Thread: cPanel on Port 80 Using mod_proxy

Another article I wrote once. Hope you like it.

This is an interesting tutorial for web hosting companies who want to give their customers the ability to use cPanel even when the port it uses (2082) is blocked by a firewall. For this, we will be using the mod_proxy module, which gets shipped with Apache.

You may already be aware that this trick is possible using cPanel Proxy from www.cpanelproxy.net. But why use a PHP script to act as proxy when Apache already has a module designed to do this for you? I prefer the mod_proxy way, so let’s get started.

Locate the mod_proxy files where cPanel stores the Apache source:

Code:

    cd /home/cpapachebuild/buildapache/apache_1.3.XX/
    cd src/modules/proxy/

Install mod_proxy using the axps tool:

Code:

    /usr/local/apache/bin/apxs -c -i *.c

At this point you’ll have to choose a sub-domain to use for your cPanel proxy. For example if your hosting company is called foobar.com you could use cpanel.foobar.com. Use cPanel to add the sub-domain.

Once the sub-domain has been successfully created via cPanel, edit the Apache configuration file:

Code:

    nano /usr/local/apache/conf/httpd.conf

Add the following lines to the configuration file to make sure mod_proxy gets loaded with Apache:

Code:

    LoadModule proxy_module libexec/mod_proxy.so
    AddModule mod_proxy.c

Somewhere at the end of this file you’ll find the VirtualHost directive for your cpanel.foobar.com sub-domain. At the bottom of this VirtualHost directive, add the following lines:

Code:

    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:2082/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:2082/

Finally, restart Apache:

Code:

    service httpd restart

You can now use http://cpanel.foobar.com as if you were connecting to cPanel on port 2082. This trick also works for WebHostManager (by using port 2086) and cPanel Webmail (by using port 2095).

Known issues

Because you’re now using cPanel over Apache using mod_proxy, be aware that your mod_security rules will apply! So far I’ve only found one issue caused by a mod_security rule, which is when I tried to install certain scripts with Fantastico (such as Joomla). In my rules.conf file I found the following line:

Code:

    SecFilterSelective THE_REQUEST “\.htpasswd”

Just remove that line from the configuration file (and restart Apache) to fix this problem. If you find any other mod_security problems when using this mod_proxy trick, please let me know and I’ll update my post.

Just an additional suggestion. If you are running Apache 2 then you need not have to add the following code in your httpd.conf

LoadModule proxy_module libexec/mod_proxy.so
AddModule mod_proxy.c

mod_proxy module is inbuilt with Apache 2 so just follow the Proxypass parameters in the httpd.conf file.

Originally Posted by SrvManager

Just an additional suggestion. If you are running Apache 2 then you need not have to add the following code in your httpd.conf

LoadModule proxy_module libexec/mod_proxy.so
AddModule mod_proxy.c

mod_proxy module is inbuilt with Apache 2 so just follow the Proxypass parameters in the httpd.conf file.

Thanks for the update. I think cPanel didn't have Apache 2 support yet when I wrote the article.

Originally Posted by othellotech

It's been there for a year now

In the Edge tree yes, but those running cPanel Edge on operational webservers should be executed.

Originally Posted by RadixHosting

In the Edge tree yes, but those running cPanel Edge on operational webservers should be executed.

Oh how many have learnt that the unfortunate way...
Myself not included :P

Benji

THIS USER HAS BEEN GAGGED BY THE FORUM HOSTS FOR SPAM OR BREAKING THE RULES...
User will be ungaged in around 182 hours from this post.

I like the mod. It has come in very helpful

And again!!!!! Stupid fool