cPanel is one of the market pioneers when it comes to powering the hosting platforms. The main product – WHM/cPanel has been utilized by many web hosting companies because of ease of managing, flexibility, customization and a backing of great quality and support. Most of the people belonging to the web hosting industry are aware of the benefits of using cPanel. However, if you are a beginner for using cPanel, we recommend you to do a few things during the initial phase before you get going with your cPanel hosting platform. Listed below are 5 essentials of cPanel that the beginners should be aware of:
Create A Strong Password
Every user gets a username and password by default for accessing the cPanel interface. The same login credentials are applicable to the default mysql database user, email addresses, FTP account and also for system user login used to access the server remotely through SSH.
Changing the cPanel password is the most crucial step. If someone is able to retrieve your password or guess it, that person might get unwarranted privileges to the server and this might be dangerous.
A good password must be applied to the cPanel account in order to prevent any unwanted circumstances. Here are some tips for best password management:
- Change your password regularly
- Avoid using the dictionary words
- Avoid familiar things like vehicle registration, birth date or phone number
- Preferably, use a complicated password containing letters, numbers and symbols
- Use more than 6 characters
- Try not to use the ‘remember’ function in the browser
Understand The Server
Have complete understanding of the server environment before you start utilizing it. It is good to be aware of the important things about cPanel. Some important aspects that you must know are server operating system and architecture, kernel version, version of the applications (cPanel, Apache, PHP, MySQL, Pearl), Limitation of the IP address and the hosting package. You can get all this information on the side bar present on the main page of the cPanel interface. A good hosting server must be operated on the updated version of the kernel and applications below 64 bit architecture (x86_64).
It is also important to keep a regular check on the cPanel service stats (for this, go to – cPanel > Stats > Service Status). Through this statistics, you will know the number of CPU’s running on the server, total memory usage and also the disk space status. An inspection of this feature will provide you with useful information about the real-time condition of the server. Ensure that all the services are up and running.
Check For The Permissions
It is important to have a check on the file and the directory permissions. The cPanel users get a home directory by default under /home/{username}. All the files and directories present under the user’s home directory should be operated on the respective permissions and ownership. The most critical directory that should be run under the correct permission and ownership is the public_html. You can use the cPanel file manager, FTP client or SSH access in order to manage or fix the permission and the ownership issues as well. Do not forget to delete the phpinfo page once you have retrieved the required information.
Add Some Protection
Even though security and protection is completely handled by the server administrator, the cPanel users can take complete advantage of the cPanel flexibilities. You can easily enhance the protection of your website, domain and cPanel account. Make sure that the spam assassin is enabled. It can be accessed through cPanel > Mail > Spam Assassin. Some web hosting provider do not enable this feature by default as the newly created accounts might not receive a lot of spam emails. Discard all the unrouted emails under the default address present here (cPanel > Mail > Default Address) with error to sender at SMTP time. Avoid using the ‘blackhole’ or ‘forward to email address’ options until you really need them. The main reason behind this is that the hackers might take advantage of these two features for creating a DOS attack for the SMTP service.
Have a check on the ‘PHP disabled function’ through the phpinfo page. Ensure that all the critical functions are disabled on the server. In case they are not, create a php.ini file under the public_html. Also, enable the hotlink protection from (cPanel > Security > Hotlink Protection) for preventing people from staling your bandwidth. People might link their websites to the images present on your website as it will make them a part of their content. Make sure that you only allow your website URL to access the static contents like .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif and.bmp.
Monitoring And Notification
These are two important features required for adding a secondary email in order to receive notification by cPanel. The registered email address of the user will always be the primary contact by default. In order to add a secondary email go to – (cPanel > Preferences > Update contact info). Preferably, you must add a secondary email address in case the primary contact is not reachable.
In terms of monitoring, make sure to opt for a web hosting company that offers real time monitoring feature. This will help in identifying the issues before time and better hosting solutions will be possible.
The information mentioned in this article would be useful for the cPanel beginners and also for the people who have been using cPanel for a while. By following the best configuration strategies mentioned above, you will be able to take the complete control of your website.
