How to change a cPanel password in WHM

The cPanel is a famous control panel among hosting companies and web developers. Normally, it is paired with a web host manager (WHM). The WHM offers administrative control over the server and creates several accounts on a website. The cPanel dashboard offers different features of data tracking, SEO, statistics, MySQL, and web files. These features are among the famous control panels among hosting companies and web developers.

The hosting provider manages a server with a web host manager and creates a cPanel account for each customer. The cPanel dashboard can be complicated for a newbie considering the several features. This article will explore everything about the cPanel in WHM and how you can change passwords. You can read what web hosting is and how it works to understand the cPanel better.

Introduction to cPanel

The cPanel is a unique feature that hosts providers offer to customers, although it is not free. When you purchase a hosting plan, you get a free cPanel subscription for the first year, but subsequently, you have to pay a fee. The cPanel is private to the website owner, which is accessible using your username and password. You need to keep your login details safe; else, you can lose your website to intruders.

How to Change a cPanel Password?

For security measures, it is advisable to change your cPanel password from time to time. Your cPanel gives you access to your website. To change your password, you need to log in to your web host manager as the root user. Here is a step-by-step process to change your cPanel password.

Step 1: Accessing your account

Log into your WHM as the root user. Remember to use your username (email in most situations) and password. Once you log in, go to "Home" and click on "Account Functions." You will see "Password Modification."

Step 2 – Selecting an account

Assuming you have several accounts attached to different websites, you can choose the particular account you want to change your password. Ensure you select the main account to avoid any password error in the future.

Step 3 – changing password

In the "New Password" box, enter the password of choice to override your previous password. To ensure you don't make a mistake, you have to enter the new password again in the "Confirm Password" box. However, if you want to use an auto-generated password, you can click the "Generate" button to provide a random password. The downside to using the auto-generated password is that you might not remember it. However, it is highly secured as it comprises different characters and special characters.

Step 4 – confirm the change

Depending on what option is suitable for you, the next step is to confirm your password change. To complete the process, click the "Change Password" button, which automatically creates a new password that gives you access to your cPanel.

Understanding the Functionality of the cPanel Interface

There are several things you can do on the cPanel. It's an interface that comes with many functionalities that helps build a website. This section will explore some things you can do on your cPanel.

Install software

After signing to your host and purchasing a hosting plan, one key thing to do is to install a content management system. Nowadays, most website owners use WordPress to build their websites. The cPanel allows you to do this effortlessly as it comes with auto-installers that provide a simple method for installing different software packages. The image below shows that the cPanel contains several auto-installers located in the Autoinstallers section.

Add domains and subdomains

Once you register with a hosting provider, you can configure a domain during the process. It serves as the primary domain that houses your business. Adding a new domain is relatively easy, as you can see from the image below.

Assuming you have a primary domain, you can add two different types of domain names depending on the host. These include addon domains and subdomains. The Addon domain is a separate domain name different from your main domain. For instance, if your primary domain is "abcd.com," your addon domain can be "mysite.com."

On the other hand, the subdomain is an addition to your primary domain name. Using our previous primary domain, if you were to add a subdomain, it would be "mysite.abcd.com."

Upload files

The cPanel allows you to upload files to your web server through FTP accounts and File manager. The file manager option lets you upload the files directly into the server through your web browser. However, you need an FTP program to upload your website on the cPanel.

Overall, the File Manager offers a more convenient option to upload files as it doesn't require any third-party program. You can use your web browser to upload these files if the file size is not large. Nevertheless, the File Manager option isn't as effective as the FTP program once you have large files to upload.

Security

Interestingly, you can increase your website security through the cPanel. It offers different helpful tools such as IP Address deny manager and password-protect directories. The IP address denies manager allows you to block traffic from specific IP addresses that might cause trouble to your website. On the other hand, the password protects directories enables you to add a password to some folders on your server.

View Error logs

Most website owners neglect the "view error logs" functionality because they don't know how it works. It allows you to view different errors your website might have encountered. It's an invaluable tool to diagnose what is happening to our website. You can view the error on the server in the visitor stats section, where you will see "Error Log."

Wrapping up

The cPanel offers a lot of functionality that can help improve the overall performance of your website. It is your server management buddy to keep your website running. Whether you are using a shared or dedicated hosting plan, the place of cPanel cannot be taken for granted.

You need to change your cPanel password as a security measure, and we have shown you the easiest way to get that sorted out. Remember, your username and password are essential and must be kept to avoid anyone accessing your website.