How To Configure Basic WHM Settings For VPS & Dedicated Server?

You may set up the basic WHM initial settings if you have a Hostvento dedicated server or VPS. You will be asked to choose the default WHM settings in the Setup Wizard when you log in to WHM for the first time. If necessary, all of these parameters can be modified later.

Additionally, this tutorial will give you the fundamental knowledge needed to finish the WHM setup and start using your server.

Step 1 : cPanel / WHM License Agreement

Go through the license agreement provided by cPanel carefully and click on ‘I agree/Go To Step 2’ button.

Step 2 : Setup Networking

You can choose how you would want to be notified when there are server upgrades in the “Contact Information” area. Turn on at least one of the settings found in the section on communication techniques. The hostname you choose for your dedicated or VPS server may be entered in the “Hostname” section. Take server.localhost.com, for instance.

The hostname must follow this format for cPanel: name.domain.tld.

You may add the DNS resolvers that the server will use for outbound DNS requests in the ‘Resolvers’ section. It is advised that the primary and secondary resolvers use the same default address. You can choose which free public DNS provider to use as the third resolver. You can, for instance, provide the Google Public DNS server’s IP address.

In the ‘Main Network/Ethernet Device’ section, it is recommended to enter the device suggested by default.

Step 3 : IP Address

Click on the option ‘Skip This Step and Use Default Settings’ and proceed to the next step.

Step 4 : Nameservers

In this section, you have to specify the nameserver program that will be used on your server. You can check to cPanel recommendations for selecting the nameserver program that is most suitable for your needs.

Default option : ‘BIND’ option is suitable for most of the users. Therefore, if you are not sure about the right option, pick BIND.

In the ‘Nameservers specification’ section, enter the private nameservers that you would like to use. In the last section enter the IP addresses for your private nameservers that were mentioned in the welcome email. Although you can utilize a single IP address for both the nameservers; however, it is recommended to use different IP addresses if possible.

In order to make the nameservers functional you also have to register them at your current registrar with the same IP addresses.

In the ‘Add A Entries for Nameservers & Hostname’ section enter the main IP address of your server and save the changes.

Wait for WHM to configure our nameservers, after that is done, WHM will take you to the next step.

Step 5 : Services

In this section, you can select the FTP and Mail programs and enable cPHulk module. It is recommended to use the default settings for FTP program.

In the ‘Mail Configuration’ section you can select the mail program. ‘Dovecot’ is the suggested mail program, if you have any specific mail needs, you can select some other program.

It is advisable to keep this option checked : ‘Convert mailbox settings file format’ in case you opted for enabling a mail server.

cPHulk is the basic protection tool that protects your server from brute-force attacks; therefore, it is recommended to enable it.

In the advanced settings you can specify the time periods for temporary blocks and for other cPHulk settings.

The last option is for the ‘Perl’ environment. Some scripts and CGI applications might require Perl installation in the /user/bin/perl directory that is no more required by cPanel and WHM. If you don’t plan to use such scripts, keep this option unchecked.

Step 6 : Quotas

In the last step, you can install the disk space tracking system used for monitoring of disk space of cPanel accounts. It is recommended to keep this option unchecked.

Once finished, click on ‘Finish Setup Wizard’, this will redirect you to WHM main menu.

This is it!!