The Unofficial cPanel Guide
Most of us know what cPanel is and what it's used for. Many of us don't however but would like to know more about the program, how it works and what it's really used for. cPanel is one of the most popular server management programs out on the market today and probable more utilized then any other server management software.
Users have migrated to cPanel for the simple fact of how easy it is to use. Almost everything involved within cPanel has an explanation to it, or some form of example. In most cases this would suffice and no other explanation would be needed. There are a few grey areas and some that could use more elaboration. This set of articles will help those of us that are new to cPanel, or existing, understand and utilize cPanel more efficiently.
What is it?
cPanel is a web based control panel that will allow a user to manage their account through a web interface instead of command line. Utilizing a GUI instead of using command line, users are able to do more tasks and accomplish them faster and with more accuracy then if they were being done within a command line environment.
cPanel was designed for the end user. With an array of features, a user can accomplish any task ranging from, adding an email address to managing sub-domain names. There are many features included within cPanel, most of which users really don't know what they are for or do.
The Run Down
Below is a run down of what will be covered in this tutorial.
Mail
- o Web Mail
o E-mail Domain Forwarding
o Manage/Add/Remove Accounts
o Default Address
o Auto-responders
o E-mail Filtering
o Forwarders
o Mailing Lists
o Spam Assassin
o Trace an E-mail Address
o Modify Mail Exchanger (MX Entry)
Change Password
Parked Domains
Add-on Domains
FTP Manager
- o FTP Accounts
o Setup Anonymous FTP Access
o Anonymous FTP Message
o FTP Session Control
File Manager
Disk Usage
Backup
Password Protect Directories
Error Pages
Sub Domains
MySQL Databases
SSH/Shell Access
Redirects
FrontPage Extensions
Web/FTP Stats
- o Analog
o Awstats/Webalizer
o Sub Domain Stats
o Latest Visitors
o Bandwidth
o Error Log
Raw Access Logs
Raw Log Manager
Error Log
Sub Domain Stats
Search Engine Submit
Chatroom
PhpMyChat
Bulletin Board
CGI Center
Scripts Library
Agora Shopping Cart
Cron Jobs
Network Tools
MIME Types
Apache Handlers
Manage OpenPGP Keys
Hotlink Protection
Index Manager
IP Deny Manager
Fantastico
Understand the Layout
The first thing we must learn is how to read and understand the layout of cPanel. In most cases the default theme will either be "x" or "x2". A user can determine the style theme by looking in the address bar. A cPanel URL will look similar to this "http://www.server.com:2082/frontend/x2/index.html" notice the "x2" in the URL string. This lets a user know which theme is being used and if it needs to be changed or not. There are quite a few free themes that come with cPanel and in most cases a hosting company will not mind changing a users theme from one to another. Simple ask to switch to either "x" or "x2".
Main Page
The main page of cPanel is the heart of operations. From this one page anything can be accessed. On the left side of the main page there are two boxes that contain vital information about a users account. This portion of the page will allow a user to find out where there accounts resources stand, along with the type of software and versions installed.
General Account Information:
The "General account information" section of the main page allows a user to view his or her usage along with the amount of resources that are available.
Hosting Package: This lets a user know which hosting package they are currently under.
Shared IP Address: This is the IP address of the server in which the users account resides. This is a "shared" IP address, meaning that multiple sites use the same IP address.
Sub-domains: The Sub-domains section lets a user know how many sub-domains are currently being used along with how many are available.
Parked Domains: Parked domains are those that can be used like a normal domain name, but mirror the main domain names content.
Add-on Domains: Add-on domain names are those domain names added to an account and can be used and look like their own site. Many users use these to host friends and family. The domain name works just like any other, but points to a sub-domain on the master account.
MySQL & PostgreSQL: These are the amount of SQL tables that are allowed on each account. It also shows the amount used.
Disk Usage: This is the amount of disk space the account consumes. This number reflects the total amount used. This includes the log files, web site files, and hosted accounts.
SQL Disk Usage: This is the amount of space the SQL tables consume on the account.
Disk Space Available: The disk space available is the amount of space allocated to an account.
Bandwidth Usage (Current Month): This is the amount of bandwidth the account has used for that calendar month. The amount is displayed in Megabytes and not Gigabytes.
