How to Create a Reseller Account in WHM

One of the ways to provide hosting services is via reseller hosting. Hosting providers offer the option for individuals to purchase and resell web hosting services to their own clients.

From the name “reseller” we have an idea of what it’s about. If you’re thinking of providing hosting services to your clients, how can you achieve this?

In this article we’ll explore what Web Host Manager (WHM), and reseller hosting are about, including their advantages before we understand the steps involved in creating a reseller account in the Web Host Manager.

Prerequisite: To access WHM, you must purchase a hosting plan that includes WHM access. This process includes choosing a domain name for your reseller hosting business.

What is a Web Host Manager?

A Web Host Manager (WHM) is a control tool that provides management capabilities to manage multiple accounts on dedicated servers or VPS (Virtual Private Servers).

Web Host Manager (WHM) is used for various reasons including;

Management: Users have the ability to monitor website activities and cPanel easily, and also manage disk space and bandwidth of different accounts.

Security: WHM allows users to provide different websites with different cPanel's accounts, which means that if one domain is compromised the others are protected due to the separation.

Reseller Hosting: Users can create cPanel accounts for others to buy. This way users act as hosting providers offering hosting services that allow clients to manage their own websites.

Let’s take a look at certain functions that can be performed using WHM, including;

Create, Delete and Suspend Accounts: WHM allows you to create multiple cPanel accounts. The account can be deleted or suspended if the customer violates their agreement or if the account is expired.

• Monitor servers: WHM makes tracking activities on servers easy by simply allowing owners manage services and other activities with the service manager. Also, it provides information about current disk usage, informing owners about the status of the storage on the server.

• Create hosting packages: Resellers can create custom hosting packages easily, and define the resources allocated to each package such as bandwidth, email accounts and more.

• Transfer files: WHM provides tools to help administrators and resellers transfer accounts or files from one server to another.

• Customize reseller brand: WHM allows users to customize clients cPanel, you can change the default color, add a logo, add links to documentation, and other customization options.

• Manage SSL certificate: An administrator or reseller can manage SSL certificates for client's cPanel accounts, WHM provides tools to help install and manage SSL certificates to secure websites.

AutoSSL for instance, is an inbuilt feature in WHM that selects certificate providers, allows for log viewing and manages SSL certificates for domains on the user's server.

• Market Provider Manager: The Market provider Manager interface in WHM allows you manage products that users can purchase via the cPanel interface

• Manage Backup and file restore: This feature of WHM provides tools to help administrators and resellers manage backups and restore data of all accounts, files or databases on the server. Backups can be configured to run daily, weekly or monthly.

• Manage Plugins: WHM allows administrators manage cPanel plugins and modules, providing flexibility in customizing and extending the functionality of cPanel.

• cPHulk Security: This security feature is designed to protect your server from brute force attacks. It enhances the security of cPanel accounts on your server by enabling administrators to configure settings to block unusual login attempts.

Now, let’s talk about reseller hosting;

Reseller hosting

A reseller sets up a business to manage and sell hosting services. This requires understanding how reseller hosting works, identifying different target markets, and choosing a niche.

Becoming a reseller means you don't have to manage the complex infrastructure. You can rent the resources of a large hosting provider, break into packages and sell to others.

There are different types of reseller hosting service, and Verpex offers various reseller hosting plans allowing you to manage up to 50 cPanel accounts.

When you purchase the hosting plan and provide the necessary details, you will be guided to the dashboard where you have the option to “Login to control panel” that will direct you to the Web Host Manager (WHM) dashboard.

Source: How to Make a Reseller Hosting Website

The role of WHM in Reseller Hosting is to serve as the control panel used to manage the hosting services provided to your clients. WHM allows resellers to create, manage, and customize several cPanel accounts individually, enabling each account to act independently.

Advantages of creating a reseller account includes;

• Resellers earn money by providing hosting services

• Resellers are able to create custom hosting packages

• Resellers can brand their hosting services, and also create personalized experience for their clients.

• WHM features allow resellers to manage multiple accounts efficiently.

• It is easy to scale as business grows

If you purchase a reseller hosting plan, you can also choose to create accounts for clients and make them resellers as well.

How to Create a Reseller Account in WHM

To create an account all you need to do is select create new account, and you’ll be redirected to a window to fill in the necessary details. Typically, you may want to first create packages before setting up an account for your client.

Add Packages

In this section you can set up different hosting packages and customize them based on resources like disk space, and bandwidth using the resources of the hosting plan you purchased, you can now use it to create multiple packages tailored to your clients' needs.

Creating Client Accounts

Creating an account allows you to set up a dedicated space for the client on your server.

Select the “Account functions” from the navigation menu, and then, select create a new account as a wheel user (the wheel user has elevated privileges to manage the server and resources)

If you want to create a new account before setting up packages, it would look like the above image.

But, when you define the hosting packages, and then select the option to create an account, you will have the option to select from the packages you have already created, then you can create a new account in WHM. The create new account section would look like so;

Source: How to Make a Reseller Hosting Website

If you scroll down this form, you will find the option to make the account a reseller.

By selecting the "Make Account a Reseller" option, you grant the account the ability to resell hosting services as an independent hosting provider. This gives the user authority to manage and modify their reseller account. If you want to keep the privilege with the root account and not give reseller privileges do not click on this option.

After filling all the necessary details, click on "Create". Once the account is created, it means you have created a reseller account that you control.

Resellers

If you explore the WHM navigation menu you will find the section with the option “reseller”.

This section contains various options such as; change ownership accounts, manage reseller’s IP, Email all Resellers, Edit Reseller etc.

Reseller Center

In the reseller center, you can add reseller privileges to an existing account.

From the add reseller account privileges account drop down menu, you can select the cPanel account to apply privileges, and also select "make the new seller their own account". In this section, once you’ve granted reseller privileges, you can also revoke them if necessary.

Define Reseller Privileges for an Account

To add additional settings to properly utilize the reseller account by defining reseller privileges. Click on "Edit Reseller Nameservers and Privileges".

Here you can define all the privileges that establish the reseller's authority. After selecting the privileges, save all settings.

Show Reseller Accounts

In the above image you can see the option to view reseller accounts.

There are so many other actions that can be performed on the platform the examples presented above just shows a glimpse into how to create a reseller account, and the many options available in managing an account or accounts.

Summary

A reseller is a cPanel account owner who sells hosting services, including cPanel accounts to other users. The reseller purchases system resources like disk space, and bandwidth from a hosting provider and then allocates those resources to their clients.

The hosting provider manages the server infrastructure, while the reseller handles the client's cPanel account. There are various guides to help you get started with setting up a reseller business, and you can refer to cPanel and WHM documentation for more details.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is reseller hosting profitable?

In general, reseller hosting is very profitable. However, to be able to offset your initial cost, the hardest part will be getting your first few reseller clients.

Which reseller hosting is the best?

Usually, the best reseller hosting is powered by a VPS plan. The reason for this is because as you start to scale up your business, you can easily move from one to another.

What are the benefits of reseller hosting?

With reseller hosting, you have the potential for more sales, you get access to a previously untapped market, and you get increased brand awareness.

Can you make money with reseller hosting?

You definitely can. There are countless success stories from entrepreneurs that have managed to take on hundreds, even thousands of clients, just be aware of the work you’ll need to put in.

Read our article to learn more about web hosting business income.