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How to Create a cPanel & WHM Instance on Linode

Last modified: July 1, 2021

Overview

The following document provides the steps to build a production hosting environment on Linode®.

Warning:
  • This document assumes that you have already created an account at Linode.
  • We recommend that you host interconnected servers at Linode within the same region. This will allow the servers to intercommunicate quickly on the local network.
Note:
  • cPanel & WHM requires a valid license. If this is a new installation, you can activate a free 15-day trial license.
  • To activate a new license, you must have a cPanel Store account with a verified email address.

Log in to Linode

To log in to Linode, perform the following steps:

  1. Navigate to the Linode Login interface.

  2. Enter your username and password and click Log In. The Dashboard interface will appear.

Create the Linode

To create a cPanel & WHM Linode, perform the following steps:

  1. Click Create and then click Linode. The Create New Linode interface will appear.

  2. Click Marketplace. A list of available applications will appear.

  3. Click cPanel.

  4. Under Select an image, select CentOS 7.

  5. Under Region, select an appropriate region in which to create the instance.

  6. Under Plan, select a plan that meets your hosting needs.

  7. Enter a label for the instance in the Label text box.

  8. If you wish, enter tags in the Tags text box to assist you in categorizing your instances.

  9. Enter a secure password in the Root Password text box.

    Note:

    Even if you plan to only access your instance via SSH keys, you must enter a root password.

  10. Click Add SSH Key.

  11. Enter a label for the key in the Label text box (for example, id_rsa).

  12. On your local computer, open a command line session.

  13. Run the cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub command.

  14. If the id_rsa.pub file does not exist, perform the following steps:

    1. Run the cd ~/.ssh/ command to navigate to your .ssh directory.
    2. Run the ssh-keygen command.
    3. Confirm id_rsa as the new filename.
    4. Enter a passphrase, and then confirm it.
    5. Run the cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub command again.

  15. Copy the results and paste them into the SSH Public key text box.

    Note:

    Do not select the Backups or Private IP checkboxes. You can configure these settings later.

  16. Click Create Linode. The instance’s profile interface will appear.

  17. Click Launch LISH Console to watch the installation process.

Note:

Do not interrupt the installation process.

When the installation process finishes, the instance will respond with a Message of the Day message. This message contains helpful links and a URL to log in to cPanel & WHM.

Log in to WHM

To log in to WHM, perform the following steps:

  1. In your preferred browser, navigate to the cPanel & WHM login URL. A new interface will appear.

  2. Agree to the software license. The Get started with a Free cPanel Trial! interface will appear.

  3. You will need to log in to or create a cPanel Store account. For information how to do this, read our How to Sign Up for a Trial License documentation.

  4. After you log in to the cPanel Store and obtain a trial license, the Contact Information interface will appear.

  5. Enter the your contact information and nameserver information. The WHM Home interface will appear.

Note:

After you configure the root user’s password, you can log in to WHM at the following URL, where IPADDRESS represents your server’s IP address: https://IPADDRESS:2087

Set the hostname

Note:
If your server does not use a resolvable fully-qualified domain name as the hostname, it will automatically receive one from cPanel, L.L.C. For more information, read our Automatically-Issued Hostnames documentation.

To configure the hostname of the instance, navigate to WHM’s Change Hostname interface (WHM >> Home >> Networking Setup >> Change Hostname).

Configure WHM

For more information about how to configure cPanel & WHM, read our WebHost Manager documentation.

For more information about how to quickly publish a website on a new cPanel & WHM server, read our From WHM to Website documentation.

Remember:

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