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The server’s hostname conflicts with domain ownership for the user “nobody”

Aaron Gros
  • Updated

Symptoms

You receive emails with the following subject.

The server’s hostname conflicts with domain ownership for the user “nobody”

When attempting to add a new cPanel account, you will receive a message similar to the following.

== WORKAROUND ENABLED == Serious Problem -- This should never happen!! The hostname (host.domain.tld) is owned by the user nobody == WORKAROUND ENABLED ==

 

Description

This issue occurs when the server's hostname is present in the /var/cpanel/users/system file.

 

Workaround

  1. Access the server's command line as the 'root' user via SSH or "Terminal" in WHM.
  2. Run the following command to move aside the /var/cpanel/users/system file. 
    newdir=$(date +%s);mkdir /root/$newdir;mv -v /var/cpanel/users/system /root/$newdir/
  3. Update the user domain data and cache. 
    /scripts/updateuserdomains && /scripts/updateuserdatacache

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