Email Accounts: This will display the amount of email address being used along with the total amount that can be used.
Email Forwarders: This will display the amount of email forwarders currently being used. Email forwarders are used to route one email address to another.
Auto-responders: This will show the amount of auto-responders that are being used. Auto-responders are automated messages that are sent when someone emails the email address associated with the address with the auto-responder.
Mailing Lists: This will display the amount of mailing lists currently being used. It will also display the total amount that can be created.
Email Filters: This will display the amount of email filters that are currently setup on the account. Email filters work like a filter for a pop email reader like Outlook, but is done server side.
FTP Accounts: This is the amount of ftp accounts created along with the amount that can be created.
The "General Account Information" section is a basic run down of a users account. It displays very useful information about a users account and can also display errors when they are present. Users should check these amounts and settings often, as they are very useful when a user doesn't have many resources to work with and over charges can occur if they go over.
General Server Information:
Operating System: This is the operating system currently being utilized by the server.
Server Status: In this section there is a link that will take the user to a page that will display all the servers services and there status. It also has a little information about the swap, memory, and disk usage.
Kernel Version: This is the current version of the kernel being used by the server. Most users will not need this information.
Machine Type: This is the chipset type of the server.
Apache Version: This will display the current version of Apache running on the server. This allows a user to know if it's up to date or not and also if certain functions will work with it or if it's a later version.
PERL Version: This is the current version of PERL running on the server.
Path to PERL: This is the location in which PERL is installed on the server. This information is needed when running CGI and PERL scripts.
Path to Sendmail: This is the path to the sendmail function on the server. This is needed to utilize this function on the server.
Installed Perl Modules: There is a link located in this section for users to click on. Once loaded it displays the current modules installed on the server. This lets a user know which are installed and which can be utilized.
PHP Version: This is the current version of PHP that in installed on the server.
MySQL Version: This is the current version of MySQL installed on the server.
cPanel Build: This will display the current version of cPanel being utilized by the server. This also lets a user know if it is a stable version or not.
Theme: This section lets a user know which theme is currently installed and being used on their account and the current version of that theme.
Documentation: There is a link to the current documentation proved with cPanel. There is very useful information and instructions within the documentation.
Center of Page
In the center of the page we can now see the buttons to each section of cPanel. Each one of these will take a user to a sub section of the control panel and allow them to perform tasks and make changes to their account. Each one of these have a specific function and many have more then one. This is the heart of the control panel and everything revolves around these buttons. These are the user's navigation through the control panel and to their settings.
Mail
This section of cPanel will allow a user to accomplish many tasks dealing with the mail on an account. Anything from setting up Email accounts, to setting auto-responders can be accomplished in this area. We'll go over each area in this section and explain its uses.
Web Mail
The web mail section of the main section "Mail" is where a user can check their email through a web GUI "Graphical User Interface". Most users prefer this type of mail client because it's simple to use and very easy and quick to setup. Most servers already have at least one web mail client setup, in some cases there are more.
Email Domain Forwarding
An email domain forwarder redirects all email coming in on a specific domain name to another domain name. For example if we setup dot.com to redirect to dot.net, all email coming in on dot.com will redirect to its corresponding user on dot.net. (mike@dot.com redirects to mike@dot.net). Any pop accounts setup under each domain name will not be affected by this forwarding option.
Manage/Add/Remove Accounts
This section of the main section "Mail" will be one of the most used sections. This section is the heart of all Email and this section is used to add, remove and manage any aspect of any Email account.
The first things a user will see are all the Email accounts present on their account, starting with the email address, then the login name for that email address followed by a few other options.
- The first option a user has is to delete an account. This is a very simple step, simply click on delete and confirm account deletion.
- Users can easily access a web mail account simply by clicking on this button. The default web mail client will be loaded and the user name will automatically be loaded in the user name field. All that is needed next is a password.
- The aging section is used to determine when the server should delete email that has already been read. If a user opts to leave their messages on a server and not allow their email client to delete them, they will build up over time and consume a large amount of disk space. Users can use this option to keep regular maintenance on their email accounts.
- Users have the option to change the amount of disk space that is allocated to each account. The default is 10MB and users can change this value when setting up an account or with this option.
- Users can use this option to change a password used for each account. The old password is needed in order to complete the process.
