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Hey configuration wizards,
When building a high-density, rock-solid shared hosting node, the combination of cPanel, CloudLinux, and AlmaLinux 8 remains a reliable enterprise stack. AlmaLinux 8 is a RHEL-compatible replacement for CentOS 8, and pairing it with CloudLinux adds LVE resource limits, CageFS, and MySQL Governor to protect noisy neighbors.
Phase 1: The Foundation (AlmaLinux 8 Setup)
Start from a clean AlmaLinux 8 minimal install. Ensure you have SSH access, a valid FQDN, and a fully updated system before installing cPanel or CloudLinux.
Phase 2: Installing cPanel & WHM
Install the base cPanel package on AlmaLinux first. Use screen or tmux so your session survives network disconnects.
Phase 3: Converting AlmaLinux to CloudLinux OS
After cPanel/WHM is up and reachable (WHM on port 2087), deploy the CloudLinux kernel overlay using the official conversion script. You will need an active CloudLinux license key (or trial).
Phase 4: Post-Installation Checks
Verify the conversion and initialize CloudLinux features from WHM:
Then log into WHM, run the CloudLinux LVE Manager wizard, initialize CageFS, and enable MySQL Governor as needed.
Let's Discuss
Looking forward to hearing how you optimize your enterprise hosting stacks!
When building a high-density, rock-solid shared hosting node, the combination of cPanel, CloudLinux, and AlmaLinux 8 remains a reliable enterprise stack. AlmaLinux 8 is a RHEL-compatible replacement for CentOS 8, and pairing it with CloudLinux adds LVE resource limits, CageFS, and MySQL Governor to protect noisy neighbors.
Phase 1: The Foundation (AlmaLinux 8 Setup)
Start from a clean AlmaLinux 8 minimal install. Ensure you have SSH access, a valid FQDN, and a fully updated system before installing cPanel or CloudLinux.
- Update base packages:
dnf update -y - Set a proper hostname (replace yourdomain.com):
hostnamectl set-hostname yourdomain.com - Temporarily disable the OS firewall to avoid installer issues:
systemctl stop firewalld
systemctl disable firewalld
Phase 2: Installing cPanel & WHM
Install the base cPanel package on AlmaLinux first. Use screen or tmux so your session survives network disconnects.
- Install and start a screen session:
dnf install screen -y
screen -S cpanel-install - Fetch and run the official cPanel installer (official source):
cd /home
curl -o latest -L https://securedownloads.cpanel.net/latest
sh latest
This step can take 15–45 minutes depending on hardware and network speed.
Phase 3: Converting AlmaLinux to CloudLinux OS
After cPanel/WHM is up and reachable (WHM on port 2087), deploy the CloudLinux kernel overlay using the official conversion script. You will need an active CloudLinux license key (or trial).
- Download and run the official CloudLinux conversion script from the CloudLinux site and run it with your license key, for example:
wget https://repo.cloudlinux.com/cloudlinux/convert/cpanel -O cl_convert.sh
bash cl_convert.sh -k YOUR_KEY
reboot - After reboot, the system should boot into the CloudLinux kernel.
Phase 4: Post-Installation Checks
Verify the conversion and initialize CloudLinux features from WHM:
- Confirm the active kernel:
uname -r - Check CloudLinux license status:
clnreg_ks --check
Then log into WHM, run the CloudLinux LVE Manager wizard, initialize CageFS, and enable MySQL Governor as needed.
Let's Discuss
- AlmaLinux 8 vs 9: Are you still choosing AlmaLinux 8 for stability, or moving to AlmaLinux 9 for new cPanel nodes?
- CloudLinux Alternatives: Do you consider CloudLinux essential for shared hosting resource isolation, or are you using cgroups/custom virtualization instead?
- Automation: Do you automate this pipeline with Ansible/Terraform, or prefer manual kickstarts for control?
Looking forward to hearing how you optimize your enterprise hosting stacks!