CPanel
Encyclopedia
cPanel is a Linux
based web hosting control panel that provides a graphical interface and automation tools designed to simplify the process of hosting a web site. cPanel utilizes a 3 tier structure that provides functionality for administrators, resellers, and end-user website owners to control the various aspects of website and server administration through a standard web browser.
In addition to the GUI interface cPanel also has command line and API based access that allows third party software vendors, web hosting organizations, and developers to automate standard system administration processes.
cPanel is designed to function either as a dedicated server or virtual private server
and it supports CentOS
, Red Hat Linux
, and FreeBSD
.
Application-based support includes Apache
, PHP
, MySQL
, Postgres, Perl
, and BIND
(DNS). Email based support includes POP3, IMAP, SMTP services. cPanel is commonly accessed on port
2082, with an SSL-secured server operating on port 2083.
cPanel 3 tended to be buggy and did not have a good user interface. The interface improved when Carlos Rego of WizardsHosting made what became the default theme of cPanel. Eventually due to internal problems between VDI and John Nick Koston, cPanel split into two separate programs called cPanel and WebPanel. WebPanel was the version run by VDI. Without the lead programmer, VDI was not able to continue any work on cPanel and eventually stopped supporting it completely. John Nick Koston kept working on cPanel while also working at BurstNET. Eventually Nick left BurstNET on good terms to focus fully on cPanel. cPanel has been updated and improved over the years. It is now a stable and reliable control panel.
neighborhood in Houston, Texas at 3131 West Alabama Street, Suite 100. John N Koston is listed as the President and Director on filings with the Texas Secretary of State.
keys, crontab tasks, mail and FTP
accounts, and mailing lists.
Several add-ons exist for an additional fee, the most notable being Auto Installers like Installatron
, Fantastico
, Softaculous, and WHMSonic(Shoutcast/radio Control Panel Add-on). Auto Installers are a bundle of scripts which automate the installation (and update of) web applications such as WordPress
, SMF
, phpBB
, Drupal
, Joomla!
, Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware, Moodle
, MagicSpam
WHMCS, and ZamFoo. Fantastico is a popular Auto Installer but is losing market fast because of lack of updates (see article) and fewer number of scripts.
cPanel manages some software packages separately from the underlying operating system, applying upgrades to Apache
, PHP
, MySQL
, and related software packages automatically. This ensures that these packages are kept up-to-date and compatible with cPanel, but makes it more difficult to install newer versions of these packages.
s and reseller
s to manage hosting accounts on a web server
. WHM listens on ports
2086 and 2087 by default.
As well as being accessible by the root admin, WHM is also accessible to users with reseller
privileges. Reseller users of cPanel have a smaller set of features than the root user, generally limited by the server administrator, to features which they determine will affect their customers' accounts rather than the server as a whole.
From WHM, the server administrator can perform maintenance operations such as compile Apache and upgrade RPM
s installed on the system.
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
based web hosting control panel that provides a graphical interface and automation tools designed to simplify the process of hosting a web site. cPanel utilizes a 3 tier structure that provides functionality for administrators, resellers, and end-user website owners to control the various aspects of website and server administration through a standard web browser.
In addition to the GUI interface cPanel also has command line and API based access that allows third party software vendors, web hosting organizations, and developers to automate standard system administration processes.
cPanel is designed to function either as a dedicated server or virtual private server
Virtual private server
Virtual private server is a term used by internet hosting services to refer to a virtual machine. The term is used for emphasizing that the virtual machine, although running in software on the same physical computer as other customers' virtual machines, is functionally equivalent to a separate...
and it supports CentOS
CentOS
CentOS is a free operating system based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux . It exists to provide a free enterprise class computing platform and strives to maintain 100% binary compatibility with its upstream distribution...
, Red Hat Linux
Red Hat Linux
Red Hat Linux, assembled by the company Red Hat, was a popular Linux based operating system until its discontinuation in 2004.Red Hat Linux 1.0 was released on November 3, 1994...
, and FreeBSD
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
.
Application-based support includes Apache
Apache HTTP Server
The Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to as Apache , is web server software notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. In 2009 it became the first web server software to surpass the 100 million website milestone...
, PHP
PHP
PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...
, MySQL
MySQL
MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
, Postgres, Perl
Perl
Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...
, and BIND
BIND
BIND , or named , is the most widely used DNS software on the Internet.On Unix-like operating systems it is the de facto standard.Originally written by four graduate students at the Computer Systems Research Group at the University of California, Berkeley , the name originates as an acronym from...
(DNS). Email based support includes POP3, IMAP, SMTP services. cPanel is commonly accessed on port
TCP and UDP port
In computer networking, a port is an application-specific or process-specific software construct serving as a communications endpoint in a computer's host operating system. A port is associated with an IP address of the host, as well as the type of protocol used for communication...
2082, with an SSL-secured server operating on port 2083.
