area.


Figure 3.89: Uninstalling Frontpage Extensions

3.7.10 Forum / Bulletin Board

CPanel allows you to install a pre-made forum called XMB. The XMB Forum is a PHP web-based
bulletin board. Unlike an email list or newsgroup, the XMB Forum 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 XMB Forum web site – http://www.xmbforum.com/ – for more information on
how to customize and use your XMB Forum Note: Keep in mind that each separate installation of XMB forum
takes up approximately 2.7MB, and will grow in size with the popularity of the forum.

82


To install an XMB forum:

1. Click on the XMB Forum link in the Tools area.
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.


Figure 3.90: Installing an XMB forum

4. Click on the login link. You need to do this immediately as the ﬁrst registered user is automatically created
as an admin user.

5. Click on the Register link at the top left corner of your browser window.
6. Once you have registered you can now continue to set up the forum. Refer to http://www.xmbforum.com/
if you need more information.

Modifying a forum
You can modify all aspects of an XMB Forum from the admin user’s Control Panel. You can access this from the
forum’s address.
To modify an XMB Forum:

1. Go to the forum’s URL. This will be something like http://yourdomain.com/forum/
2. Login using your admin username and password.
3. Click on the Control Panel link in the top left corner of your browser window. You can now modify the
forum. Refer to http://www.xmbforum.com/ if you need more information about how to modify the forum.

3.7.11 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 link in the Tools area.

83


2. Click on the Add Key link.
3. Enter your name, email address, and nickname in the Your Name, Your Email, and Com-
ment/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 button. Note that it may take a few minutes to generate the key,
depending on its size.

Figure 3.91: Generating a public and private key

Importing a key
You can import a key directly into CPanel. This will add it to the number of public keys that CPanel trusts.
To import a key:

2. Click on the Import Key link.
3. Cut and paste the key from the another text file into the available area.


84


Figure 3.92: Importing a key

Deleting a key
You can delete a public or private key whenever required.
To delete a key:


2. Click on the button next to the required key.

85

Index

Access Menu, 38 backups
Account Settings, 28 downloading, 47
accounts generating, 48
introduction to email, 16 restoring site from, 49
reading, 17 bandwidth, 63
adding blocking email, 22
Agora Shopping Cart, 79
Anonymous FTP message, 35 cgi
Apache handlers, 57 introduction, 67
cron jobs, 55 cgi email, 74
FTP account, 32 CGI Scripts, 67
Interchange Shopping Cart, 79 changing
mailing lists, 24 domain password, 28
Mime types, 56 email password, 19
mySQL database host access, 55 email quota, 18
parked domain, 31 file permissions, 42
protect directories, 44 FTP password, 33
redirects, 58 chat rooms, 64
subdomain redirection, 29, 30 Entropy Chat, 64
user, 45 Melange Chat System, 64
XMB Forum, 82 phpMyChat, 65
Addon Scripts, 65 CHMOD, 42
addon scripts clock, 73
installing, 65 configuring
modifying, 66 Outlook Express, 18
removing, 66 counter maker, 70
advanced guestbook, 70 resetting counter, 72
managing, 70 CPanel, 8
Advanced Menu, 52 how to use, 10
Agora Shopping Cart, 79 logging on, 13
adding, 79 logging out, 13
modifying, 80 themes, 10
altering creating
MX Entry, 26 error pages, 36
Analog, 61 mySQL user, 53
Anonymous FTP, 34 new file, 40
adding message, 35 new folder, 38
removing, 35 cron jobs, 55
Apache handlers, 57 adding, 55
adding, 57 deleting, 56
deleting, 58
auto-responders, 20 default, 10
deleting, 22 default email address, 20
editing, 21 deleting
active FTP session, 36

