How to Install cPanel on a VPS or Dedicated Server

So you’ve got your vps hosting plan or your dedicated server online and operational. Congratulations! Now you get to dive into the fun stuff, so without further ado, let’s get started!

No clue what this article is about? Check out our post on 7 Easy Steps to Starting Your Own Web Hosting Company and catch up!

 

1. Log in to server using SSH and prepare for install

I highly recommend that anyone getting into running their own hosting panel learn the basics of systems administration and server management. One of the most basic and commonly used commands is SSH. SSH stands for Secure Shell, and it’s the defacto way of connecting to almost every server on the planet (except you Windows…)

alpha:~ admin$ ssh root@104.250.134.11
root@104.250.134.11's password: 
[root@testing ~]#

What you see above, is me passing the username (root) @ the IP of your vps server (104.250.134.11). Type in or copy and paste your password, and you’re in!

Now, we need to set some things up so the cPanel/WHM install runs smoothly. Type the following command in:

yum -y install nano && yum -y upgrade

What that command did is allows us to install an easy to use text editor, so you can continue with the next step in a much simpler fashion. Also, we just upgraded the kernel and all software packages that needed updating. Kernel updates usually require a reboot, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

Now, we need to type in the following command, to disable SELinux:

nano /etc/sysconfig/selinux

Once you’re in the editor, find the following line:

SELINUX=enabled

And change it to:

SELINUX=disabled

Double check that you have nameserver entries installed on your server. Usually, if you are running a vps, the provisioning process includes these entries. Dedicated servers might require you to add them, in the following way:

nano /etc/resolv.conf

If the above command returns an empty file, or a file with no nameserver entries in it, simply add the following to add Google’s Open DNS Resolver’s to your server:

nameserver 8.8.8.8
nameserver 8.8.4.4

At this point, reboot your server

shutdown -r now

You should now be ready to move on to the next step, installing cPanel.

 

2. Download and run cPanel install script

cPanel/WHM recommends a MINIMUM of 2GB RAM, and 40GB of disk space for installation. Our Business VPS plan is the bare minimum required for this, so that’s what we’re running this demo on.

Once you’ve completed Step #1, type in the following command, and get the installing going. Be aware that this installation can take a while, there is a lot of stuff being installed and configured.

cd /home && curl -o latest -L https://securedownloads.cpanel.net/latest && sh latest

You should at this point see something very similar to the following:

[root@testing ~]# cd /home && curl -o latest -L https://securedownloads.cpanel.net/latest && sh latest
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
100 24891 100 24891 0 0 42811 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 231k
Verifying archive integrity... All good.
Uncompressing Cpanel & WHM Installer.....
____ _
___| _ \ __ _ _ __ ___| |
/ __| |_) / _` | '_ \ / _ \ |
| (__| __/ (_| | | | | __/ |
\___|_| \__,_|_| |_|\___|_|

Installer Version v00047 r27be79bb1d9572b5d8ca3e80b7067f031299df36

Go stretch your legs, drink some coffee (or beer), and give this anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour to run it’s course.

Once the installation has completed you’ll be greeted with a screen that appears similar to the following:

2015-09-17 20:43:48 196 ( INFO): cPanel install finished in 42 minutes and 55 seconds!
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): Congratulations! Your installation of cPanel & WHM 11.50 is now complete. The next step is to configure your server. 
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): 
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): Before you configure your server, ensure that your firewall allows access on port 2087.
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): On RHEL, CentOS, and CloudLinux systems, execute /scripts/configure_firewall_for_cpanel to accomplish this.
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): 
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): After ensuring that your firewall allows access on port 2087, you can configure your server.
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): 
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): 1. Open your preferred browser
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): 
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): 2. Type https://104.250.134.11:2087 in the address bar
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): 
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): 3. Enter the word root in the Username text box
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): 
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): 4. Enter your root password in the Password text box
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): 
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): 5. Click the Login button
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): 
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): Visit http://go.cpanel.net/whminit for more information about first-time configuration of your server.
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): 
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): Visit http://support.cpanel.net or http://go.cpanel.net/whmfaq for additional support
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INF
O): 
2015-09-17 20:43:48 738 ( INFO): Thank you for installing cPanel & WHM 11.50!

42 minutes huh? Not bad! ;)

 

3. You’re done installing cPanel!

Congratulations, that wasn’t so hard right? It definitely gets easier the more you do it, and some companies even have this process automated. Since you’re not those guys, hopefully this post will give you a hand if you need it.

You could technically start using cPanel immediately after installation, but that’s not such a good idea. There are plenty of settings you should adjust before putting clients on the server, and there are a few plugins that really help tighten down the security.

Stay tuned for the next article on How to Configure cPanel