A few cPanel commands I keep using over SSH

Install cPanel, back up one account, and force a full backup run, straight from the command line.

3 January 2016 · 1 min read

From the archive: first published on mohamedsharaf.net in January 2016. Rewritten and checked in 2026; some details may be out of date.

A short list of cPanel commands I used again and again from SSH, as root:

Install cPanel on a fresh server

cd /home && curl -o latest -L https://securedownloads.cpanel.net/latest && sh latest

Back up a single account

/scripts/pkgacct USERNAME

This creates a cpmove-USERNAME.tar.gz file you can move to another server and restore.

Run the scheduled backups now

/usr/local/cpanel/bin/backup --force

On older servers the same job was /scripts/cpbackup --force. Whatever the command, a backup only counts once you have restored it somewhere and checked it.