- This setting is used to automatically configure Outlook or Outlook Express to work with the corresponding Email address. This is a "quick" configuration meaning it will not assign custom names or settings within Outlook, simple configure it to check the corresponding Email address.
Add Account
There is only one other option that can be used on this page and that is adding an account. This is the section where a user can add accounts for their domain names. All domain names present on the users account are present here and can be used to setup Email accounts for any domain name.
E-mail: Simply specify what name should be used for the Email address. Also in this section a user can choose a domain name to use.
Password: Choose a password to use for this account.
Quota: This will allow a user to decide how much disk space to allocate to this Email account. This is optional as the default is 10MB.
Default Address
In this section a user can specify what the default Email address will be. The default Email address is used to receive all email that is sent to account that are non-existing. For example if someone sent an email to mike@webmasterstop.com and used mik@webmasterstop.com, forgetting the e on Mike, it would send that email to the default email address. This is useful as no Email can be lost using this.
Autoresponders
Auto responders are setup to be used to automatically respond to an email that has been sent to the corresponding email address. Auto responders are very useful for people that are going away for a long period of time and wouldn't be able to answer their emails. An auto responder can be setup to respond to incoming emails with any message specified by the user.
E-mail Filtering
Email filters can easily be setup so users can manage incoming email address. These are very similar to the way Outlook uses filters. Filters are very useful for webmasters with large amounts of spam coming. If Spam Assassin is installed and operational, a custom filter can be setup to automatically delete all email that Spam Assassin deems as spam.
There is also a testing section, to test filters that have been added. Just simply fill out the required information and hit "Test Filter". It will then display how the message will be affected by the new filters that have just been put into place.
Forwarders
Forwarders are used to direct an email address to another email address or location on the server. This is useful for users that want to direct old email accounts to new email address. Forwarders are very easy to setup, just a few simple steps.
Mailing Lists
This section of the Mail section is used to setup mailing lists. Mailing lists are extremely useful for large sites wanting to email a large number of users at once. It can also be useful for hosting companies or other companies where customers need to be updated on new services or products.
Simply input the mailing lists name, a password to use for it and the domain name that it will be used on and hit create. That's it, that simple. Once a mailing list is setup, email address can be added to it through this same section. There are a lot of scripts available to manage mailing lists easier, there is also a free one that comes with cPanel, check under the scripts section.
Spam Assassin
Spam Assassin is a free program that comes with all cPanel and WHM installations. It's used to filter out incoming email on a server side basis. Meaning it's sorted through as it comes into the server. If this is available to a user, they are able to activate or deactivate it from this section. There is also a Spam Assassin Spam Box that can be enabled also. Meaning that all email that Spam Assassin deems as spam, will be forwarded to this box and can be viewed by the user at a later date.
Trace an E-mail Address
Tracing an email address is similar to running a trace route on a user's computer. It will basically map out the paths that an email takes to get to the server. This information can be useful in finding out where an email be getting lost. This information is also very interesting as it will show the complete path from the server to the email address.
Modify Mail Exchanger (MX Entry)
Most users will not need to use this option. This works basically the same as a domain name forwarder, as it will change the direction of email on a server to the specified domain name provided by the user. This inputs the information on the servers MX records and shouldn't be used unless a user knows what their doing. Incorrectly inputting information could result in loss of email from an entire domain name.
Change Password
This next section is for updating and changing a user's cPanel password. This should be done on a regular basis, as this is a vital part of a web site. A user's password should never be given to anyone else.
A user will need their old password and a new password to change it. It is a fairly easy process and doesn't require much time at all. This will update a user's cPanel password, including the password for the master email address and the master FTP account. So remember to update any programs that need to be updated.
Parked Domains
Parked domains allow a user to part or point a domain name to their account. This will allow the parked domain name to act and work just like the master domain name on the account. It will seem as if it's the same site, but under a different domain names. Many users do this with all of the major TLDs (Top Level Domains). So for instance if a user has domain.com registered and they wanted the .net and .org pointing to the .com and working the exact same way. They would use the parked domain section to achieve this. Each domain name would act just like the other, just under a different extension.
