Life without CPanel

[Sketchy1]

Hi all,

I have a dedicated server that runs CPanel right now, but it seems to be causing some problems, like driving up the load average at really inconvenient times for my site visitors, gobbling disk space, etc. But the worst part is that it makes it difficult for me, a non-expert, to do the regular system admin that needs to be done, because if I try to fix or install something outside of "the CPanel way of doing it" then I risk screwing up my system. Lots of advice found via Google assumes no CPanel.

So I am thinking about requesting an OS reinstall without Cpanel. To those who run dedicated servers WITHOUT cpanel, here are some questions:

How do you keep your system and applications updated with the latest security fixes?

Is there any problem running phpMyAdmin to manage MySQL databases?

What email programs do you have running?

Can you still run stats programs like Webalizer or Awstats, and how does that work?

Is there anything else you can tell me about life without Cpanel? On this server there are only two shell users that I care about: root and a single non-root user for everyday purposes.

Thanks

[JPC-Masood]

I think I can answer these questions from my personal experience

How do you keep your system and applications updated with the latest security fixes?

Since I use CentOS, "yum upgrade" does the job well. Plus I am subscribed to secunia.com mailing list which alerts about new vulnerabilities. I normally use OS provided binaries/programs and do not recommend any custom compilation to save time. However many would prefer compiling programs from sources (especially Apache, php like cpanel), in fact I used to, but if you prefer to save time for other stuff (like life outside server) you can just stick to OS/vendor rpms.

Is there any problem running phpMyAdmin to manage MySQL databases?

No problems.

What email programs do you have running?

Qmail. I use this qmail toaster to install all the necessary software: http://www.shupp.org/toaster/

Can you still run stats programs like Webalizer or Awstats, and how does that work?

So far I have only used Webalizer (works pretty good) but awstats should be easy as well.

Is there anything else you can tell me about life without Cpanel? On this server there are only two shell users that I care about: root and a single non-root user for everyday purposes.

For a personal server where you do not sell space/accounts/hosting to non-geeks, life without cpanel is pretty good. No complaints.

[Sketchy1]

Thanks for the reply Masood.

In your experience, about how long would it take for a JPC tech to completely reinstall my system with the latest stable versions of Apache, PHP 5, MySQL 5? Am I looking at a full day or more of downtime and paid support (Right now I only pay for tier 1 managed services)

[thisisit3]

cPanel has greatly improved over the past year, most of the performance issues have been fixed, although some still remain. In the latest version support was added for alternative DNS daemons and alternative IMAP/POP daemons (dovecot!).

If you don't really need to offer shared hosting, then you can live without cPanel. Otherwise you'll loose the cool /cpanel/ menu that each domain gets to control a wide range of features (from emails, file management, addon/parked domains, statistics, etc).

Here are a few short answers (but not complete by any means):

1) You use the operating system update tools (like yum or apt-get) to keep the system up-to-date.

2) Its bad software, if you know what you are doing then you'll be using "mysql" and "mysqldump" from the shell, thats all you need. In the past, phpmyadmin has had several security breaches, stay away or make sure its properly protected.

3) You mean an MTA (SMTP) or IMAP/POP? Please be more specific, you can run pretty much anything you like.

4) Yes you can. Webalizer is old and crap, hasn't been updated in years last time i checked and Awstats does have many security holes (but produces good results), so make sure you protect awstats properly.

Not much to tell, if you are running a dedicated server then you should pretty much know what you are doing.... or else...

[JPC-Masood]

In your experience, about how long would it take for a JPC tech to completely reinstall my system with the latest stable versions of Apache, PHP 5, MySQL 5? Am I looking at a full day or more of downtime and paid support (Right now I only pay for tier 1 managed services)

If you stick to OS RPMs (no source compilation), then it should not take more than an hour. This excludes the time for an onsite engineer to do a fresh OS reinstall (which may take about half an hour or so).

[Sketchy1]

As for email (#3 above), I receive email on the domain using google apps with the MX record pointing to google, so that part is not an issue. I only have a need to occasionally send email from a script on the server, notifying me of problems, etc. Right now I just use PHP mail() function, and I honestly do not know what program is actually doing the sending behind the scenes. What is the bare minimum installation required for PHP mail() to work?

As for phpmyadmin, I do prefer its interface over pure shell output, but I do intend to protect it as much as possible.

Btw, this server is only used for a single web app. I do not resell hosting or give out any accounts whatsoever.

[JPC-Masood]

What is the bare minimum installation required for PHP mail() to work?

sendmail comes installed by default which will handle php outgoing mail().

For php web app, you just need php, apache and mysql. MySQL rpms you can download from mysql.com and apache/php can be installed through yum.

[Gwaihir]

Btw, this server is only used for a single web app. I do not resell hosting or give out any accounts whatsoever.

WHM/cPanel wasn't made for such a truly dedicated server. Indeed, it can only be in your way!

[Sketchy1]

WHM/cPanel wasn't made for such a truly dedicated server. Indeed, it can only be in your way!

I realized that shortly after ordering the original CPanel setup, and I've been working around that decision ever since!

I've requested the reinstall, and it's halfway done now, but the ticket seems to have stalled out. (Ticket #12890337 if any JPCers are lurking