How to Install WHMCS

WHMCS is the billing and client management platform used by most hosting resellers. This guide covers installing it on a cPanel account on your RemarkableCloud server.

Prerequisites

• A cPanel account with at least 2 GB disk space and PHP 8.1+
• A WHMCS license (purchase at whmcs.com)
• MySQL 8.0+ (available on all Cloud Cubes)
• ionCube loader installed (required by WHMCS: pre-installed on RemarkableCloud)
• A domain pointed at your server for the billing portal

Installation

1. Download the WHMCS installer from your WHMCS client area.
2. Upload the whmcsinstall.php file to your cPanel account’s public_html (or a subdirectory like public_html/billing).
3. Create a MySQL database and user in cPanel: Databases → MySQL Databases → Create Database, then create a user and add them to the database with All Privileges.
4. Visit https://yourdomain.com/whmcsinstall.php in your browser.
5. Follow the installer: enter your license key, database credentials, and admin account details.
6. The installer creates the database tables, writes the config file (configuration.php), and creates your admin account.
7. Delete whmcsinstall.php after installation completes.

Install in a subdirectory: Install WHMCS in a subdirectory like public_html/billing rather than the document root. This keeps your main site and billing portal separate, making it easier to manage both independently.

Post-installation checklist

1. Set up cron job: WHMCS requires a cron job to run every 5 minutes. In cPanel: Advanced → Cron Jobs → add: php -q /home/user/public_html/billing/crons/cron.php Set frequency to every 5 minutes.
2. Secure the admin directory: rename the /admin folder to something unique and update the path in configuration.php under $adminpath.
3. Configure payment gateway: go to Setup → Payments → Payment Gateways and connect Stripe, PayPal, or your preferred processor.
4. Set your company details: go to Setup → General Settings and fill in your company name, logo, email addresses, and base currency.
5. Connect email: go to Setup → General Settings → Mail and configure SMTP (use your server’s mail or an external SMTP like SendGrid).

Securing WHMCS

# Set correct ownership
chown -R cpanelusername:cpanelusername /home/cpanelusername/public_html/billing

# Protect configuration.php
chmod 400 /home/cpanelusername/public_html/billing/configuration.php

# Protect the templates_c directory
chmod 777 /home/cpanelusername/public_html/billing/templates_c

Add to your WHMCS .htaccess:

# Block direct access to sensitive files
<FilesMatch "\.(php|php3|php4|php5|phtml|pl|py|jsp|asp|aspx|cgi|sh|tar|gz|bz2|zip|sql)$">
  Order Allow,Deny
  Deny from all
</FilesMatch>

Next steps

• Install the domain reseller plugin
• Install the Cloud Server Reseller plugin
• Set up Cloud Server products