Simple add the domain name that needs to be parked and hit "Add Domain!" It's that simple. Remember to update the DNS on any domain names being added. Once a domain name is added it can be viewed from the same location. Users will be able to remove a domain name once it has been added also.
Addon Domains
Add-on domain names are very similar to "Parked Domains", but they use their own account. Users use these often when start another web site, or hosting a site for a friend of family. Be sure to check to make sure that access to this is available and that there are enough add-on domain name slots available. This is visible from the front page of cPanel.
- 1) Type in the new domain name.
2) Type in the username, directory, or sub-domain the new domain name will be using.
3) Type in a password.
4) Hit Add Domain!
That's it, once all the above is completed a new domain name and account has been added. This user or account doesn't have access to cPanel, so don't worry about that. They will have FTP access and a new email address if all that is setup in the correct areas. We'll explain that later on.
FTP Manager
The FTP Manager is the heart of everything to do FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Everything dealing with FTP is all located in this one section of cPanel. FTP accounts, anonymous FTP, FTP messages and session controls can be utilized here. Each one of these sections has a specific function.
FTP Accounts
In this section of the FTP Manager, users can manage, delete and create FTP accounts. Users have the option to delete or change the password for each account. At the bottom of this section are links to each users FTP log files.
Creating an account is very simple. Only a little information a user needs to input before an account can be created.
Login: This will be the user's username to access the server.
Password: This will their password, the password can be changed as many times as needed at any time.
Directory: This is the directory in which the user's files will reside on the server and also the directory they will be granted FTP access to. This will also work with sub-domain name accounts. Create a sub-domain name with the same name as the user's directory and the user can use the sub-domain name to access their site.
Setup Anonymous FTP Access
In this section users have the ability to setup anonymous ftp access to view files on the anonymous FTP server. They also have the option to allow users to upload files to the anonymous FTP server. Users will not have the ability to delete, rename, or edit any files, only upload.
Anonymous FTP Message
The Anonymous FTP Message section is for users to setup the message that is displayed within the users FTP manager when they login to the server. Simply type the message that should be displayed in the box available and hit save message, it's that simple.
FTP Session Control
The next section is a very cool feature in cPanel. It allows a user to view the current FTP accounts that are logged in and disconnect them if needed or wanted. There isn't much to this section; it's more for monitoring user's access and disconnecting them if it is needed. It will display the type of FTP server that the server uses, the user that is logged in, and their IP address. The user's login time is also displayed here.
File Manager
The file manager can come in handy for many different things. The most important aspect of the file manager is its ability to replace an FTP program. The file manager was designed to be a stand along file maintenance and management program utilizing a GUI (Graphical User Interface), so users can do common tasks for a site without opening anything more then a browser.
The first thing a user may notice is how simple the layout is. It's opened in a new window so only the file manager is visible. This reduces the amount of clutter on screen and makes it easier for users to navigate and pick up on the script. It's designed to be intuitive, meaning easy to learn and pick up on.
The design is very simple and depicts a traditional file structure. Starting with the folders and then moving to single files. The system puts a user into the "root" directory for their account. There are a few options a user can use right from the start.
Create New Folder: The first option a user may have is to create a new folder within the current directory. Simple click on Create New Folder and a new section of the page appears to the top right.
Simple input the new folders name and hit create. It will create a folder with the name specified in the current directory and give it a CHMOD (change mode) of 755 by default.
Upload file(s): The next option a user has is to upload a file or folder. Click on the link "Upload file(s)" will bring up a new page with a few options and boxes.
A user has the option of uploading up to twelve files or folders at a time, with the option of overwriting the existing files with the new ones being uploaded. Simple click on "Browser" and select the files that should be uploaded and click on "upload".
If the file(s) were upload successfully, the directory will be loaded with a confirmation of the files upload, there locations, and if it was a successful upload or not.
Folder & File Options
When the name of a file or folder is click a new window to the right will appear with many options. A user has many choices and this is how we'll manipulate and edit files, along with assigning new CHMOD values.
In this new section users have plenty of options to choice from.
Show File: The show file section will load a new page and display the contents of the file.
Delete File: Users can delete a file with this option it sends a file directly to the Trash.
Edit File: In this section users can edit a file. Clicking on Edit will load a new page with a very simple WYSIWYG editor and the files contents within it. Users can edit the file and save the file, they also have the option of changing the name. This is useful for creating backup copies of a file.
