WHM Basics: What Is The Skeleton Directory?

WHM (or Web Host Manager) is one the best control panel for Linux / Unix web servers. It is part of the cPanel control panel software bundle.

Whereas cPanel is a control panel for end-user customers to manage their website account, WHM is designed for system administrators and reseller customers.

When you create a new user account (as a reseller or root of course!), there is already a default directory structure in place. Usually it looks something like this:

-rw-r--r--   1 dummyweb dummyweb   24 Aug 11 20:32 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r--   1 dummyweb dummyweb  191 Aug 11 20:32 .bash_profile
-rw-r--r--   1 dummyweb dummyweb  124 Aug 11 20:32 .bashrc
-rw-------   1 dummyweb dummyweb   29 Aug 11 20:32 .contactemail
drwxr-x---   2 dummyweb nobody   4096 Aug 11 20:32 .htpasswds
-rw-r--r--   1 dummyweb dummyweb    7 Aug 11 20:32 .lang
drwxr-xr-x   2 dummyweb dummyweb 4096 Aug 11 20:32 etc
drwxr-x---   5 dummyweb dummyweb 4096 Aug 11 20:32 mail
drwxr-xr-x   3 dummyweb dummyweb 4096 Oct 24  2007 public_ftp
drwxr-x---  10 dummyweb nobody   4096 Aug 11 20:32 public_html
drwxr-xr-x   2 dummyweb dummyweb 4096 Aug 11 20:32 tmp
lrwxrwxrwx   1 dummyweb dummyweb   11 Aug 11 20:32 www -> public_html

But what if you wanted to add some custom files or for instance, a default page with your corporate logo when a new user account is created?

This can be achieved using WHM’s Skeleton Directory.

Assuming you’re already logged in WHM with your reseller account or root account, click on the Skeleton Directory link from the left column menu.

This will show you where the Skeleton Directory is located. For example, adding an index.html file in /root/cpanel3-skel/public_html/ would copy it to every new user account created from now on.

In the screenshot above, I was logged in as root so the Skeleton Directory is located under the /root home folder. Often the root FTP access is forbidden so you would have to use a regular account to upload the files and then use SSH to move them to your /root/cpanel-skel directory.

If you are logged in WHM with a reseller account, the Skeleton Directory would be located in your home directory too (ie.: /home/username/cpanel3-skel). But the difference is that you will be able to modify it directly through FTP.

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