cPanel runs on 70% of all web servers worldwide. That’s not hype. It’s the control panel you’ll see when you log into most web servers, whether you’re running a personal blog or managing client websites.
Here we will guide you through every essential cPanel feature – file uploading, domain management, email configuration, dbms management, backups handling.
cPanel File Manager Tutorial
The file manager handles everything an FTP client does, right in your browser. Upload files. Extract archives. Edit code. Set permissions.
Find it under the Files section in cPanel. Click it, and you’ll see a window split in two: a folder tree on the left, file contents on the right.
The public_html folder is your home base. Everything inside it appears on your website. Other folders exist for system purposes. Leave them alone unless you know what you’re doing.
Navigation works like this:
- Click folders in the tree to view contents
- Use the path bar to jump directly to a folder
- Hit Reload to see changes after operations
Essential file operations:
- Upload: Drag files into the window or click Upload and browse
- Extract: Right-click a .zip file and choose Extract
- Edit: Right-click any text file and select Edit to open the code editor
- Permissions: Right-click a file and choose Permissions to set access levels
- Copy/Move: Select files and use toolbar buttons to duplicate or relocate them
The file manager isn’t as powerful as FileZilla or other FTP alternatives, but it handles 90% of everyday tasks. For quick edits and uploads, it beats launching separate software.
Check Bandwidth Usage
Bandwidth monitoring tells you how much data flows through your server. Every visitor, every email, every FTP transfer counts toward your total.
cPanel shows a quick summary on the main dashboard under Statistics. Click the Bandwidth link for detailed breakdowns.
You’ll see three traffic categories:
- HTTP Traffic: Website visitors and page loads
- FTP Traffic: File uploads and downloads via FTP
- Email Traffic: Messages sent and received through your server
The graphs break down usage by day, week, and month. If you’re approaching your limit, you’ll see which service consumes the most bandwidth.
cPanel sends automated warnings at 80%, 90%, and 98% capacity. Watch those emails. Running over quota can throttle your site or trigger overage charges.
Monitor Disk Space Usage
Disk usage tracks every file on your account. Website files. Database tables. Email messages. Everything adds up. The dashboard shows your storage quota at a glance. Click Disk Usage under Files for the full breakdown.
Expand folders using the arrow icons to see exactly what’s eating space. Large backup archives often hide in forgotten directories. Old email attachments pile up. Database logs grow unchecked.
When you hit 80% capacity, cPanel emails a warning. Hit 100% and you can’t upload files or receive email. Clean house before that happens.
Common space hogs:
- Backup files you forgot to delete
- Email accounts with years of attachments
- Database logs that never get cleared
- Uploaded media files without compression
Click any folder to open it in File Manager. Delete what you don’t need. Your hosting storage will thank you.
Enable Two-Factor Authentication
Two-factor authentication locks down your cPanel account with time-based codes. Someone steals your password? They still can’t get in without your phone.
Search for Two-Factor Authentication in cPanel. Click Set Up Two-Factor Authentication.
You’ll see a QR code. Open your authentication app like Authy, Google Authenticator, or Microsoft Authenticator. Scan the code. The app generates a six-digit token that refreshes every 30 seconds.
Enter the current token from your app. Click Configure Two-Factor Authentication.
From now on, logging into cPanel requires your password plus the current code from your app. Authentication security gets real when you enable 2FA setup properly.
Save your backup codes. If you lose your phone, those codes are your only way back in. Print them. Store them somewhere safe. Not in a password manager on the same phone.
Add Multiple Domains in cPanel
Addon domains let you run several websites from one cPanel account. Each domain gets its own folder, its own content, its own identity.
Open the Addon Domains tool. Enter your domain name in the New Domain Name field. Skip the www prefix.
cPanel auto-fills the subdomain and document root. Leave them unless you’re adding two domains with identical names but different extensions like .com and .net.
FTP account options:
- Managing it yourself? Skip the FTP account creation
- Setting it up for someone else? Create a separate FTP account so they only access their domain’s files
Click Add Domain. The new domain appears in your Modify Addon Domain list. Upload files to its document root folder and you’re live.
Each addon domain works independently. Separate files. Separate databases if needed. All managed from the same cPanel login.
Create Subdomain
Subdomains carve out separate sections of your website. Think blog.yoursite.com or shop.yoursite.com. Each lives in its own folder but shares the main domain.
Navigate to Subdomains. Type the subdomain name in the Subdomain field. Just the prefix, not the full address.
Pick your domain from the dropdown if you have multiple domains. cPanel creates a document root automatically in public_html. Click Create – your subdomain is live immediately.
You can access it two ways:
- subdomain.yoursite.com
- yoursite.com/subdomain
Upload files to the subdomain’s document root. Install WordPress there if you want. Run a completely different site. The main domain and subdomain setup never interfere with each other.