Change Permissions: In this section a user can assign the CHMOD settings to a file or folder. A new window will appear with easy to read selections of what to change a file to.
A user can select each box as needed, or if they know the number to CHMOD the file to, they can simple enter that number in at the bottom and click on Change. This will update the files CHMOD settings.
Rename File: As simple as the name, basically an option to rename the current file.
Copy File: This option will allow a user to copy a file into a new location. This is also another easy way to backup a file.
Move File: This allows a user to move a file to a new directory or location within their account.
Trash
The trash is a simple to use tool with in the file manager. If the trashcan image is click, it will empty the contents of it. By clicking on a file within the trashcan it can be replaced to its last known location.
The "File Manager" is a very to utilize tool within cPanel and if learned correctly can be very useful and fast for editing and managing files. It's a robust and useful program for any user, novice or pro. The "File Manager" is a great addition to any cPanel and webmasters tool box.
Disk Usage
This section of cPanel will allow a user to view all the disk usage within their accounts. Disk usage is very useful for those that host others and want to find out which users are using too much disk space. This section of cPanel will show a plethora of useful information about a user's account, along with a few options to view files and folders easily.
The first things a user may see are all the folders contained on their account. The buttons at the top of this page help navigate and display the information so a user can view it easier.
Show Parent Directories: This will display all the parent directories as individual items.
Show More Directory Depth: This will expand the directories users are currently in one depth lower.
Show Less Directory Depth: This will reduce directories one level lower then the current directory.
Show Top Level: This will bring a user back to the home directories or top level.
Clear File Usage Cache: This will clear all the file usage information from cache and will recalculate all the disk usage information.
Show Small Files: This will show very small files contained in each folder.
Show File Size as bytes/Megabytes: This will change between showing files in bytes or megabytes. There are 1024 bytes for every one megabyte.
Backup
The backup section of cPanel is a very useful tool for many webmasters. If a user needs to move to a new host, this section could also be very useful. Users have the ability to backup the entire contents of their website along with the MySQL databases. They also have the option to restore them.
Full Backups
Users have the option to generate and download an entire backup file of their account. The link under this section will initiate a copy of the user's account and compress it into one single file for the user to download.
Home Directory
This will do the exact same thing as a full backup, but it will only copy the home directory of a users account. So only the "public_html" or "www" folder will be copied and backed up.
Download a MySQL Database Backup
Users have the option of backing up and downloading their databases. Each database within a users account will be displayed here as a link and simply clicking on a link will generate a backup copy of the database and download it to a user's computer.
Password Protected Directories
In this section users have the ability to password protect as many directories as they wish. This function is very good tool for webmasters that want to password protect certain sections of their site, or for webmasters that sell memberships to sections of their site. This tool will help them create and manage ".htaccess" files that are needed to password protect a folder.
The first thing a user will see is a list of all folders within a site. Simple click on the folder that needs to be password protected.
In this section a user can turn on and off the password protect feature. They can also change the display name for the username and password dialog box that will be displayed when a user tries to access the directory. Users can also add and delete users in this section, simply input a user name and a password and it will add the user's information to the ".htaccess" file and the new user will be able to access the new folder.
Error Pages
In this section of cPanel, users have the ability create custom error pages for their site. The most common errors are displayed on the front page for users to select from. Each section will take the user to an editor where they can edit the custom error page right from cPanel.
The five most common error codes that are displayed in this section can be seen from the above picture.
400: Bad Request
401: Authentication Required
403: Forbidden
404: Wrong Page
500: Internal Server Error
As seen from the above picture, users have an area to edit the error page to include anything they like. Along the top of this editing box there is a list of buttons, each button corresponds to a function that can be included into the file. Remember that cPanel saves all the error pages as .shtml web pages.
Referring URL: Displays the URL that referred a user to the page.
Visitor's IP Address: Displays the users IP address.
Requested URL: Displays the URL requested by the user.
Server Name: Returns the servers name or websites URL.
Visitor's Browser: Displays information about the user's browser.
Redirect Status Code: Displays the error code associated with the error.
Save as: Users can save the file under a different file name if they'd like.
