NOTICE: I AM NOT ASSOCIATED WITH NOR DO I CLAIM TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH CPANEL/WHM OR ANY LINUX DISTRIBUTION IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER. I AM AN END USER OF THEIR PRODUCTS ONLY AND THIS SITE IS ONLY MY COLLECTION OF TIPS AND HINTS I’VE FOUND TO BE USEFUL OVER THE YEARS. CPANEL AND WHM ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF CPANEL, INC.
My name is John St. Pierre. I decided to create this blog to become a collection of Tips, Hints, and tricks for amateur/intermediate cPanel root administrators (e.g., VPS and Dedicated Server owners). I was getting quite fed-up with having to search through dozens of sites to find seemingly simple configuration information, or worse, finding dozens of different tricks, each with its own special caveat or missing explanation.
Through this blog, I hope to become a collector of useful tips and instructions for making your cPanel server do what you want it to. First, a few notices, though:
1. WHILE THIS SITE IS FOR THOSE WHO ARE AMATEURS TO CPANEL SERVER ADMINISTRATION, THIS SITE IS NOT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NO SERVER ADMINISTRATION EXPERIENCE AT ALL. You must be completely comfortable with Linux and cPanel already. This does not mean you need to be a command-line genius or know how to configure Apache blindfolded, but it does mean you need to be able to follow simple instructions such as “log in as root through SSH”. If you don’t know how to do that, this site is not for you, sorry. I’ll try to provide as much help and explanation as I can, but you must be able to do very basic administration on your own.
2. THIS WILL BE A COLLECTION OF HINTS AND TIPS THAT ARE OTHERWISE NOT OBVIOUS. This site will not tell you how to set up your server for the first time or walk you through easy-to-do stuff like creating accounts, modifying a DNS zone, suspending an account, etc. YOU MUST ALREADY BE COMFORTABLE WITH USING WHM/cPANEL’S CORE FUNCTIONS AND BE ABLE TO EXECUTE THEM WITH SOME IDEA OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING. AGAIN, THIS IS FOR AMATEURS, BUT NOT FOR THOSE WHO’VE NEVER SEEN WHM/cPanel BEFORE.
3. THIS SITE IS FOR SERVER ADMINS ONLY! If you have a Reseller account with your web host or are simply a cPanel end-user, this site is not for you. Not because I have anything against you, you are more than welcome to read this blog, but many of the things that may be posted will be tips or tricks that can ONLY be performed by the ROOT user because they affect the entire server. This site is intended for those who have VPS or dedicated servers.
4. BE COURTEOUS. This site is to be one of mutual respect, learning, and sharing. No flaming, no name-calling, no rude remarks or other such nonsense. Also, please realize that I am not a server administrator or IT professional by trade. I do this as a hobby and am an amateur just like I expect my readers to be; I do not claim to know everything (or even most things) that there is to know about cPanel/WHM or Linux. I’m just trying to share what I learn and find useful as I go along, as much for my own reference as yours. I hope this site helps you out, but if not, you are welcome to find another blog that better suits you.
Now, about the name: I have found in my various places of employment over the years that I have been requested (and then, of course, required) to perform duties outside my usual area of expertise and job description simply because (a) I’m capable and competent, (b) those who are supposed to be capable and competent are not, and (c) my supervisors know both (a) and (b) to be true. Thus, I end up with a jack-of-all-trades job instead of my actual defined role, most of which I can’t actually use on a resume. Thus, my competence is simply being abused. This blog is performing the same function, acting as a repository of knowledge outside of my normal scope of expertise. Therefore, AbusedCompetence.com.
Oh, and if you ever have any questions, comments, or issues with me or this site, you can always e-mail me at john@abusedcompetence.com.