Topics Map > Communication and collaboration > cPanel web hosting

cPanel, Getting access and setting permissions

Permissions can be assigned at several different levels in cPanel. This page explains the different access types and locations of availability.

If you want to create a new cPanel account, see cPanel, Creating a new account .

If you're already familiar with the difference between cPanel permissions and website permissions, start here.

For a refresher on the difference between cPanel permissions and website permissions, see Understanding cPanel access vs website access below.

Restricting access to cPanel-hosted websites

Controlling read access

In many situations, your website is world-readable and you're choosing to add contributors and collaborators.

If, instead, you want your site to be readable only by the specific people you designate, see cPanel, Using Shibboleth to control who can see your website .

If you'd like to allow anyone with a campus IP address to read your site, see cPanel, How to restrict access to your website to campus IP spaces .

Controlling editing/contributor access

If you're running a content management system like WordPress or Drupal on cPanel, and you want to give a contributor access to the website, you'll want to use that content management system's built-in permission control system.

In cases where you're using the website's own permission controls, cPanel itself doesn't change the process you would use. Follow the regular instructions for the content management system you've selected.

In some cases, you may also want to use campus identity management tools such as Active Directory to provide information about the users themselves, and use the content management system's controls to define which people can create content, make changes, or delete specific elements. 

In these cases, cPanel itself doesn't alter your interaction with your content management system's controls. However, the Amazon Web Services hosting underneath our cPanel instance can change the method you would use to connect to campus identity systems. See cPanel, Using Active Directory to control who receives editing permissions for your website and applications .

Changing contact information

The primary contact is considered the official owner of a cPanel account. The email address specified as Primary Contact will receive notifications from the cPanel system. A second notification email address can also be specified. To update the contact information, open a ticket with the cPanel team at https://go.illinois.edu/cPanelHelp.

Giving cPanel account access

cPanel account web interface access

Note: Use with caution. Anyone who receives cPanel account web interface access will have near total control to add, delete, change, and uninstall your website.

To give someone access to an account's cPanel account web interface:

  1. Go to https://web.illinois.edu and log in to the account you wish to share. 
  2. In the dashboard, under Commonly Used Features, choose Managing cPanel Access.
  3. Add your collaborator's illinois.edu or gmail.com email address to the list.

SSH / SFTP access

Note: Use with caution. Anyone who receives SSH  access will have near total control to add, delete, change, and uninstall your website.

To give someone access to SSH into an account:

  1. Go to https://web.illinois.edu and log in to the account you wish to share. 
  2. In the dashboard, under Commonly Used Features, choose SSH Access.
  3. Choose Manage SSH Keys.
  4. The next steps will depend on whether your collaborator has an existing SSH public key or whether you'll need to generate a new one. See cPanel, SSH, SCP, and SFTP access for more details.

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 Understanding cPanel access vs. website access

By default, a new website created on the web.illinois.edu cPanel server will be world-readable, but only editable by the person associated with the account who created it. In order to allow other people to contribute to your site, you'll need to choose how to share access.

When you're considering sharing access to your cPanel site with other people, the type of sharing you'll want to use depends on what level of control you want to offer. There are several ways to share reader, writer, editor, and/or administrator levels of control. All of them are available to University users; some of them can be shared with external partners like collaborators from other universities and web development teams.

All cPanel sites have both a cPanel account and at least one website. The first decision to make is whether you want to share web server-level control (cPanel account type) or just web site-level control (WordPress/Drupal/etc.) with your collaborator.

When you want to share site-level (WordPress/Drupal/etc.) control with a collaborator

  • Most of the time, this is the access level you'll want to give people.
  • For collaborators who need to add content and images, but not code
  • Most likely for simple sites that work within an individual content management system: blogs, podcasts, news, forums, etc.
  • Most likely for personal sites, semester-length student projects, etc.
  • Most likely if you're collaborating with faculty/staff/students on content

When you want to share server-level (cPanel account and/or shell access) control with a collaborator

  • This is a more powerful access level and you won't want to give it out often.
  • Less likely for a personal account. 
    (A collaborator at this level would have full access to your sites. However, faculty members may wish to give departmental staff some controls if your department uses something department-standardized, for example.)
  • Most likely for complex sites with custom development work
  • Most likely for long-term sites with the potential for administrative staff turnover (RSOs, labs)
  • If your collaborators need the ability to install software or databases or programming environments 
  • Most likely if you're collaborating with a paid external developer

Permissions and external partners

External partners can be given access at either the cPanel level (via Google authentication) or at the individual website level (via the authentication mechianim of choice for that specific website).

Table of permissions available to University people and non-University people
Structure
Description
University users
External partners
Personal account permissions cPanel account level permissions on an individual account Eligible to create personal accounts. Can never create their own personal account. However, they can be invited to share in one.
Personal account, shared websites Website level permissions on a site hosted within a personal accout Can both create and share permissions for your own personal website. Can be invited to share in personal websites. If given admin access to the website, can invite others.
Shared account permissions cPanel account level permissions on a shared account Eligible to both create and share shared-account access. Can never create a shared account. However, they can be invited to share in one.
Shared account, shared websites Website level permissions on a site hosted within a shared account Eligibility depends on who owns and administers the shared site. Eligibility depends on who owns and administers the shared site.

Some examples of permission sharing at different levels

In a personal account example, the owner has full access to everything and a WordPress guest blogger only has access to their pages. In a shared account a group of admins has access to cPanel and content contributors have access to WordPress and Drupal but not cPanel itself.

  • Personal cPanel account, single site ("personalaccount1")
    • Account owner: One person
      • cPanel admin permissions: Just that person
      • Account collaborators are allowed, but usually unnecessary
    • Websites: One site 
  • Personal cPanel account, multiple sites ("personalaccount2")
  • Shared cPanel account, single site ("sharedaccount1")
    • Account owner: Shared
      • Account collaborators (cPanel admin permissions): Department web administrators, hired development team
    • Websites: One site
  • Shared cPanel account, multiple sites ("sharedaccount2")
    • Account owner: Shared
      • Account collaborators (cPanel admin permissions): Current RSO webmaster and deputy
    • Websites: Multiple sites
      • (Example:) RSO home page at sharedaccount2.web.illinois.edu
        • Site admins (website admin permissions): Current RSO webmaster and deputy
        • Site collaborators (writer/editor): Current RSO officers
      • (Example:) RSO history archive at sharedaccount2.web.illinois.edu/history
        • Site admins (website admin permissions): Current RSO webmaster and deputy
        • Site collaborators (writer/editor): RSO officers and members
      • (Example:) RSO chat forum at sharedaccount2.web.illinois.edu/forum
        • Site admins (website admin permissions): Current RSO webmaster and deputy
        • Site collaborators (writer/editor): RSO officers and members

Keywords:
cPanel, web hosting, read, write, edit 
Doc ID:
84988
Owned by:
Web H. in University of Illinois Technology Services
Created:
2018-08-17
Updated:
2024-01-24
Sites:
University of Illinois Technology Services