Your cPanel carries the Softaculous Apps Installer, under Software. It is the same tool for everything: Joomla, Drupal, Magento, PrestaShop, OpenCart, Moodle, Flarum, Mautic, Laravel and a few hundred more. On the day this article was written it offered 485 applications.
This article covers what every installation has in common. Each platform then has its own article for what makes it different.
What the installer does for you, in seconds
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Downloads and unpacks the files for the version you picked, straight onto the server. Nothing goes through your computer or your FTP client.
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Writes the application configuration file with the database details, the site address and the security keys.
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Runs the installation and creates your administrator account.
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Records the installation in its list. From then on Softaculous knows where it lives and can back it up, clone it, upgrade it or remove it.
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Three questions before you press Install
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What to decide |
| At which address? |
The form asks for the protocol (always pick https), the domain and the directory. Leaving the directory empty installs at the root of the site. Typing shop installs at /shop. If you are installing on an addon domain or a subdomain, create it first: see adding another domain or a subdomain. |
| Which PHP version? |
Every application demands a minimum version, and the installer refuses to go on if yours is older. You change it in Select PHP Version: see changing your PHP version without breaking the site. |
| Any missing PHP extensions? |
Some platforms need extensions that arrive switched off on a new account. You turn them on in the same Select PHP Version screen, on the extensions tab. The table below says which. |
What each platform demands, measured on our servers
These values were read from the installer itself on the day this article was written. They change when a new release lands: the screen in front of you is always the authority, and it spells out in red exactly what is missing.
| Platform |
Minimum PHP |
Extensions you must switch on yourself |
| Joomla 5 |
8.1 |
None. Everything it needs is already on. |
| Drupal 10 |
8.1 |
None. |
| Drupal CMS |
8.3 |
None. |
| OpenCart 4 |
8.1 |
None. |
| Flarum |
8.2 |
None. |
| Laravel |
8.2 |
None. |
| PrestaShop 8 |
7.2 |
intl and fileinfo. |
| Mautic |
8.2 |
intl. |
| Magento 2.4 |
8.2 |
intl, soap, sodium and fileinfo. |
| Moodle 5 |
8.2 |
intl, soap, sodium and fileinfo. |
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Switching an extension on is one click and breaks nothing. Open Select PHP Version, pick your version, go to Extensions, tick the box and close. The installer will then let you through. If you cannot find the option, tell us and we will switch it on.
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Some versions in the list will not install, and that is the installer doing its job. The newest Magento release asks for a database engine newer than the one our shared servers run. The installer says so and stops. Pick the previous release, which passes, or talk to us about a server of your own.
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Before you install on top of something
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The installer writes into the directory you give it, and anything there with the same name is overwritten. Never point a fresh installation at the directory of a live site without taking a copy first. See making and keeping your own backup.
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What you get afterwards
In the Softaculous installations list, each row carries a set of buttons. Not all of them exist for every platform, and this is what we measured:
| Button |
What it does, and where it exists |
| Backup |
Stores files and database in a Softaculous backup that you restore from the same screen. Works for any installation. |
| Upgrade |
Moves the installation to a newer release. Present for Joomla, Drupal, Moodle and WordPress. |
| Clone |
Makes a working copy in another directory or on another domain. Present for Joomla, Drupal, Magento, PrestaShop, OpenCart, Moodle, Flarum and WordPress. |
| Change admin password |
Present for Joomla, Drupal, PrestaShop, OpenCart, Moodle, Flarum, Mautic and WordPress. Not present for Magento: for that one, see recovering the Magento administrator password. |
| Import |
Pulls an installation you did by hand into the list, so it gets backups and upgrades from here on. Works for all of them. |
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Turn on automatic upgrades and automatic backups, in that order. Both options sit in the same installation form, under Advanced Options. One without the other is what produces the bad mornings.
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The ones that are not in the installer
Softaculous installs PHP applications. Django and Ruby on Rails are not there, and nothing is broken: they run in another language and have their own cPanel tools, Setup Python App and Setup Ruby App. See getting Django running and getting Rails running.
Whichever platform you pick, every installation spends space and thousands of your account files. Before you fill a plan with experiments, read the limits of your account.
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Installer stopped with a warning you cannot decode? Copy the message and send it to us. It is nearly always one extension away.
Open a support ticket
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