Last modified: September 18, 2024

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Overview

The cPanel DNSOnly® software allows you to run a dedicated physical nameserver. You can then use this and other servers to create a DNS cluster. It is the simplest version of cPanel & WHM and only replicates DNS zones to your other servers.

• To install cPanel DNSOnly, follow the instructions in our cPanel DNSOnly Installation documentation.
• For more information about configuring a DNS cluster, read our Guide to DNS Cluster Configurations documentation.

WHM DNSOnly interfaces

You can access the following interfaces from the WHM DNSOnly left-hand sidebar menu:

Server Configuration

• Basic WebHost Manager Setup — This interface allows you to change basic WHM settings.

• Configure cPanel Analytics — This interface allows you to control whether Interface Analytics collects data about your server and its accounts.

• Update Preferences — This interface allows you to define how your server performs software updates and upgrades.

Support

• Create Support Ticket — This interface allows you to create a cPanel support ticket.

• Grant cPanel Support Access — This interface allows you to grant cPanel support access to your server.

• Support Center — This interface provides several links that allow you to access cPanel & WHM support features.

Networking Setup

• Change Hostname — This interface allows you to change your server’s hostname.

• Resolver Configuration — This interface allows you to use a configuration wizard to edit your server’s /etc/resolv.conf file.

Security Center

• cPHulk Brute Force Protection — This interface allows you to configure cPHulk. The cPHulk service provides protection for your server against brute force attacks.

• Host Access Control — This interface allows you to deny access to services by IP address.

• Manage root’s SSH Keys — This interface allows you to manage your server’s SSH keys and add or import new SSH keys to your server.

• SSH Password Authorization Tweak — This interface allows you to disable the use of passwords for SSH authentication.

• Two-Factor Authentication — This interface allows you to configure two-factor authentication (2FA), a security measure for logging in to WHM.

Server Contacts

• Contact Manager — This interface defines how cPanel & WHM sends alert notifications for server and account events.

• Edit System Mail Preferences — This interface allows you to define how your server handles mail for the following system mail addresses:

  • root
  • nobody
  • cpanel

Service Configuration

• cPanel Log Rotation Configuration — This interface allows you to select cPanel & WHM log files for the cpanellogd daemon to compress and archive.

• Manage Service SSL Certificates — This interface allows you to manage the SSL certificates for the services that exist on your server.

• Nameserver Selection — This interface allows you to select BIND or PowerDNS as your nameserver software or to disable the nameserver.

• Service Manager — This interface allows you to select which daemons to enable and which of the enabled daemons to monitor.

Clusters

• Configuration Cluster — This interface allows you to link a master server to additional servers in the configuration cluster.

• DNS Cluster — This interface allows you to configure a DNS cluster. The DNS Cluster feature allows visitors to reach websites on your server more quickly after the web server comes back online.

System Reboot

• Forceful Server Reboot — This interface allows you to reboot your server regardless of any errors that the server may encounter.

• Graceful Server Reboot — This interface allows you to reboot your server by first closing any user-level processes and storing their data before the reboot.

DNS Functions

• Add an A Entry for Your Hostname — This interface allows you to add a DNS address record for your server’s hostname.

• Synchronize DNS Records — This interface allows you to reconcile differences in zone files between servers in a DNS cluster. Use this interface if some servers in your DNS cluster give outdated responses to DNS queries. This interface includes features to compare zone files among servers, recognize the most up-to-date zone files, and update the servers in the DNS cluster.

SQL Services

• MySQL/MariaDB Upgrade — This interface allows you to manage MySQL® or MariaDB® version upgrades.

IP Functions

• Add a New IP Address — This interface allows you to add an IP address to your IP address pool.

• Configure Remote Service IPs — This interface allows you to specify remote mail server and remote nameserver IP addresses.

• Show or Delete Current IP Addresses — This interface allows you to view or delete your server’s bound IP addresses.

  Important:

  You cannot delete an IP address in active use.

cPanel

• Change Log — This interface allows you to view published builds of cPanel & WHM software. The change log documents updates to the cPanel & WHM software that include fixes, enhancements, and patches.

• Upgrade to Latest Version — This interface allows you to update your cPanel & WHM software to the most recent build available on your server’s Release Tier.

Restart Services

• DNS Server — To restart the DNS server service, click DNS Server.

• SQL Server (MySQL) — To restart the SQL (MySQL) server service, click SQL Server (MySQL).

• SSH Server (OpenSSH) — To restart the SSH server service, click SSH Server (OpenSSH).

Development

• Manage API Tokens — This interface allows you to create, list, and revoke API tokens. You can use an API token to authenticate with WHM’s remote API.

  Note:

  Users on cPanel DNSOnly systems can access the following privileges:

  • All Features
  • Add DNS Zones
  • Basic System Information
  • Basic WHM Functions
  • Change Passwords
  • Create User Session
  • DNS Clustering
  • Manage API Tokens
  • Manage DNS Records
  • Manage Styles
  • Nameserver Configuration
  • Remove DNS Zones
  • Restart Services
  • SSL Information
  • SSL Site Management
  • View Server Information
  • View Server Status