Delete a subdomain by clicking Remove in the subdomain list. The files stay in their folder until you manually delete them from File Manager. Subdomain extension configurations are flexible that way.
Park Domain Using Aliases
Domain parking points multiple domain names at the same website. Buy yoursite.com, yoursite.net, and yoursite.org? Park them all to show identical content, find the Aliases tool under Domains and enter the parked domain in the Create a New Alias field. Click Add Domain in the end.
The domain appears in your alias list. Click Manage Redirection if you want to send visitors to a specific URL instead of mirroring your main site. Type your primary domain in the redirection field and save.
DNS changes take up to 24 hours to propagate worldwide. Your parked domain might not work instantly. That’s normal. Domain alias configurations need time to spread through global servers.
Domain forwarding and domain redirect features protect your brand. Competitors can’t register variations and confuse your customers. You own them all.
Edit DNS Zone Records in cPanel
DNS zone editor controls how your domain connects to services. Point it to a server. Connect it to an email provider. Map subdomains to different destinations.
cPanel offers two interfaces: Simple and Advanced. Simple lets you quickly add A records, CNAME records, and MX records. Advanced gives you full control over all DNS configuration options.
A Record: Maps your domain to an IP address. Click Add Record. Enter the hostname and IPv4 address. Click Add A Record.
CNAME Record: Creates an alias pointing one domain to another. Useful for www subdomains or connecting to external services. Enter the hostname and destination domain.
MX Record: Directs email to mail servers. Set the priority and destination. Lower numbers get priority.
The Advanced editor adds more record types:
- AAAA Records for IPv6 addresses
- CAA Records to specify certificate authorities
- TXT Records for domain verification and email authentication
- DMARC Records for email security policies
Set custom TTL values in Advanced mode. Lower TTL means faster updates but more DNS queries. Higher TTL reduces server load but slows propagation. DNS settings and DNS records require careful planning for complex setups.
Add SRV Record
SRV records point services to specific servers and ports. Minecraft servers use them. Email protocols like IMAP and SMTP use them. VoIP services like TeamSpeak use them.
Open DNS Zone Editor. Pick your domain. Click the dropdown on Add Record and select Add SRV Record.
Required fields:
- Name: Format as _service._protocol.domain.com (use underscores before service and protocol)
- Priority: Lower numbers take precedence
- Weight: Balances load between same-priority records
- Port: The service port number
- Target: Hostname where the service runs
Your service provider gives you exact values. Copy them carefully. One wrong character breaks the connection.
SRV DNS record changes propagate within 15 minutes usually, sometimes it takes 24 hours. If it doesn’t work after a day, check your values against the provider’s documentation. DNS settings for SRV records are picky about formatting.
Create MySQL Database
MySQL databases store your website’s data. User accounts. Blog posts. Product catalogs. Comments. Everything dynamic lives in database tables.
Find MySQL Databases in cPanel. Enter a database name in the Create Database field. No spaces. Click Create Database. Click Go Back.
Now create a user. Scroll to Add New User. Enter a username and password. The password generator creates strong combinations if you don’t have one ready.
Click Create User. Click Go Back.
Connect the user to the database in Add User To Database. Select your database and user from the dropdowns. Click Add.
Set privileges on the next screen. Check ALL PRIVILEGES for admins. For limited users, pick specific permissions like SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE. Click Make Changes.
You’ve got an empty database with a user who can access it. Database administration starts here. Now install your application or import existing tables.
MySQL database management is straightforward once you create mysql user accounts properly.
Enable Remote MySQL Access
Remote MySQL lets external servers and applications connect to your database. Shopping carts hosted elsewhere. Analytics tools. Development environments on your local machine.
Open Remote MySQL under Databases. Enter the hostname or IP address in the Host field.
Use your public IP for localhost access. Find it at whatismyipaddress.com. Or enter a domain name like api.thirdpartyservice.com.
The % wildcard matches multiple addresses. Enter 192.168.1.% to allow all IPs starting with 192.168.1.
Click Add Host. The address appears in your Access Hosts list.
Remove access by clicking Delete next to the host. Confirm the deletion. Remote database access gets revoked immediately.
Be careful with wildcards. Every IP matching your pattern can attempt connections. MySQL access controls matter for database connection security.
Set Up Email Account
Email accounts give you professional email addresses using your domain. [email protected] looks better than [email protected].
Navigate to Email Accounts and click Create.
Enter the username (the part before @). Pick your domain from the dropdown if you have multiple domains. Set a strong password.
Storage options:
- Unlimited: Account uses as much space as needed
- Limited: Set a quota in megabytes to prevent one account from hogging space
Click Create – your email account is live.