History
cPanel was originally designed as the control panel for Speed Hosting, a now-defunct web hosting company. The original author of cPanel, John Nick Koston, had a stake in Speed Hosting. Web King quickly began using cPanel after their merger with Speed Hosting. After Speed Hosting and Webking merged, the new company moved their servers to Virtual Development Inc. (VDI), a now-defunct hosting facility. Following an agreement between John Nick Koston and VDI, cPanel was only available to customers hosted directly at VDI. At the time there was little competition in the control panel market with the main choices being VDI and Alabanza. cPanel 3 was released in 1999; its main features over cPanel 2 were an automatic upgrade and the Web Host Manager.cPanel 3 tended to be buggy and did not have a good user interface. The interface improved when Carlos Rego of WizardsHosting made what became the default theme of cPanel. Eventually due to internal problems between VDI and John Nick Koston, cPanel split into two separate programs called cPanel and WebPanel. WebPanel was the version run by VDI. Without the lead programmer, VDI was not able to continue any work on cPanel and eventually stopped supporting it completely. John Nick Koston kept working on cPanel while also working at BurstNET. Eventually Nick left BurstNET on good terms to focus fully on cPanel. cPanel has been updated and improved over the years. It is now a stable and reliable control panel.
cPanel, Inc
cPanel, Inc is a State of Texas corporation with primary offices located in the Upper KirbyUpper Kirby
Upper Kirby is a commercial district in Houston, Texas, United States.Upper Kirby contains many businesses, including restaurants. Upper Kirby is east of the Greenway Plaza, southwest of Neartown, north of the city of West University Place, and south of River Oaks.Upper Kirby is considered to be in...
neighborhood in Houston, Texas at 3131 West Alabama Street, Suite 100. John N Koston is listed as the President and Director on filings with the Texas Secretary of State.
Add-Ons
To the client, cPanel provides front-ends for a number of common operations, including the management of PGPPretty Good Privacy
Pretty Good Privacy is a data encryption and decryption computer program that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication. PGP is often used for signing, encrypting and decrypting texts, E-mails, files, directories and whole disk partitions to increase the security...
keys, crontab tasks, mail and FTP
File Transfer Protocol
File Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server...
accounts, and mailing lists.
Several add-ons exist for an additional fee, the most notable being Auto Installers like Installatron
Installatron
Installatron is a multi-platform application installer that provides a graphical interface and automation tools designed to simplify the process of hosting web applications. Installatron is available as a plug-in for popular web hosting control panels....
, Fantastico
Fantastico (web hosting)
Fantastico is a commercial script library that automates the installation of web applications to a website. Fantastico scripts are executed from the administration area of a website control panel such as cPanel...
, Softaculous, and WHMSonic(Shoutcast/radio Control Panel Add-on). Auto Installers are a bundle of scripts which automate the installation (and update of) web applications such as WordPress
WordPress
WordPress is a free and open source blogging tool and publishing platform powered by PHP and MySQL. It is often customized into a content management system . It has many features including a plug-in architecture and a template system. WordPress is used by over 14.7% of Alexa Internet's "top 1...
, SMF
Simple Machines Forum
Simple Machines Forum is a free Internet forum application. The software is written in PHP and uses a MySQL database backend, although multi-database support is being developed for version 2.0...
, phpBB
PhpBB
phpBB is a popular Internet forum package written in the PHP scripting language. The name "phpBB" is an abbreviation of PHP Bulletin Board...
, Drupal
Drupal
Drupal is a free and open-source content management system and content management framework written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License. It is used as a back-end system for at least 1.5% of all websites worldwide ranging from personal blogs to corporate, political, and...
, Joomla!
Joomla!
Joomla is a free and open source content management system for publishing content on the World Wide Web and intranets and a model–view–controller Web application framework that can also be used independently....
, Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware, Moodle
Moodle
Moodle is a free source e-learning software platform, also known as a Course Management System, Learning Management System, or Virtual Learning Environment...
, MagicSpam
MagicSpam
MagicSpam is an anti-spam computer program designed to be integrated with an email server to automatically prevent spam from reaching an email user's inbox....
WHMCS, and ZamFoo. Fantastico is a popular Auto Installer but is losing market fast because of lack of updates (see article) and fewer number of scripts.
cPanel manages some software packages separately from the underlying operating system, applying upgrades to Apache
Apache HTTP Server
The Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to as Apache , is web server software notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. In 2009 it became the first web server software to surpass the 100 million website milestone...
, PHP
PHP
PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...
, MySQL
MySQL
MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
, and related software packages automatically. This ensures that these packages are kept up-to-date and compatible with cPanel, but makes it more difficult to install newer versions of these packages.
WHM (Web Host Manager)
WebHost Manager (WHM) is a web-based tool used by server administratorSystem administrator
A system administrator, IT systems administrator, systems administrator, or sysadmin is a person employed to maintain and operate a computer system and/or network...
s and reseller
Reseller
A reseller is a company or individual that purchases goods or services with the intention of reselling them rather than consuming or using them. This is usually done for profit...
s to manage hosting accounts on a web server
Web server
Web server can refer to either the hardware or the software that helps to deliver content that can be accessed through the Internet....
. WHM listens on ports
TCP and UDP port
In computer networking, a port is an application-specific or process-specific software construct serving as a communications endpoint in a computer's host operating system. A port is associated with an IP address of the host, as well as the type of protocol used for communication...
2086 and 2087 by default.
As well as being accessible by the root admin, WHM is also accessible to users with reseller
Reseller
A reseller is a company or individual that purchases goods or services with the intention of reselling them rather than consuming or using them. This is usually done for profit...
privileges. Reseller users of cPanel have a smaller set of features than the root user, generally limited by the server administrator, to features which they determine will affect their customers' accounts rather than the server as a whole.
From WHM, the server administrator can perform maintenance operations such as compile Apache and upgrade RPM
RPM Package Manager
RPM Package Manager is a package management system. The name RPM variously refers to the .rpm file format, files in this format, software packaged in such files, and the package manager itself...
s installed on the system.