[check_cpanel_rpms] There are altered RPMs on ….

After the recent cPanel updates you probably received a notice like this

[check_cpanel_rpms] There are altered RPMs on ….

The system detected problems with the following cPanel-provided files
that the RPM controls:

RPM Status Additional Information
cpanel-cgiemail-1.6-5.cp1136 Missing
cpanel-wwwcount-2.5-5.cp1136 Missing
…..

If you did not make these changes intentionally, execute the following
command as the root user to correct them:

/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/check_cpanel_rpms –fix
This notice is the result of a request from rpmcheck.

This notice was generated ….

Altered RPMs Check notifications are currently configured to have
an importance of High. You can change the importance or disable
this type of notification in WHMs Contact Manager at:
https:// …. :2087/scripts2/editcontact?event=Check::CpanelRPMs

This notice is most likely harmless, it is just letting you know that the update/check process encountered something that was unexpected. Just look at  the RPM’s listed to see what it found. If it is something that you intentionally removed or disabled, you can disregard this notice. Otherwise, you can run the following command to repair the errors found:

/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/check_cpanel_rpms –fix

 

How to migrate email from an old non-cPanel server to a new cPanel server

When migrating from one cPanel server to another cPanel server it’s easy and automatic, but if you need to migrate your email from an old host without cPanel it’s not automatic, but there’s still an easy way to do it with this tutorial.

First, download and install Thunderbird on your computer if you do not already have it. Thunderbird is a common popular desktop email program.

Second, you will have to add 2 email accounts in Thunderbird, the old email account and the new email account. When adding the old email account, set the mail server to the old server’s ip address, and in the Description field type something to indicate it is the old account. Similarly, when adding the new email account, set the mail server to the new server’s ip address. I recommend using the IMAP protocol for both the old and new account.

Lastly, now with both accounts loaded into Thunderbird, click on the old account from the left panel, and on the right side where all the emails are listed, just drag & drop the emails into the new account’s folder on the left panel.

There’s no limit to how many you can move at once, but from my own experience in doing this, you should only move small amounts of emails at a time.

How to migrate some sites or an entire server without downtime

cPanel makes it very easy to migrate between servers. If done properly, most likely there won’t be any downtime.

In this tutorial, we’ll break it down into 3 parts

A) Preparing the new server

1. Setup the hostname. You can either use the same hostname as the old server or choose a new hostname
2. Setup the nameservers. To make the transition seamless, it’s best to use the same nameservers as the old server.
3. Install the same software, versions, modules, etc., that you have on the old server. Most importantly, the mysql & php version and modules should be the same as the old server.

B) Migrating the accounts

1. Using the Transfer Tool link in WHM on the new server, enter the old server’s ip, ssh port, root password, then click Fetch Account List.
2. On the next page, it will show all of the accounts. You can select all of the accounts you want to transfer. All of the options can be left as the defaults. Then click Copy

C) Once the transfer is complete

1. Verify all of the accounts by checking the contents via FTP and testing them at the temporary url (http://SERVERIP/~username/). Please note that some sites will not display properly at the temporary url and will only work once the domain resolves to the new server.
2. If everything is working properly on the new server, you can change the nameserver’s ip addresses at the domain registrar. For example, if all domains are using ns1.yourdomain.com and ns2.yourdomain.com, then change the ip addresses they point at to the new server’s ip addresses.
3. Within about 24 hours all of the domains should be resolving to the new server. Over the next few days, test the sites again to make sure everything is working.

Since propagation & caching can take up to several days around the world for various reasons, keep testing the sites for a few more days. If no problems are detected, then you can temporarily power down the old server.

Continue to keep checking the sites over the next few more days. If you do not see any problems, then you can cancel the old server. Please remember that once the old server is cancelled, it is gone forever. So it’s important that you thoroughly check everything before cancelling the old server.

 

Easiest way to reset your wordpress admin password

Did you forget your wordpress admin password? Don’t panic! Here’s the easiest way to reset your password.

We realize that there’s plenty of tutorials online to reset your admin password but they are all complicated and require a lot of command line ssh experience. In just a few steps you can reset your admin password right through cPanel in less than 2 minutes.

1. Go into PhpMyAdmin (either through WHM or cPanel)
2. Select the database of your WordPress (if you are unsure which database to select please read the bottom of the post)
3. Select the ‘wp_users’ table
4. Click Edit (pencil icon) next to the line that says ‘admin’
5. On the line that says ‘user_pass’ change the dropdown to MD5 and in the text field right next to it enter your new password
6. Click Go at the bottom to save it and you’re done!

Now try to login to your WordPress with the new password.

If you are unsure which database to select or have multiple WordPress installations, you can open the wp-config.php file in the File Manager and look at the line that says DB_NAME and it will show you the database to use.

Important security update for cPanel TSR-2016-0001

cPanel announced the following security notice which applies to almost all versions.

Last week, on Jan 18, 2016 cPanel released TSR-2016-0001 with important security updates for cPanel & WHM. Our records indicate the
following cPanel & WHM installations need updated:

0.0.0.0

We urge you to update to the latest build as soon as possible. The following cPanel & WHM versions address all known vulnerabilities:

11.54.0.4 & Greater
11.52.2.4 & Greater
11.50.4.3 & Greater
11.48.5.2 & Greater

 

To patch this, simply update cPanel via WHM or SSH.
In WHM, you can click the “Upgrade to Latest Version” link.
In SSH, you can type:
/scripts/upcp –force

 

How to install Linux Malware Detect LMD maldet

Installing LMD is very easy and can be done in just a few steps

wget http://www.rfxn.com/downloads/maldetect-current.tar.gz
tar -xvf maldetect-current.tar.gz
cd maldet*
./install.sh

That downloads the file, extracts it, goes into the folder it created, and installs it, and that’s all!

You can use it the way it is right out of the box, but if you want to configure the email notification option, quarantine option, etc., this can be done by editing the maldet config file at /usr/local/maldetect/conf.maldet

The options are pretty self explanatory and the conf file is well documented with comments above each option.

The quarantine option should only be used if you are sure you want to automatically quarantine files it detects. This can be dangerous as sometimes that are false positives that can be detected and it can wind up quarantining an important file which results in breaking a site.

Now on to using Maldet, first update it before running any scans by typing:

maldet -d && maldet -u

Then you can either scan an individual account or the entire server. To scan an individual account you can type:

maldet -a /home/user

To scan the entire server you can type:

maldet -b –scan-all /home?/?/public_?

To see all reports available you can type:

maldet –report list

Then to show the details of a specific report type:

maldet –report THE_SCAN_ID

By default, the quarantine option is disabled, unless you enabled it in the conf file. If you want to quarantine the files found in a report, you can type:

maldet -q THE_SCAN_ID