Knowledgebase

Addon domains allow you to control multiple domains from a single account. An addon domain links a new domain name to a directory in your account, and then stores its files in that directory.

Create an addon domain

To create an addon domain, perform the following steps:

1. Enter the new addon domain’s name in the New Domain Name text box. When you enter the domain name, cPanel automatically populates the Subdomain and Document Root text boxes.

   Important:

   If you enter a domain that resembles an existing domain on your account, the system will recommend that you create a subdomain for that domain.

   • Doing this ensures that the nameservers properly manage the entries in the domain’s zone file.

   • To create a subdomain, use the link to cPanel’s Subdomains interface (cPanel >> Home >> Domains >> Subdomains).

    

2. To create multiple addon domains with the same username and different extensions (for example, example.com and example.net), manually enter a unique username in the Subdomain text box.

3. Note:

   • The house icon () represents the cPanel account’s home directory.
   • For example, if you enter example1.com in the Directory text box and the cPanel account uses the /home/example home directory, the addon domain will exist in the /home/example/example1.com directory.
   • You cannot use the following directories as a document root directory:

     To choose a document root directory other than the automatically populated value, manually enter the directory name in the Document Root text box.

   • The account’s home directory itself (/)
   • Directories outside of the account’s home directory (./ and ../)
   • .cpanel
   • .trash
   • etc
   • mail
   • ssl
   • tmp
   • logs
   • .cphorde
   • .spamassassin
   • .htpasswds
   • var
   • cgi-bin
   • .ssh
   • perl5

    

4. To create an FTP account for the new addon domain, select the Create an FTP account associated with this Addon Domain checkbox. When you select this checkbox, additional settings will appear:

   • cPanel automatically populates the FTP Username text box. To select a different FTP account username, manually enter the desired username.
   • Enter and confirm the new password in the appropriate text boxes.
     Note:

     • The system evaluates the password that you enter on a scale of 100 points. 0 indicates a weak password, while 100 indicates a very secure password.
     • Some hosting providers require a minimum password strength. A green password strength meter indicates that the password is equal to or greater than the required password strength.
     • Click Password Generator to generate a strong password. For more information, read our Password & Security documentation.

5. Click Add Domain.