In order to run the cPanel software you must first be running a supported OS. cPanel lists their supported operating systems on their website at http://www.cpanel.net. Although there are many to choose from not every OS listed works flawlessly. If you're looking to have the least amount of problems and ease of administration we highly recommend you choose CentOS as your distro. CentOS is a recompile of RedHat Enterprise, and our research has shown that CentOS is the most widely used distro when running cPanel. The following guide assumes you are using CentOS (or another RPM/YUM-based distribution). If you are not, any commands referencing yum should instead reflect the package manager of your chosen OS, such as apt-get for Debian.
cPanel also recommends that the server it is being installed on is a clean and fresh install. This means that if you previously had done any configuring or ran another control panel software that they recommend you reinstall the server. IMPORTANT: If the server you plan to install cPanel on is a live production server, STOP. cPanel's installer may overwrite your previous configurations and cause downtime for you or your customers!
cPanel has made the installation process a simple one and only takes a few commands to get the install going. Below are the steps:

1. Log into your server as root via the console or SSH.
2. Ensure your resolvers are working by trying to resolve cpanel.net
Code: 
# nslookup cpanel.net
2.1. If nslookup does not work, giving a 'command not found' error, you can use yum to install the necessary packages
Code: 
# yum install bind-utils.i386
2.2. If you get an error about not being able to resolve the host, you need to edit your /etc/resolv.conf and add proper resolvers. For servers in our network, the following command will suffice. If you are not in out datacenter, you will need to find out your host's DNS info:
Code: 
# echo -e "nameserver 204.10.37.212\nnameserver 204.10.37.58" >> /etc/resolv.conf
3. Change directory into your /home
Code: 
# cd /home
4. Satisfy cPanel's pre-requisites:
Code: 
# yum -y install wget perl screen
5. Download cPanel's installer:
6. Start a screen session so you can resume the cPanel install at a later time to check on it's status if you close the window or lose connection:
Code: 
# screen -S cpanel_install
6.1 To resume the screen if you are disconnected:
Code: 
# screen -r cpanel_install
7. Now run the installer using sh or bash:
Code: 
# sh latest
The installer is now running and may take a hour to two depending on your servers hardware, OS, connection speed, etc.
Once the installation is complete it's now time to log into the WebHostManager (WHM) and go through the wizard. Point your browser to http://your_ip_here/whm or http://your_ip_here:2086/ . You will be prompted for a user/pass, enter root as the user and enter your root password in the password field. The wizard will now launch and ask you a few questions. Once complete your system is ready to use!
Nick Reviewed by Nick on . Howto install cPanel / WHM In order to run the cPanel software you must first be running a supported OS. cPanel lists their supported operating systems on their website at http://www.cpanel.net. Although there are many to choose from not every OS listed works flawlessly. If you're looking to have the least amount of problems and ease of administration we highly recommend you choose CentOS as your distro. CentOS is a recompile of RedHat Enterprise, and our research has shown that CentOS is the most widely used distro when Rating: 5