---
title: "Change the Hostname of a cPanel Server"
slug: "change-the-hostname-on-a-cpanel-server"
updated: 2026-07-22T23:55:28Z
published: 2026-07-22T23:55:28Z
canonical: "docs.serversaustralia.com.au/change-the-hostname-on-a-cpanel-server"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.serversaustralia.com.au/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Change the Hostname of a cPanel Server

> [!NOTE]
> Automatically-Issued Hostname:
> 
> By default, cPanel will automatically issue a subdomain of **cprapid.com** as the hostname for the server, which will be granted a free SSL certificate through Let’s Encrypt™. This mitigates security warnings from appearing on cPanel, WHM, and Webmail interfaces. However, it has some limitations:
> 
> - It only issues a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) under the cprapid.com domain, and will be pointed at the main IP address of the server.
> - This subdomain cannot be managed or delegated.
> - To create subdomains for nameservers, the server must be set to use a hostname from a domain you control. Nameservers under the cprapid.com domain will not be fully functional.

> [!WARNING]
> Requirements
> 
> The new hostname for the server must:
> 
> - It cannot start with www, a hyphen (-), or a number (0-9), or a hostname ending with a hyphen (-).
> - Must be 60 characters or shorter. For interopability with windows machines
> - Must be a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) that uniquely identifies the server (e.g. hostname.example.com.au or hostname.example.com)
> - Cannot be a hostname that a cPanel account on the server will use.
> - A potential service subdomain.
> - Be composed of ASCII(7) characters, which includes lowercase alphabetic characters (a-z), numerals (0-9), periods (.), and the hyphen (-).
> - Be acceptable for your brand and business, as it will appear in mail headers.

## How to change your hostname:

We will be covering the GUI method within this guide. For the CLI method, we would recommend consulting [cPanel’s own documentation](https://docs.cpanel.net/whm/scripts/the-set_hostname-utility/) for the **/usr/local/cpanel/bin/set_hostname** function.

1. Within **WHM → Change Hostname** at the bottom you can enter your new FQDN into the **New Hostname** box and click **Change** as shown. In our example we are changing from **testvm.servercontrol.com.au** to **examplevm.servercontrol.com.au**: ![](https://cdn.document360.io/d809f158-d4f4-47ff-83d4-18d9c9f7a04d/Images/Documentation/image-N80C07VL.png)
2. A window ill pop up informing you the hostname change is in progress. Once it finishes, scroll to the bottom and click **Add an A entry for your hostname**: ![](https://cdn.document360.io/d809f158-d4f4-47ff-83d4-18d9c9f7a04d/Images/Documentation/image-3FUJ8SOG.png)
3. Within **WHM → Add an A Entry for Your Hostname** review the information for your server, and if it is correct, add the correct A entry via the **Add Entry** button:

![](https://cdn.document360.io/d809f158-d4f4-47ff-83d4-18d9c9f7a04d/Images/Documentation/image-K6TKCYH4.png)

Congratulations! You have updated the hostname for your cPanel server!