Installation guide

Requirements

• PHP 8.2 or newer
• MySQL 5.7+ / MariaDB 10.3+ or SQLite 3
• Apache with mod_rewrite (cPanel, XAMPP) or Nginx
• PHP extensions: pdo, curl, openssl, mbstring, fileinfo, xml, gd, zip
• One cron job every 5 minutes

Composer and SSH are not needed — the zip includes every library.

Install on cPanel / shared hosting

1. In cPanel › MySQL Databases, create a database and a user, then add the user to the database with All privileges.
2. Download the latest zip from your client area.
3. In File Manager, upload the zip to public_html (or a sub-folder such as public_html/billing) and extract it. You do not need to change the document root.
4. Open the address in your browser. The installer checks the requirements, asks for the database, your site name and admin account, and installs everything.

Install on XAMPP / WAMP / Laragon

Copy the extracted folder into htdocs, start Apache and MySQL and open http://localhost/whmpanel/. XAMPP's database defaults are host 127.0.0.1, user root and an empty password. The license works on localhost for testing.

Activate the license

The installer's last step asks for your license code and your name. Find the code under My licenses or in the email sent after payment. The license is checked online once and re-checked every 7 days; if the license server cannot be reached, WHMPanel keeps working and tries again the next day.

Cron job

Add one cron job that runs every 5 minutes (cPanel › Cron Jobs):

*/5 * * * * cd /home/USER/public_html && php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

Hosts without command-line PHP can call the web cron URL shown under Admin › Automation (cron) instead.

First steps after installing

1. Settings › Email setup — enter SMTP details and send a test email.
2. Settings › Billing settings — currency, invoice numbers, tax (for example GST 18%).
3. Integrations › Payment gateways — switch on your gateways and add the webhook URL shown on each one.
4. Servers — add your WHM server with an API token and test the connection.
5. Registrars and Domain pricing — connect Dreamscape, ResellerClub or Namecheap and set prices.
6. Products — create your hosting plans and take your first order.

Updating to a new version

1. Back up your files and database.
2. Download the new zip and upload every file over the old ones, except .env and the storage and public/uploads folders.
3. Open the admin panel — database changes are applied automatically.

See the changelog for what changed in each version.

Moving to another domain

Open the license under My licenses and use Move to another domain, or reset the old installation. Then install on the new domain with the same code.

Troubleshooting

Blank page or error 500

Select PHP 8.2+ for the domain and make storage and bootstrap/cache writable. Details are in storage/logs/laravel.log.

Pages other than the home page show 404

Turn on mod_rewrite and make sure the hidden .htaccess files were uploaded.

"License cannot be verified"

Allow outgoing HTTPS and enable curl. Check that you entered the code exactly, and reset the old installation if you moved domains.

Invoices are not created

The cron job is not running — Admin › Automation shows the last run.

Still stuck? Open a support ticket — Monday to Saturday, 10:00 – 19:00 IST.