Last modified: August 20, 2020

Overview

This document explains how to install a cPanel & WHM instance on the Google Compute Engine™ service through the Google Marketplace.

Create a cPanel & WHM instance on Google Compute Engine

Access the Google Compute Engine.

To log in to the Google Compute Engine website, perform the following steps:

1. If you do not already possess a Google account, create one. Then, log in to Google.

2. Navigate to the Google Compute Engine website. The Google Compute Engine interface will appear.

3. Click Get Started For Free. A new interface will appear.

Accept the trial offer.

Accept the Terms of Service and click CONTINUE. The Payment Information interface will appear.

Enter or confirm your payment information.

To enter or confirm your payment information, perform the following steps:

1. Enter your payment information or confirm the existing payment method on your account.

2. Click START MY FREE TRIAL. The Google Cloud Platform interface will appear, and Google will send you a confirmation email.

Use the cPanel & WHM Marketplace image

To use the cPanel & WHM image on Marketplace, perform the following steps:

1. In the left navigation bar, click Marketplace. The Marketplace window pane will appear.

2. Search for cPanel. A list of images will appear.

3. Click the cPanel & WHM image. The full image profile will appear.

4. Read the details, such as estimated costs.

5. Click the LAUNCH ON COMPUTE ENGINE button.

Create an instance.

To create the instance, perform the following steps:

1. In the Deployment name text box, enter a name for the instance.

   Note:

   The Deployment name can only contain lowercase characters, numbers or dashes. It must start with a lowercase letter and cannot end with a dash.

2. In the Zone menu, select a zone within the region.

3. Select the number of CPUs you need.

   • Click Customize if your instance requires more memory, a specific CPU style, or to specify the number of CPUs.

4. In the Boot disk section, click Change. A new section will appear.

5. Select Standard persistent disk for the Boot disk type.

6. Set the Boot disk size in GB text box to more than 20GB.

7. In the Networking section, do not make any changes.

8. In the Information sharing section, select Yes, I authorize Google to share the above information with cPanel, L.L.C.

9. Click Deploy. Google Cloud Platform’s Deployment Manager interface will appear.

Connect to the instance.

The interface will display a green icon next to the instance name when it is ready.

The right panel contains helpful information to get you logged in to your server. To connect to the instance, perform the following steps:

1. Click SSH. A new window will appear with a terminal session.

2. Enter sudo su - to get root access.

Change the root password.

To change the root user’s password, perform the following steps:

1. Run the passwd command.

2. Enter a new password.

3. Enter the new password again.

A confirmation message will appear.

Assign a hostname to the server.

To assign a hostname to the server, run the following command, where hostname.example.com represents your desired hostname:

hostnamectl set-hostname hostname.example.com

Create the hostname fix hook.

To configure VPS deployments, many cloud hosting providers use the dhclient script. This script includes the configuration of the instance’s hostname. But, the dhclient script may not preserve the locally-configured hostname. So, hosting providers use scripts to work around this issue. For example, Google Cloud Platform Services™ uses the google_set_hostname script.

The workaround scripts may interfere with WHM’s Change Hostname feature (WHM >> Home >> Networking Setup >> Change Hostname). These can cause hostname configuration issues and a locked cPanel & WHM license. You must create a dhclient exit hook script to set the hostname properly.

To create the hook, run the following command, where hostname.example.com represents your server’s hostname:

mkdir -p /etc/dhcp/dhclient-exit-hooks.d/ && echo -ne '#!/bin/sh\nhostname hostname.example.com\n/scripts/fixetchosts\n' > /etc/dhcp/dhclient-exit-hooks.d/zzz-set-hostname.sh && chmod +x /etc/dhcp/dhclient-exit-hooks.d/zzz-set-hostname.sh

For information on this hook, read our Cloud-Hosted Hostname Solution documentation.

When you are finished, close the terminal session and return to the Google Compute Engine interface.

Configure a static IP address.

By default, Google assigns ephemeral IP addresses to VM instances. They will remain assigned to the server as long as the VM is active, but will change if you turn off and then turn back on a VM.

To configure a static IP address for the server, perform the following steps:

1. Under Assign a static external IP address to your VM instance, click Learn more. A help interface will appear.

2. Click Go to the External IP addresses page.

3. Click the arrow next to Emphemeral.

4. Select Static. A new window will appear.

5. In the Name text box, enter a name for the IP address.

6. Click Reserve.

Log in to WHM.

To log in to WHM, perform the following steps:

1. Navigate to the following URL, where IPADDRESS represents your server’s IP address: https://IPADDRESS:2087

1. Enter your username and password.

2. Click Log in.

Configure WHM

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

For more information on how to quickly build a website on a newly-installed cPanel & WHM server, read our From WHM to Website documentation.

Google blocks port 25.

By default, Google disables port 25 for outbound email traffic.

For more information on Google’s block of port 25, read Google’s Sending Email from an Instance documentation.

For potential solutions, read Google’s SMTP relay: Route outgoing non-Gmail messages through Google support article and the Sharthost configuration section on our Exim Configuration Manager documentation.

For more information on Google’s block of port 25, read Google’s Sending Email from an Instance documentation.