The rest of the cPanel tools
A short reference to the cPanel tools that rarely need a full guide — what each does, and whether you should use it.
cPanel ships more tools than most accounts ever need. This page covers the remainder in one place, so you know what something is before you open it. Applies to shared, reseller and Premium hosting on cPanel.
Anything with its own guide is linked from the relevant section instead.
Metrics
Awstats and Webalizer are traffic statistics programs that summarise your access logs into visitor, page and referrer reports. Both predate modern analytics and count bots as visitors, so the numbers run high. Use them for a rough sense of server-side traffic; use analytics in the site itself for anything you plan to act on.
Metrics Editor chooses which of those programs process logs for which domain. The defaults are fine. Turning one off reduces processing but loses its history.
Track DNS runs a DNS lookup and a traceroute from the server. Useful for confirming what the server sees for a domain, which can differ from what your own computer resolves — see Check what nameservers your domain uses.
For raw request data rather than summaries, see Download raw access logs.
Domains
Dynamic DNS keeps a DNS record pointed at a changing IP address, by giving you a URL that updates the record when called. It is for reaching a home or office connection without a static IP — not something a hosted website needs.
BoxTrapper is challenge-response spam filtering: unknown senders receive an email asking them to confirm before their message is delivered.
Avoid BoxTrapper. It sends automated replies to addresses that are frequently forged, which makes your domain a source of unwanted mail and harms your sending reputation. Legitimate senders also routinely ignore the challenge, so you silently lose real mail. Use MailScanner instead.
Software
Application Manager registers Node.js, Python and Ruby applications with the Passenger application server. In practice, use the dedicated Setup Node.js App, Setup Python App and Setup Ruby App tools — they do the same thing with fewer steps. See Set up a Node.js application.
Perl Modules installs Perl modules from CPAN for your account. Only relevant if you run Perl scripts.
Backuply is a third-party backup plugin. For backups on WebGee hosting use JetBackup, which is what your automatic backups already use and what support restores from — see Restore from a backup.
Advanced
Apache Handlers maps file extensions to the program that processes them —
for example, telling the server to run .htm files through PHP. Rarely needed;
see Parse HTML files as PHP
for the common case.
MIME Types tells browsers what kind of file they are receiving. Add one only when a file type downloads instead of opening, or opens as plain text — usually a font or a newer media format the server does not recognise.
Indexes controls whether a directory without an index.html shows its
contents.
Leave directory indexing off. A listable directory exposes filenames — including backups, exports and configuration files you did not intend to publish — and it is one of the first things an attacker checks.
See Enable directory index listings if you have a specific reason to turn it on.
Preferences
Account Preferences sets your cPanel language, style and contact address. Keep the contact address current: quota warnings and security notices are sent there, and an address nobody reads is the reason problems go unnoticed.