Common cPanel Errors and Solutions - Part 1

cPanel is one of the most widely used control panels in web hosting services. Although it has a user-friendly interface, you may still encounter various errors and technical issues from time to time. In this article, I’ll walk you through the most common cPanel errors and their solutions, step by step.

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1. cPanel Access Issues and Solutions

1️⃣ 'Unable to Access cPanel' Error

Error: ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT or 403 Forbidden

• 🔹 Possible Causes:

• Incorrect IP or domain name usage
• Blocked cPanel ports (2083, 2087)
• Server resource exhaustion

• 🔹 Solution:

• Make sure you're using the correct login URL:
  GENEL

  https://yourdomain.com:2083 (cPanel login)
  https://yourdomain.com:2087 (WHM login)

• Check your firewall settings and ensure ports 2083 and 2087 are open.
• Alternatively, log in using your server's IP address:
  GENEL

  https://your-server-ip:2083

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2. FTP Connection Errors and Solutions

2️⃣ '530 Login Authentication Failed' Error

Error: You get a login authentication failed error when trying to connect via FTP.

• 🔹 Possible Causes:

• Incorrect username or password
• Wrong FTP mode (Active/Passive)
• IP address blocked by security software

• 🔹 Solution:

• Go to cPanel > FTP Accounts and verify the correct username and password.
• Make sure Passive Mode is enabled in your FTP client.
• Check if your IP is blocked by security systems like CSF or Fail2Ban.

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3. PHP and MySQL Errors and Fixes

3️⃣ '500 Internal Server Error'

Error: The website doesn’t load and returns a 500 server error.

• 🔹 Possible Causes:

• PHP version mismatch
• Incorrect .htaccess file in public_html
• Memory or execution time limits exceeded

• 🔹 Solution:

• Go to cPanel > MultiPHP Manager and select a compatible and updated PHP version.
• Check for faulty rules in your .htaccess file, such as:
  APACHE

  Options -Indexes

• Increase PHP memory limit:
  PHP

  memory_limit = 256M
  max_execution_time = 300

4️⃣ 'MySQL Connection Error' (Error establishing a database connection)

Error: Applications like WordPress cannot connect to the database.

• 🔹 Possible Causes:

• Incorrect database name, username, or password
• MySQL service is down
• Database permission issues

• 🔹 Solution:

• Check database credentials in cPanel > MySQL Databases.
• Verify user privileges with this command:
  BASH

  GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON database_name.* TO 'user'@'localhost';

• Restart the MySQL service:
  BASH

  sudo systemctl restart mysql

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4. Email Errors and Fixes

5️⃣ 'SMTP Connection Failed' Error

Error: Emails can’t be sent, and you receive an SMTP connection failure error.

• 🔹 Possible Causes:

• Incorrect SMTP settings
• Blocked ports (465, 587)
• Spam filters interfering with connection

• 🔹 Solution:

• Double-check your SMTP settings:
  GENEL

  SMTP Host: mail.yourdomain.com
  SMTP Port: 465 (SSL) or 587 (TLS)
  Authentication: Yes

• Verify your credentials in cPanel > Email Accounts.
• Test if the port is open using this command:
  BASH

  telnet mail.yourdomain.com 587

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5. Disk Usage and Quota Limitations

6️⃣ 'Disk Quota Exceeded' Error

Error: You can’t upload new files and receive a disk quota exceeded warning.

• 🔹 Possible Causes:

• User account has reached its disk quota
• Large log files or email archives consuming space

• 🔹 Solution:

• Go to cPanel > Disk Usage to identify space-hogging directories.
• List large files using:
  BASH

  du -sh * | sort -rh | head -10

• Remove unnecessary log files:
  BASH

  rm -rf /home/username/logs/*

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• Keep cPanel login ports (2083, 2087) open.
• Use updated versions of PHP and MySQL.
• Configure database credentials correctly.
• Verify FTP and email connection settings.
• Monitor your disk usage regularly.