Sub Domains
cPanel comes with the ability to create and manage sub-domains. Sub-domains can be used for many different purposes, including hosting friends or clients. Sub-domains are easy to setup and easy to manage.
On the main page users can create a sub-domain right off the bad. Simple enter the sub-domain that is wanted or needed and select the main domain name it will reside under, then hit add.
Once a sub-domain name has been setup a user can then chose from three different options.
Setup Redirect: This will allow a user to setup another link for the sub-domain to direct users to. This is useful if a user wants a short URL to something that has a long URL.
Remove Redirect: This will simple remove the redirect allocated to that sub-domain.
Delete: This will delete the selected sub-domain.
MySQL Databases
This section of cPanel is a very useful section for anyone that uses MySQL databases for their site. Users have the ability to create and manage any aspect of a MySQL database right from this section of cPanel.
Users can start by adding a MySQL database. Simple go to the "Db:" section and type in the name of that database needed. Users also have the ability to added and remove users to databases in this section. Users can also add a host in this section; this is used for off site access.
In this above picture users can grant privileges to users and to databases. There are quit a few options to choose from, most just select all as it's the easiest. Remember that access to a database isn't need as long as the master username and password for the account is used. It's a good idea to create a username and password to access each database instead of using the master username and password.
At the bottom of the MySQL section, there is a link to phpMyAdmin. This is a useful database management tool and should be used to manage all databases.
More information on phpMyAdmin can be found here: http://www.phpmyadmin.net/
SSH/Shell Access
In this section users have a java applet that will load and allow them to login to their account via SSH. SSH can be very useful in managing an account, installing software, and doing common tasks associated with web hosting.
cPanel has done a wonderful job of developing this application to be fully featured and allow a vast range of abilities and uses. Anyone running a site or many sites can benefit from SSH.
Once the main page is loaded, a java applet will automatically load and ask for the user's username and password. Once a user has typed in the required information, the applet will connect the user via SSH to the server and their account. From here a user will be able to do just about anything SSH will allow.
Redirects
Redirects are very useful for site owners moving from folder to folder, or updating their site. These can be used to direct users to a new section of the site or to a new domain name all together. Webmasters can also set these up for other users to use as short URLs.
As seen from above, simply enter in the location that should be redirected and the new URL to direct visitors to. Users have the option of making it a temporary redirect, or a permanent redirect.
Temporary: Setting a redirect to temporary will tell the Internet traffic agents (browsers, search engines, ect.) that this is only a temporary redirect and to return to this URL in the future.
Permanent: Permanent redirects will tell the Internet traffic agents (browsers, search engines, ect.) that it is a permanent redirect and when requesting this URL to forward automatically to the new address.
Users also have the option of removing redirects from this section also. Simple select the redirect to delete and hit remove. This will remove the redirect information from the .htaccess file.
FrontPage Extensions
Users have the ability to add and remove FrontPage Extensions from this area. FrontPage extensions allow a user to publish their website directly through FrontPage. Remember that it isn't a good idea to have FrontPage extensions installed unless they will be used.
Keep in mind that if FrontPage extensions are removed, it will remove all traces of the extensions and sub-domains or other accounts on the main account will not be able to use them anymore. It will also remove all the .htaccess files in the "public_html" folder.
Users can see from the front page a list of domain names on the main account, the status of FrontPage extensions and a few options to the right of that. If the extensions are not installed, simply click on "Install Extensions", this will then install all the proper files and scripts to enable a use to publish through FrontPage.
To remove an old installation of FrontPage extensions, simple click on "Cleanup Old Extensions", this will remove any remaining files or scripts on the system and put it back to its original state.
Web/FTP Stats
This section is vital to any webmaster that keeps up with the traffic to their site or sites. This is another main section of cPanel and displays very important information. Users can see a lot that is going on with their web sites and server just from this section. Some of the information can also be used to track users that have accessed sections of a site they weren't allowed to access.
Awstats - Awstats is a great web site tracking system. It will give very useful information about any site on the main account.
More information on Awstats can be found here: http://www.webmasterstop.com/47.html
Sub-domain Stats - This will display useful all the statistics available for any sub-domain name on the account.
Latest Visitors - This will display the last 300 visitors to the site and also where they went on the site. This information is useful for tracking users that may have accessed portions of a site they weren't allowed to access.