Check the box to send welcome instructions. You’ll get configuration settings for Outlook, Thunderbird, Apple Mail, and other clients. IMAP and SMTP server addresses. Port numbers. Security settings.
Access webmail directly by clicking Check Email next to the account. Three webmail interfaces are available: Roundcube, Horde, SquirrelMail. Pick whichever you prefer. Professional email through email account setup beats free providers for business credibility. Email hosting on your domain builds trust.
Use Site Publisher for Quick Website
Site Publisher creates simple websites without coding. Perfect for temporary holding pages. Under construction notices. Basic landing pages.
Find Site Publisher under Domains. Select your domain or subdomain. Pick a template – Under Construction, Coming Soon, and Basic Info templates are common options.
Fill in your details. Site name. Description. Contact information. Whatever the template asks for. Click Publish. The page goes live instantly.
If your site doesn’t appear, check for index.html or index.php files in public_html. Site Publisher won’t overwrite existing index files. Delete them from File Manager first.
This isn’t WordPress. You can’t add pages or change layouts. It’s a placeholder while you build the real site. Quick website creation for temporary needs. Website templates from cPanel site builder are basic but functional.
Backup Website Files and Databases
Backups save you when things break. Accidentally delete a file? Restore it. Server crashes? Rebuild from backup. Migration to new server? Transfer the backup.
cPanel offers three backup types:
Full Account Backup: Everything in your cPanel account. Files, databases, email, DNS zones. Use Full Account Backups under Files.
Click Generate Download next to your latest backup. Add to Download Queue. The backup generates in the background. Come back later and click Download.
Full Website Backup: Just website files and databases. Open Backup Wizard. Click Backup. Select Full Backup.
Choose where to save it:
- Home Directory: Saves on your server
- Remote FTP: Uploads to another server
- SCP: Transfers via secure copy protocol
Partial Backup: Select specific items. Home directory only. Individual databases. Email settings. Choose Partial Backup in Backup Wizard. Pick what you need.
Website backup creation takes minutes to hours depending on size. Download the file once it’s ready. Store it somewhere off your server. External drive. Cloud storage. Different location entirely. Full backup files are useless if your server dies and the backup dies with it. Backup site data regularly. Cpanel backup tools make it simple.
Optimize Website with Compression
GZIP compression shrinks files before sending them to browsers. Smaller files load faster. Faster sites rank better and keep visitors happy.
Find Optimize Website under Software. Three options appear:
- Disabled: No compression
- Compress All Content: Everything gets compressed
- Compress Specified MIME Types: Choose specific file types
Select Compress Specified MIME Types. Enter the file types you want compressed in the space-separated list:
text/html text/plain text/css application/javascript application/json
Don’t add image types like image/jpeg or image/png. They’re already compressed. Compressing them again wastes CPU cycles.
Click Update Settings. Your site now sends compressed files to visitors. Browsers decompress them automatically. Users see no difference except faster load times. Website performance improves without touching your code. Compress website text files. Optimize website delivery. GZIP compression does the work.
Create Custom cPanel Error Pages
Custom error pages turn technical messages into helpful experiences. A 404 error page doesn’t have to say ‘Not Found.’ Show visitors where to go instead.
Navigate to Error Pages under Advanced. Pick your domain. Select an error code.
Common codes:
- 404 error page: Page not found
- 403 error page: Access forbidden
- 500: Internal server error
Click the error code to edit. Enter HTML for your page. Use variables to show dynamic info:
- Referring URL
- Visitor’s IP Address
- Requested URL
- Server Name
Save the page. Test it by visiting a URL that doesn’t exist on your site.
Good error pages keep visitors engaged. Bad ones send them to Google. HTTP error codes don’t have to be dead ends. Error page customization reduces bounce rates.
Set Up cPanel Proxy
VPNs and corporate firewalls change your IP address constantly. cPanel notices and logs you out. The proxy fixes that by creating a stable access point.
First, delete the existing cPanel DNS record. Open Zone Editor. Find your domain, click Manage, locate cpanel.yourdomain.com and delete it.
Create a new subdomain. Go to Subdomains, enter cpanel as the subdomain name. Click Create.
Download the cPanel proxy tool from SourceForge. Open File Manager. Navigate to the cpanel.yourdomain.com folder. Click Upload. Drag the proxy ZIP file into the upload window.
Right-click the ZIP file. Select Extract. Confirm the extraction path. Click Extract Files.
Visit cpanel.yourdomain.com in your browser. You’ll see the cPanel login. Your IP can change freely now. The proxy handles authentication through the subdomain = secure connection maintained, cPanel login works reliably. Proxy setup solves dynamic IP problems.
Create Cron Jobs
Cron jobs automate repetitive tasks. Delete temporary files every night. Run backup scripts weekly, clear cache hourly.