86

INDEX INDEX

Apache handlers, 58 File Manager, 38
auto-responder, 22 uploading files, 39
cron jobs, 56 file permissions
email account, 19 changing, 42
files and folders, 43 files
forwarder, 24 creating, 40
FTP account, 34 deleting, 43
keys, 85 editing, 40
mailing lists, 25 renaming, 41
Mime types, 57 folders
parked domain, 31 creating, 38
spam filter, 23 deleting, 43
subdomains, 30 renaming, 41
disabling formmail clone, 74
hotlink prevention, 60 forums, 82
Spam Assassin, 26 forwarders, 24
domain lookup, 78 deleting, 24
domain password, 28 Frontpage Extensions, 81
domains installing, 81
adding a parked, 31 uninstalling, 82
deleting a parked, 31 FTP, 31
parked, 31 adding account, 32
downloading changing password, 33
backup file, 47 controlling sessions, 36
deleting an account, 34
editing session, 36
auto-responder, 21 setting up Anonymous access, 34
file, 40 software, 31
mailing lists, 25 statistics, 61
email warning, 31
accounts, 16 FTP session, 36
blocking, 22
deleting email account, 19 generating
reading, 14 backup file, 48
reading POP accounts, 17 keys, 83
setting default address, 20 GNU Privacy Guard, 83
emptying trash, 44 granting
enabling mySQL user permissions, 53
hotlink prevention, 59 guestbook, 68
Spam Assassin, 26 managing, 69
Entropy Banner, 76 viewing, 69
entropy banner guestbook template
modifying rotation, 77 modifying, 69
modifying URL, 77
uploading new banners, 77 help, 9
Entropy Chat, 64 using, 9
Entropy Search, 75 Horde, 14
entropy search summary, 16
editing template, 75 host access, 55
rebuilding search index, 76 hotlink prevention
error log, 63 disabling, 60
error pages, 36 enabling, 59
creating, 36 hotlinking, 59
modifying, 36 iconic, 10

87

INDEX INDEX

importing NeoMail, 14
keys, 84 summary, 15
Index Manager, 50 Network Tools, 78
indexes, 50
installing OpenPGP, 83
addon script, 65 Outlook Express, 18
Frontpage Extensions, 81
Interchange Shopping Cart, 79 parked domains, 31
adding, 79 password protect directories
add or modify user, 45
java countdown, 73 password protection, 44
passwords
keys changing authorized user, 45
deleting, 85 changing domain, 28
generating, 83 changing email, 19
importing, 84 domain, 28
PHP
latest visitors, 62 with mySQL, 52
logging on, 13 phpMyChat, 65
logging out, 13 protect directories
adding, 44
Mail Exchanger, 26
removing, 46
Mail Menu, 14
mailing lists, 24 quota
adding, 24 changing email, 18
deleting, 25
editing, 25 random HTML, 68
managing raw access logs, 47
advanced guestbook, 70 reading email, 14
guestbook, 69 redirects, 58
mySQL database, 54 adding, 58
manual removing, 59
using, 9 removing
Melange Chat System, 64 addon script, 66
Mime types, 56 Anonymous FTP, 35
adding, 56 mySQL database, 53
deleting, 57 mySQL user, 53
modifying mySQL user permissions, 54
addon script, 66 protect directories, 46
Agora Shopping Cart, 80 redirects, 59
error pages, 36 user, 46
guestbook template, 69 renaming
user, 45 ﬁles and folders, 41
XMB Forum, 83 resetting counter, 72
MX Entry, 26 restoring trash, 43
altering, 26 restoring web site, 49
mySQL, 52
adding host access, 55 scripts
creating user, 53 advanced guestbook, 70
granting user permissions, 53 cgi email, 74
introduction, 52 cgi wrapper, 68
managing database, 54 chat rooms, 64
removing database, 53 clock, 73
removing user, 53 counter maker, 70
removing user permissions, 54 Entropy Banner, 76

88

INDEX INDEX

Entropy Search, 75 viewing
formmail clone, 74 guestbook, 69
guestbook, 68
java countdown, 73 web protect directories, 44
random HTML, 68 Webalizer, 62
search engines
submitting your site, 80 XMB Forum, 82
shopping cart, 79 adding, 82
simple cgi wrapper, 68 modifying, 83
Spam Assassin, 26
disabling, 26
enabling, 26
spam ﬁlters
deleting, 23
introduction, 22
SSL Shell, 49
statistics, 61
Analog, 61
bandwidth, 63
error log, 63
FTP, 61
latest visitors, 62
raw access logs, 47
subdomains, 29
web, 61
Webalizer, 62
subdomain redirection, 29
adding, 29, 30
subdomains, 28
deleting, 30
statistics, 29
subdomain redirection, 29

Telnet, 49
themes, 10
default, 10
iconic, 10
Tools, 61
trace route, 78
trash
emptying, 44
restoring, 43

uninstalling
Frontpage Extensions, 82
uploading ﬁles, 39
user
adding, 45
changing password, 45
modifying, 45
removing, 46
using
help, 9
manual, 9

89

CPanel 1.01 User Guide

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