Service and Proxy Subdomains
Last modified: July 25, 2023
Overview
Service subdomains provide access to cPanel & WHM interfaces and services. When you create accounts or domains, the system also creates their service subdomains. You can access interfaces and services via the port or the service subdomain. The port has a faster server response time. However, the service subdomain allows access from behind a firewall restricting, for example, port 80
and port 443
.
-
SSL virtualhost configurations use the cPanel service SSL certificate. For example, the
cpanel
,whm
,webdisk
, andwebmail
service subdomains use it. For steps to bypass this, read the Bypass using the cPanel service SSL certificate section below. -
The system handles SSL and non-SSL connections separately.
-
Each service subdomain’s virtualhost binds to the server’s assigned IP addresses.
We have changed our SSL and service subdomain features several times in previous versions:
-
In cPanel & WHM version 11.42 and later, we updated Apache’s configuration to use service subdomains with SSL.
-
In cPanel & WHM version 62, Domain TLS enabled SNI by default for service subdomains’ SSL certificates.
-
In cPanel & WHM version 74, we renamed proxy subdomains as service subdomains.
Settings
You can enable service subdomains in the Domains section of WHM’s Tweak Settings interface (WHM » Home » Server Configuration » Tweak Settings).
-
For cPanel & WHM version 76 and later, enable the Service subdomains setting and the Service subdomain creation setting.
-
For cPanel & WHM version 74 and earlier, enable the Proxy subdomains setting and the Proxy Subdomain Creation setting.
-
You must enable other settings for AutoConfig and Autodiscover. Additional settings let you change how service subdomains work.
-
You can use the
/usr/local/cpanel/servicedomains
script or the/usr/local/cpanel/proxydomains
script to create DNS records for service subdomains. -
If your server runs NGINX®, you cannot use the Safari® web browser to log in to a service subdomain. Use another browser, or log in with the service’s port URL.
Access interfaces
Users can access cPanel, WHM, and Webmail using these service subdomains:
Interface | Service subdomain | Secure port | Non-secure port |
---|---|---|---|
cPanel | https://cpanel.example.com |
https://example.com:2083 |
http://example.com:2082 |
WHM | https://whm.example.com
Note:
SSL only secures the
whm service subdomain for resellers.
|
https://example.com:2087 |
http://example.com:2086 |
Webmail | https://webmail.example.com |
https://example.com:2096 |
http://example.com:2095 |
Access services
You can access cPanel & WHM services using these service subdomains:
Service | Service subdomain | Secure port | Non-secure port |
---|---|---|---|
AutoConfig | https://autoconfig.example.com |
https://example.com:443 |
http://example.com:443 |
Autodiscover | https://autodiscover.example.com |
https://example.com:443 |
http://example.com:443 |
CalDAV | https://cpcalendars.example.com |
https://example.com:2080 |
http://example.com:2079 |
CardDAV | https://cpcontacts.example.com |
https://example.com:2080 |
http://example.com:2079 |
Web Disk | https://webdisk.example.com |
https://example.com:2078 |
http://example.com:2077 |
Bypass using the cPanel service SSL certificate
To prevent the use of the cPanel service SSL certificate for the cpanel
, whm
, webdisk
, and webmail
subdomains:
-
Disable the Service subdomains setting in the Domains section of WHM’s Tweak Settings interface (WHM » Home » Server Configuration » Tweak Settings).
-
Use cPanel’s Domains interface (cPanel » Home » Domains » Domains) to create each service subdomain (for example,
cpanel
,whm
,webdisk
, andwebmail
). -
Redirect each service’s subdomain to the correct secure URL and port:
Service | Subdomain | Redirection |
---|---|---|
cPanel | cpanel.example.com |
https://example.com:2083 |
WHM | whm.example.com |
https://example.com:2087 |
Web Disk | webdisk.example.com |
https://example.com:2078 |
Webmail | webmail.example.com |
https://example.com:2096 |
When you navigate to webmail.example.com
, the server redirects you to https://example.com:2096
. Then, it uses the example.com
domain’s SSL certificate to secure the connection.