cPanel & WHM Version 86 is Out: What’s new?

Web Hosting

cPanel has been around for many years and is considered to be an industry standard.

This is quite understandable, as this web-based control panel is a handy tool that has an intuitive interface that is easy to learn and use.

The features it offers allow users to successfully create, administer, and manage their websites and set up email, FTP accounts, CDN’s, create domains and lots of other things. No wonder many web developers are well acquainted with this program. As with any other software, it gets regular updates and currently Version 86 is the newest one. So, what’s in store for those that have a cPanel license?

Main upgrades

This version has some new features and several improvements of the old ones, making it a long-term choice for cPanel & WHM hosting. There are a few additions:

·       Upgrade EasyApache 4’s OpenSSL to OpenSSL 1.1.1. This enables the use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol version 1.3, which allows client/server applications to securely communicate over the web and prevents eavesdropping, tampering, and message forgery. It also replaces the OpenSSL version used by features that depend on EasyApache 4, with some exceptions such as Ruby, Passenger, and all versions of PHP 5.

·       New DNS Zone Manager interface. With a cPanel license, system administrators can access tools that manage the server’s DNS zones. This makes it easier to create and manage these zone records and the interface itself provides much of the same functionality as the legacy Edit DNS Zone interface.

·       LTS Tier upgrades. The improvement to cPanel & WHM’s Long-Term Support tier ensures that LTS servers stay up-to-date. Changes have been made to upgrade delay, which delays version upgrades for systems that use the LTS tier. Update preferences have also been adjusted to improve the process of setting a release tier and other update settings.

These ensure smooth user experience for those using this software.

Security features

Additional new tools for better protection are also accessible by those who subscribe to a cPanel license. These include:

·       Streamlined directory privacy interface. Version 86 adds an Actions column to cPanel’s Directory Privacy interface. This allows system administrators to set the directory privacy permissions for all the subdirectories within a directory.

·       DNSSEC key rotation recommendation. Updated under cPanel’s Zone Editor interface, this interface now displays when a DNSSEC key should be rotated to reduce potential compromise and threats.

This ups the security of the program and all relevant data.

Additional features

Some other tools have also been added and upgraded with the new version. With a cPanel license, users have access to several tools and upgrades:

·       AutoSSL improvements for DNS Certificate Authority Authorization records. Now the automatic creation of CAA records recognizes subdomains and wildcard domains. It also creates all the CAA records needed to ensure that AutoSSL issues certificates.

·       SSL Use Stapling option. This is added to WHM’s Global Configuration interface and it enables Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) stapling. It eliminates the need for clients to contact the certificate vendor when they want to provide information on the validity of their certificates.

·       Enable reverse DNS for mail HELO by default. When this setting is enabled, Exim uses the sending IP address’s reverse DNS name as the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) HELO. For servers with a properly configured PTR record, this improves email deliverability.

·       File Manager access when the account disk space is full. Users with a cPanel license can use this feature to delete files when they have reached their account disk space limit.

·       Improved AutoSSL execution times. This feature can verify Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records and a domain’s DNS configuration simultaneously. This significantly decreases AutoSSL’s execution time.

These tools noticeably boost the performance of the software and make it even easier to use.

cPanel & WHM Version 86 adds several long-awaited features and additional perks that improve the overall system. Further security measures only make the control panel safer to use for all your web hosting needs. For those that want a smooth user experience, getting the cPanel license and upgrading to the newest version is a must.