cPanel can alert you about full disks, failed services, brute-force attacks, failed backups and much more. By default some alerts are off and others are noisy. Contact Manager lets you choose which events reach you and how urgently.
MdmHost handles this on its hosting plans. This guide is for administrators of their own cPanel server with root access.
Before you start
- Root access to WHM.
- A mailbox monitored by you or your team, ideally outside the server itself so alerts still arrive if the server's mail is down.
Set contact details
- Go to WHM → Server Configuration → Basic WebHost Manager Setup (see basic setup).
- Under Contact Information, enter the contact email, and optionally Pushbullet, Slack-compatible webhook or other channels supported by your version.
- Save.
Choose alerts in Contact Manager
- Go to WHM → Server Contacts → Contact Manager.
- Open the Notifications tab. Each event has an importance: High, Medium, Low or Disabled.
- In Communication Types, set which importance levels go to which channel, for example High to email and push, Medium to email only.
- Save.
Alerts worth keeping on
| Event | Why |
|---|---|
| Disk usage warnings | Full disks stop mail, databases and backups |
| chkservd: service failures | Know when a service crashes (see Service Manager) |
| cPHulk brute force and root logins | Spot attacks and unexpected root access |
| Backup failures | A silent backup failure is discovered only when you need a restore |
| Update failures | Outdated servers are a security risk (see Update Preferences) |
| SSL / AutoSSL problems | Avoid expired certificates on hostnames and sites |
| Outgoing mail limits exceeded | Early warning of a spamming account |
Alerts you can tone down
- Per-account quota warnings, if users receive their own.
- Informational notices about successful tasks.
Tip: Send high-importance alerts to an address that creates tickets in your helpdesk, so nothing is lost in a personal inbox.
Test it
Trigger a harmless alert, for example restart a monitored service from SSH, and confirm the message arrives. Check spam folders, and make sure the server's hostname has valid SPF and PTR records (see email deliverability).
Troubleshooting
No alerts arrive
Check the contact email, the Exim log (/var/log/exim_mainlog) and spam filters at the receiving side.
Frequently asked questions
Do resellers get these alerts?
Resellers receive alerts about their own accounts where cPanel supports it, not server-wide events.
Can I send alerts to Slack?
Newer cPanel versions support webhook-style channels; otherwise forward the alert mailbox into your chat tool.
How do I stop users getting quota emails?
Quota notifications for users are controlled in Tweak Settings and per-account contact preferences in cPanel.
Why do alerts land in spam?
The server hostname often lacks SPF, DKIM or reverse DNS. Fix those records and whitelist the sender at your mail provider.
How do I know disk alerts will fire in time?
Set the disk usage warning thresholds in Tweak Settings (for example 80% and 90%) and test with a large temporary file on a test partition.