On your own cPanel & WHM server you are responsible for Softaculous working for every account. Most problems come down to the licence, the ionCube loader, outbound connectivity or permissions. This checklist covers the usual cases. MdmHost shared and reseller customers do not need it; our team maintains Softaculous for you.
Before you start
- Root SSH access and WHM access.
- Softaculous installed as in install Softaculous on WHM.
Licence shows as invalid or expired
- Check the server's main IP:
hostname -Ior WHM → Server Information. The licence must be issued for this IP. - Force a licence refresh:
/usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/bin/php /usr/local/cpanel/whostmgr/docroot/cgi/softaculous/cli.php -l - Make sure the firewall allows outbound HTTPS. If you run CSF, check
TCP_OUTincludes443, then test withcurl -I https://www.softaculous.com. - If the IP changed recently, ask your licence provider to move the licence.
Softaculous missing in cPanel
- Check the package's feature list in WHM → Packages → Feature Manager: Softaculous must be ticked. See Feature Manager.
- Re-register the plugin by running the installer again:
wget -N https://files.softaculous.com/install.shchmod 755 install.sh./install.sh - Clear the cPanel interface cache by logging out and in again.
ionCube errors
Softaculous's own files are encoded. If you see "requires the ionCube PHP Loader", open WHM → Server Configuration → Tweak Settings → PHP, set cPanel PHP loader to ioncube and save. Run the installer again afterwards.
Script list outdated or apps missing
- In WHM → Plugins → Softaculous → Updates, run pending updates.
- Check Disable Scripts; an app may simply be disabled. See admin settings.
- Run a manual update from the command line:
/usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/bin/php /usr/local/cpanel/whostmgr/docroot/cgi/softaculous/cron.php
User installs fail
| Error | Likely cause |
|---|---|
| Could not create database | Account reached its MySQL database limit in the package |
| Requirement check failed (PHP version/extension) | The domain's PHP version or extensions do not meet the app's requirements |
| Could not write files / permission denied | Wrong ownership in the user's home; fix with chown -R user:user /home/user/public_html |
| Disk quota exceeded | Account is full |
| Timeout while downloading package | Outbound connection blocked or slow mirror |
Tip: Softaculous writes logs for installs and upgrades. In the user's account they are in ~/.softaculous/; the admin panel also has log viewers for auto-upgrade and backup tasks.
Auto-upgrades or scheduled backups not running
- Check root's crontab:
crontab -l | grep -i soft. If the Softaculous cron line is missing, rerun the installer. - Look at the auto-upgrade logs in the admin panel for per-installation errors such as a broken plugin.
- Make sure the server time and timezone are correct.