Check and verify cpanel license details

cPanel and WHM is the #1 leading control panel in the web hosting market. And time ago we posted a post about how to get a free cpanel license for test purposes, now… one of the things you may face when you are using cPanel is the need to verify cPanel license details.

After testing your free 15 days trial version, you will have to buy a license for your VPS/Cloud or Dedicated server IP address in order to continue using this service.

Even after paying for your cPanel license, your server may show you an invalid license error like this:

“Invalid License error for cPanel”.

In order to verify cpanel license details simply open this URL and enter your IP address.

Verify cPanel license from cPanel.net website

cPanel licenses can be verified from: http://verify.cpanel.net

cPanel & WHM License Verification
Fig. 01. cPanel & WHM License Verification web page

The results page will show you something like this:

Fig. 02. Screenshot of the verify cpanel license processs for a random IP.
Fig. 02. cPanel License Verification Results from random IP.

Why my cPanel license is failing?

If after using that tool you still have the “Invalid License error for cPanel”, then it could be caused by a few reasons:

1. Your Reseller cPanel license provider didn’t renew your license (for example buycpanel.com, or your web hosting provider), ask them in the first place.

2. Your firewall is preventing your cPanel license check from working normally.

Fix cPanel license step by step

Solution for “Invalid License error for cPanel” error

If you find your cPanel license is valid from the previous link, then let’s try to fix it from the linux shell:

1. Login to ssh.

2. Make sure that port 80 is open.

3. Make sure you server hostname is a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).

4. Stop the CSF firewall in case you are using it:

csf -x

5. Run cpkeyclt command to correct your cpanel license issue

/usr/local/cpanel/cpkeyclt

This should update the license and your cPanel should be working again.

If /usr/local/cpanel/cpkeyclt command fails, first make sure the license servers are resolving ok. To test the resolution against cPanel license servers you can run this command:

host auth.cpanel.net

Verify your cPanel license details from from the server’s terminal

You can always run the following command using curl:

curl -L http://cpanel.net/showip.cgi

You can also check the cpanel license using lynx command:

lynx -dump http://cpanel.net/showip.cgi

The expected output should be the IP address of the server.

About the Author: Esteban Borges

Experienced Sr. Linux SysAdmin and Web Technologist, passionate about building tools, automating processes, fixing server issues, troubleshooting, securing and optimizing high traffic websites.

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