How to install WHMCS

This tutorial is part of our WHMCS tutorials series.

In this tutorial I will show you how to manually install WHMCS without any one click installers such as Softaculous or Fantastico.

If you would like to save time and effort you can hire Zomex to complete the installation for you. Simply create your order using the link in the description of this video.

The first step is to decide where you'd like to install WHMCS. WHMCS could be installed in the root directory or within a sub-directory depending on if you would like to use WHMCS for your full website. You may choose to install WHMCS in a sub directory and use WordPress for example as your main website.

At Zomex we provide a selection of premium WHMCS Templates which can be found in the description below. These templates act as a complete website so work best with WHMCS installed on the root of your domain.

For this tutorial I will install WHMCS within a sub-directory.

To start you will need a WHMCS license, in some cases this may be included with your hosting service. If you do not have a license you will need to buy one from WHMCS.com. Feel free to use our referral link in the description below.

Login to your WHMCS.com account and click on the services button.

Make note of your WHMCS license key, this will be required to activate WHMCS once installed.

Hover over the Support menu and click on Download. This page will allow you to download WHMCS of various versions. I recommend to always use the latest version of WHMCS to ensure that you have access to the latest features. As with any software using old versions can be a security risk.

Within the latest version box click on the Download button.

Next login to cPanel and access file manager.

Access your public_html directory and upload the WHMCS ZIP. This file can also be uploaded using FTP if your hosting service does not use cPanel.

Once the upload is complete refresh the public_html directory and extract the WHMCS ZIP file.

The new WHMCS directory contains the extracted WHMCS files.

You can re-name this directory to anything you like. For this example we will go with the name cart. Using the directory name cart will make WHMCS accessible via the URL domain.com/cart/

Access the directory and rename the file configuration.php.new to configuration.php.

Using your web browser access the directory using your domain. In our case the dev domain I'm using is zomex.net and the directory we set for WHMCS is cart so I need to use zomex.net/cart/. If you have an SSL installed for your domain I recommend accessing via https. Let's go ahead and access the WHMCS directory using this URL:

https://zomex.net/cart/

You should now be greeted with the Welcome to WHMCS page. If you don't see this try adding install/install.php to the end of the URL.

Click on the link to begin installation.

Read and confirm the End User License Agreement by clicking on the I Agree button.

WHMCS will then proceed to check your hosting environment to see if it's supported. If you see any issues on this page contact your hosting provider and ask them to apply the changes to meet the WHMCS system requirements.

Once ready click on the Being Installation button.

Paste your WHMCS license key as noted from earlier.

Next we need to create a database for WHMCS. This will store all of the data of WHMCS including settings, clients, transactions, modules etc

Head back to cPanel. Access the MySQL Databases page.

Within the Create New Database section set a name for your database. You can use any name you like but keep in mind that it will be case sensitive.

Make a note of your database name.

Next scroll down and create a database username and password.

Make a note of your username and password.

Scroll down to the Add User To Database section and select your database User and Database and click on Add. Select all permissions and confirm. This will grant the User full access to your WHMCS database.

Head back to the WHMCS installation page and copy/paste your database info to each field before clicking on the Continue button. This process may take a few minutes while your WHMCS database is being constructed.

Once finished you will be greeted with a new page where you need to create your admin account. This is the account you will use to access and manage WHMCS as an admin. It is important to use a strong password and double check to ensure that your email is correct. It is also advisable not to use admin as your username. Make a note of your username and password within a secure location or write them down on a piece of paper.

Click on the Continue button, you should now see a installation complete page.

Go to cPanel's file manager once again and access your WHMCS directory. Right click and delete the install directory.

To confirm that everything has been successful and to start your WHMCS journey. access your WHMCS directory by adding /admin/ to your installed directory. Login using your username and password from the previous step.

Now that WHMCS has been installed we recommend securing your installation. We have a selection of easy to follow security tutorials which I will link within the description of this video.