Bandwidth - This will display all the traffic for the site in a nice graphical display.
Error Log - This information is vital to any website running correctly. Users can view which files are missing on their account and replace them accordingly, or update any pages that need to be updated.
Raw Access Logs
The "Raw Access Logs" section will give a user the ability to download the raw access logs for any given domain name on their account. This can be very useful information for tracking user's movements and what they are visiting on a site. It's also useful for those users that are accessing sections of a site they aren't supposed to.
By simple clicking on the domain a user can download the sites' log file directly to their desktop. Once a user clicks on a domain name the system will instantly tar and Gzip the file so that it is compressed and easier to manage. In some cases these files can be very large, so remember this before proceeding.
To extract simple use a compatible program that will un-compress a ".tar.gz" file. Once extracted, Windows will not know what to use to open the file. So renaming the file to a .txt or .doc file could help. This will let windows know to use either Notepad (If the file is small in size) or WordPad (If the file is large and needs to be formatted).
The information contained within these raw log files is very useful for many different aspects. The system logs a lot of information about each user and puts all this information within these log files.
**.*.***.223 - - [30/Jan/2005:23:41:01 -0500] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 13670 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; DigExt; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)"
Above is a sample output in a raw access log file. This is one single line and one user. As you can see, there is a lot of useful information contained within this single line.
**.*.***.223: This is the users IP address and it can be very useful in tracking users. IP address can give a lot of information about a user and which ISP they are with.
[30/Jan/2005:23:41:01 -0500]: This is the date and time the user accessed the server or file. This will track it down to the second.
"GET / HTTP/1.1": This shows that the user requested an http connection to the server.
200: This is the code the server responded with, which in this case means "OK". So the users request was granted and went through just fine.
"Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; DigExt; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)": The rest of this will give information about the user. Like what browser was used and even the type of operating system they were using. This is useful information for demographic the type of users viewing a site.
Raw Log Manager
In this section of cPanel, users have a few options to control how log files are stored on their account. Raw log files can become very large and using these options will help to reduce the size of the files. If a user access raw log files often, this section will help them tremendously in keeping the file size low and more efficient.
Users have two options once in this section. They can archive the logs files in the home directory at the end of each month or they can remove the previous months log files at the end of every month.
There is also a section that will display all the archived log files, so a user can download them and view them whenever needed or wanted.
Error Log
This is a very useful section of cPanel as it displays all the 404 errors or "File does not exist" error. Webmasters can use this to find out what is missing on their server and correct the problem.
Here is a sample output of this section of cPanel.
[Mon Jan 31 20:17:36 2005] [error] [client **.***.90.72] File does not exist: /home/username/public_html/404.shtml
[Mon Jan 31 20:17:36 2005]: This is the date and time the error occurred.
[error] [client **.***.90.72]: This shows that it was an error and the IP address that received the error.
File does not exist: /home/username/public_html/404.shtml: This lets the webmaster know that the file does not exist and where on the server it doesn't exist.
Normally by replacing the missing file in the location the server said it was missing will normally correct the error. In some cases this will produce incorrect error messages, so don't be surprised if there are a lot of errors in yours.
In most cases it's the end-user that has caused the problem to occur. Sometimes the users may get disconnected from the site before downloading the correct files or information and the server will return an error to compensate for this.
Sub Domain Stats
cPanel has made an entire section devoted to nothing but sub-domains stats. This section is very useful for users that have a large amount of sub-domain names that they'd like to view the stats for. Simple go to this section and a list of all the sub-domain names within the account will be located here. There are a few different sections within this main page that a user can choose from.
Depending on what is available on the users account, determines what will be displayed in this section. Normally users will have access to the latest visitors, analog, and either Awstats or Webalizer; sometimes both.
Latest Visitors
The latest visitors section will display very useful information about each user that visits the site. This section of the sub-domain stats section can be very useful if read correctly. It contains a lot information about the user and where they have been on the site and where they came from.
Example Output:
The first thing we can see is the hosts IP address. Next we can see what the user was accessing. In this case it was an image file "auobanner.gif". There is also a good bit of useful information below this.
Http Code: 200 - This shows the code the server returned after the user requested the file or page. In this case the server returned a "200" code which means "OK". So the user was able to download the file successfully.
