Last modified: March 27, 2024

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Overview

The following document provides the steps to launch a cPanel & WHM instance on Alibaba® Cloud.

Download our preconfigured security rules file

Download the cPanel Alibaba Security Rules file. You will use this file when you configure your security group.

This set of security rules provides open access to and from the server. You can refine your security rules later.

Select the cPanel & WHM product

Perform the following steps to log in to Alibaba’s Marketplace site:

1. Log in to the Alibaba Cloud website. If you do not already have an Alibaba Cloud account, create one.
2. Navigate to the cPanel & WHM listing in the Alibaba Cloud Marketplace.
3. Click Choose Your Plan. The Elastic Compute Service (ECS) Custom Launch interface will appear.

Configure the instance

To configure the cPanel & WHM instance, perform the following steps:

1. Select the Pay-As-You-Go billing method.
2. Select a region for the instance. We recommend that you select a region that is near you or your customers.
   Important:

   We strongly recommend that you host interconnected servers at Alibaba within the same region.
3. Select a zone within the region. Do not select Random.
4. In the Instance Type section, select your desired instance type. For more information about the different instance types, read Alibaba’s Overview of instance families documentation.
5. Confirm that cPanel & WHM appears in the Image text box.
6. In the Storage section, select a minimum of 20GB for the System Disk size. We recommend that you select at least 40GB of disk space.
7. Click Next. The Networking interface will appear.

Configure networking options

To configure the networking options for your instance, perform the following steps:

Configure virtual private cloud (VPC)

If you’ve already set up VPCs on Alibaba, the interface will display your available VPCs. Select the desired VPC.

If this is your first instance, you must create a VPC using the following procedure:

1. In the Network Type section, click Go to the VPC console. The VPCs interface will open in a new tab.
2. Click Create VPC. The Create VPC interface will appear.
3. In the VPC section, enter a label for the VPC in the Name text box.
4. Select one of the recommended CIDR blocks in the IPv4 CIDR Block section.
5. In the VSwitch section, enter a label for the vSwitch in the Name text box. To create additional vSwitches, select + Add.
6. Select the zone for your instance in the Zone field. You must select the same zone that you selected earlier in the Configure the instance section.
7. Click OK. A success message will appear.
8. Close the browser tab for the VPCs interface and return to the Networking interface.
9. Click the Refresh () button and select the newly-created VPC. The interface will automatically populate the Switch text box.

Assign a public IP address

Due to networking requirements, you cannot run an IPv6-only cPanel & WHM server. You must have at least one IPv4 address.

1. In the Public IP Address section, select the Assign Public IPv4 Address checkbox.
2. To choose a bandwidth billing method, select Pay-By-Traffic or Pay-By-Bandwidth. To learn more about these billing methods, read Alibaba’s Public bandwidth documentation.
3. Set the Bandwidth slider to the maximum throughput that you expect to send or receive from your instance.

Configure a security group

Follow this procedure to create a security group to control your instance’s inbound and outbound traffic.

1. In the Security Group section, click create a security group. The Security Group interface will appear in a new browser tab.
2. Click Create Security Group. The Create Security Group interface will appear.
3. Enter a name for the security group in the Security Group Name text box.
4. Select the VPC that you created earlier in the Network menu.
5. Select Basic or Advanced in the Security Group menu. To learn more about security groups, read Alibaba’s Security Groups Overview documentation.
6. Optionally, enter a description of this security group in the Description text box.
7. Click Create Security Group. The new security group will appear in the Security Groups interface.
8. In the Actions column, click Add Rules for the security group you created.
9. Click Import Security Group Rule. The Import Security Group Rule window will appear.
10. Click Select a file. Select the cPanel Alibaba Security Rules file you downloaded previously.
    Remember:

    This set of security rules provides open access to and from the server. You can refine your security rules later.
11. Click Start. The Import Security Group Rule window will close.
12. Close the browser tab, and return to the Networking interface.
13. In the Security Group section, click Reselect Security Group. The Select Security Group window will appear.
14. Select the security group that you created, then click Select. The Select Security Group window will close.
15. Click Next. The System Configurations interface will appear.

Select system configuration

Follow this procedure to configure your login credentials, instance name, and hostname.

1. Select Password in the Login Credentials section.
2. Enter a secure password in the Login Password and Confirm Password text boxes.
3. Enter a name for the instance in the Instance Name text box. This is not the hostname of the instance. It is the label that will appear in the Alibaba Cloud Console.
4. Optionally, enter a description of the instance in the Description text box.
5. To define the hostname of your server, enter a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) in the Host text box.
   Warning:

   You cannot change your hostname within cPanel & WHM after you launch an instance. Make certain that you configure it before you launch. An incorrect hostname may cause license errors.

   Important:

   • If your server does not use a resolvable fully-qualified domain name as the hostname, it will automatically receive one from WebPros International, LLC. For more information, read our Automatically-Issued Hostnames documentation.
   • Do not select a hostname that begins with www or a number, or a hostname that ends with a hyphen (-).
   • Do not choose a hostname that a cPanel account on your server will use.
   • Do not choose a potential service subdomain as a hostname (for example, cpanel.example.com or whm.example.com).
   • Do not select a socially-unacceptable hostname. The hostname will appear in mail headers.
   • Only use lowercase, Latin-script letters in hostnames.
6. Click Preview. The Preview interface will appear.
7. In the Terms of Service section, select the ECS Terms of Service checkbox.
8. Click Create Instance. A confirmation message will appear.
9. Click Console. The Instances interface will appear. Your newly-created instance will display in the list of instances.
   Note:

   New instances may require several minutes to initialize.

Create Elastic IP Address (EIP)

In order to access your server, you must configure an EIP for the server.

To configure an EIP, perform the following steps:

1. In the Actions column corresponding to the new instance, click More.
2. Under the Network and Security Group menu, select Convert to EIP.
3. Read the warning box, then click OK.

The interface will refresh and display a public EIP for the server.

Log in to WHM

To log in to WHM, perform the following steps:

1. In your preferred browser, navigate to the following URL where IP ADDRESS represents the server’s IP address:

   https://IP ADDRESS:2087

2. Log in using the credentials you created earlier.
3. Agree to the software license. A new interface will appear.
   • If you do not have a valid license, you must to purchase a license.
   • If this is a new installation, you can activate a free 15-day trial license.
4. Enter the your contact information and nameserver information. The WHM interface will appear.

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.

Next steps

After you launch a cPanel & WHM instance on the Alibaba Cloud, you can manage it with the Alibaba Cloud Console. For more information, read Alibaba’s Cloud Console documentation.