Find Cron Jobs under Advanced. Enter an email address in Cron Email if you want output notifications.
Add a new job by filling the time fields:
- Minute: 0-59
- Hour: 0-23
- Day: 1-31
- Month: 1-12
- Weekday: 0-6 (Sunday is 0)
Use * for ‘every.’ Want to run something every day at midnight? Set 0 0 * * *. Every hour? 0 * * * *.
Enter your command in the Command field. Run a PHP script:
php -f /home/YOUR_USERNAME/public_html/cleanup.php
Replace YOUR_USERNAME with your actual cPanel username.
Click Add New Cron Job, it runs automatically on schedule. Scheduled tasks handle maintenance. Cron job setup requires crontab understanding. Cron syntax follows strict patterns, master it and your server runs itself.
Install cPanel/WHM on VPS
VPS servers with pre-installed cPanel need configuration before you can use them. WHM handles server-wide settings. cPanel manages individual sites.
Access WHM through your server’s IP address on port 2087. https://your-ip:2087. Your browser warns about the certificate. Click Advanced and Proceed anyway.
WHM uses self-signed certificates by default.
Log in with root credentials from your VPS control panel. The setup wizard appears – accept the user agreement and click Agree to All.
Configure nameservers next. Enter ns1.yourdomain.com and ns2.yourdomain.com. These map your server’s DNS information so visitors can reach websites hosted on it. Click Finish.
Your cPanel/WHM installation is ready. The 15-day trial activates immediately. After that, purchase a license or find alternative solutions. VPS control panel management through WHM gives you full server access.
cPanel VPS hosting requires WHM setup first. WHM tutorial documentation walks you through advanced features.
Manage WHM Feature Lists
Feature lists control what clients see in their cPanel accounts. Sell different packages? Create different feature lists. Basic plan gets email and files. Premium adds databases and SSL.
Open Feature Manager in WHM. It’s under Packages. Click Add Feature List. Name it something descriptive like ‘Basic Package’ or ‘Premium Access.’
Scroll through the feature checkboxes. Enable what this package includes:
- File Manager
- Email Accounts
- MySQL Databases
- FTP Accounts
- SSL/TLS Manager
Leave advanced features unchecked for basic packages. Cron jobs, shell access, and custom error pages belong in premium tiers.
Click Save. The feature list appears in your management interface.
Assign it when creating new accounts.
Different clients get different capabilities without touching individual accounts later. WHM features scale your business.
- Hosting features become products.
- Feature list management separates tiers.
- Reseller hosting runs on this model.
- cPanel features turn into revenue streams.
Transfer cPanel Backup to VPS
Moving from shared servers to VPS? Transfer your backups using secure copy protocol. It’s safer than downloading and re-uploading.
Grab your VPS details first:
- IP address
- SSH username
- SSH password
- Port number.
Find them in your VPS dashboard.
Open Backup Wizard on your old server. Click Backup, select Full Backup.
Choose SCP as the destination.
Fill in the form:
- Remote Server: Your VPS IP
- Remote User: SSH username
- Remote Password: SSH password
- Port: Usually 22
- Remote Directory: /home or /root
Click Generate Backup – the transfer starts. Large accounts take hours. You’ll get an email when it finishes.
The backup file sits on your VPS now, ready for restoration. cPanel migration requires this first step. Transfer backup before restore. Backup transfer via SCP beats FTP. Migrate cPanel accounts securely. VPS migration begins with proper transfers.
Restore Backup on cPanel/WHM
Your backup reached the VPS, now restore it through WHM. Log into WHM, search for Restore a Full Backup and click on it.
Scroll to Settings, choose Restore with Username.
Select your backup file from the dropdown – it should list automatically if it’s in the right directory.
Configure restore options:
- Update A Records: Replace all DNS with cPanel defaults if you’re leaving your old provider
- Overwrite Existing User: Updates data if the account already exists
- Assign Dedicated IP: Gives the account its own IP address
Click Restore. Progress appears on screen. Files extract. Databases import. Email accounts recreate. The process finishes with a summary.
Check List Accounts in WHM. Your restored account appears there. Restore backup operations complete. Data recovery finished. cPanel restore succeeded. Backup recovery works. WHM restore tools handle migration. Your site runs on the new server.
Conclusion
That’s the core of cPanel/WHM covered. cPanel looks overwhelming at first glance. All those icons. All those options. You’ve got the fundamentals down, and that handles about 90% of what most webmasters actually need day to day.
We didn’t touch everything. There’s always some obscure feature tucked away in a submenu somewhere. You’ll find it when you need it, probably at 2 AM when something breaks.
If you figure out a faster way to do something or hit a weird edge case we missed, drop it in the comments. The best tricks usually come from someone who just spent three hours solving a problem the hard way.
