USD
TZS
UGX
ZARcPanel is a commercial web hosting control panel designed for enterprise Linux environments. It does not support Debian- or Ubuntu-based systems and can only be installed on specific RHEL-compatible operating systems.
Installing cPanel on an unsupported OS will fail or result in an unstable server.
✅ Officially Supported Operating Systems
The following operating systems are fully supported for cPanel & WHM installation:
| Operating System | Version | Status |
|---|---|---|
| AlmaLinux | 8.x / 9.x | ✅ Supported |
| Rocky Linux | 8.x / 9.x | ✅ Supported |
| CloudLinux | 8.x / 9.x | ✅ Supported |
| CentOS | 7.x | ⚠️ Legacy (EOL) |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) | 8.x / 9.x | ✅ Supported |
✅ Recommended: AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux (free, long-term support)
❌ Unsupported Operating Systems
cPanel cannot be installed on the following systems:
| Operating System | Reason |
|---|---|
| Ubuntu | Not RHEL-based |
| Debian | Not RHEL-based |
| Fedora | Short lifecycle |
| Arch Linux | Rolling release |
| OpenSUSE | Unsupported architecture |
| Windows Server | Linux-only software |
Attempting to install cPanel on these OSes will result in installer failure.
Minimum Server Requirements for cPanel
Before installing cPanel, ensure your VPS meets these requirements:
| Requirement | Minimum |
|---|---|
| RAM | 2 GB (4 GB recommended) |
| Disk Space | 20 GB (40 GB recommended) |
| Architecture | 64-bit (x86_64) |
| OS | Fresh install only |
| SELinux | Enabled (recommended) |
| Network | Static public IP |
Recommended OS for New cPanel Installations
| Scenario | Recommended OS |
|---|---|
| New cPanel Server | AlmaLinux 9 |
| Migration from CentOS 7 | AlmaLinux 8/9 |
| Hosting Production Sites | CloudLinux |
| Budget VPS | Rocky Linux |
Important Installation Notes
-
cPanel must be installed on a fresh OS
-
Do not install Apache, MySQL, or PHP before cPanel
-
Do not use minimal containers (Docker/LXC)
-
IPv6 support is optional but recommended
-
VPS must not use OpenVZ (KVM recommended)
Conclusion
cPanel supports only RHEL-compatible Linux distributions. For stability, security, and future updates, AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux are the best choices for new installations. Ubuntu and Debian are not supported under any circumstance.
