Introduction
An invalid hostname is a common reason for cPanel & WHM installation failures. The hostname needs to be a Fully Qualified Domain Name. If the hostname is not a valid FQDN, then the installation script will now try to create a cprapid domain so that the WHM login will be secure.
Afterward, it is recommended to update the server's hostname to something under your domain. Here is a short list of examples:
- server.example.com
- cloud.example.com
Important!
- Do not select a hostname that begins with
www
or a number, or a hostname that ends with a hyphen (-
). - You must use a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) that uniquely identifies the server (for example,
hostname.example.com
orhostname.example.co.uk
). - Do not choose a hostname that a cPanel account on your server will use.
-
Choose a hostname that is 60 characters or fewer.
- Do not choose a potential proxy subdomain as a hostname (for example,
cpanel.example.com
orwhm.example.com
). - Do not select a socially-unacceptable hostname. The hostname will appear in mail headers.
- Only use lowercase, Latin-script letters in hostnames.
- You'll be unable to create cPanel user accounts with a domain if that domain is part of the hostname.
- The hostname should resolve to the shared IP of the server and only this IP.
See Installation Requirements and Change Hostname for more information.