cPanel Guide
How to manage your hosting account â domains, email, files, databases, SSL, and security.
On this page
Logging In
Your hosting provider gives you a URL, username, and password. Open the URL in your browser:
https://YOUR-SERVER-IP:8443/loginEnter your username and password. If you see a certificate warning, click Advanced â Proceed â this is normal for servers without a domain-based SSL certificate yet.
Dashboard Overview
After logging in you'll see the main dashboard with:
- Server Stats â OS, PHP version, uptime, CPU load, disk usage, memory usage (updates live)
- Quick actions â shortcuts to the most-used sections
- Service status â shows whether Apache, MariaDB, email, and other services are running
The left sidebar contains all the main sections of your hosting account.
Domains
Go to Domains in the sidebar to manage all domains attached to your account.
Adding a Domain
Click "Add Domain"
Enter the full domain name (e.g. example.com).
Set the document root
This is the folder where your website files live. Default is /home/USERNAME/public_html/example.com.
Point your DNS
In your domain registrar, set an A record for the domain pointing to your server's IP address. DNS propagation takes up to 24 hours.
Adding a Subdomain
Go to Domains â Subdomains and click Add Subdomain. Enter the subdomain prefix (e.g. blog for blog.example.com) and select the parent domain.
Redirects
Under Domains â Redirects you can set up 301 or 302 redirects. Useful for redirecting www to non-www or forwarding old URLs.
Email Accounts
Go to Email in the sidebar to manage email for your domains.
Creating an Email Account
Click "Create Account"
Choose a domain from the dropdown and enter the local part (e.g. hello for hello@example.com).
Set a password
Choose a strong password. You'll share this with the person who'll use the mailbox.
Set a storage quota
Choose how much disk space this mailbox can use. Leave blank for unlimited (up to your account's total quota).
Mail Client Settings
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Incoming server (IMAP) | Your server IP, port 993, SSL/TLS |
| Incoming server (POP3) | Your server IP, port 995, SSL/TLS |
| Outgoing server (SMTP) | Your server IP, port 587, STARTTLS |
| Username | Full email address (e.g. hello@example.com) |
| Authentication | Normal password |
Email Forwarders
Under Email â Forwarders, set up rules to forward all mail from one address to another â useful for catch-all addresses or routing to an external mailbox.
File Manager
The File Manager lets you manage your website files directly in the browser without needing FTP.
- Upload files â drag and drop or use the upload button. Supports ZIP files (extracted automatically).
- Edit files â click any text file to open the built-in code editor.
- Set permissions â right-click any file or folder and choose Change Permissions. PHP files typically need 644, directories need 755.
- Extract archives â right-click a
.zipor.tar.gzfile and select Extract. - Move and copy â right-click to move, copy, or rename files and folders.
Your website files should go in /home/USERNAME/public_html/DOMAIN/. The index file (index.html or index.php) in that directory is what visitors see when they open your domain.
MySQL Databases
Go to Databases in the sidebar to create and manage MySQL databases.
Creating a Database
Click "Create Database"
Enter a name for the database. Your username is automatically prefixed (e.g. mysite_wp becomes username_mysite_wp).
Create a database user
Click Create User, enter a username and strong password.
Grant permissions
Under Add User to Database, select your new user and database, then grant All Privileges.
Connection Details
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Host | localhost (or 127.0.0.1) |
| Port | 3306 |
| Database | Your full database name (with prefix) |
| Username | Your database username (with prefix) |
| Password | The password you set when creating the user |
SSL Certificates
Go to Security â SSL to manage SSL certificates for your domains.
Free SSL via Let's Encrypt
Make sure DNS is pointing to your server
Let's Encrypt verifies domain ownership by connecting to your server. DNS must be active before you can issue a certificate.
Click "Issue Certificate"
Select the domain and any subdomains (e.g. www.example.com). Click Issue.
Done
The certificate is issued and configured automatically. It auto-renews 30 days before expiry â no manual action needed.
Security
The Security section provides tools to protect your hosting account:
- IP Blocker â block specific IP addresses or ranges from accessing your sites
- Directory Privacy â password-protect any folder with HTTP Basic Auth
- Hotlink Protection â prevent other sites from embedding your images directly
- Password Strength â change your cPanel password with a strength indicator
Statistics
Go to Stats to view:
- Live server metrics â CPU load, memory usage, disk I/O, network in/out
- Disk usage â breakdown by domain and mail folder
- Bandwidth â monthly transfer totals
- PHP info â loaded extensions, configuration values