Accounts

The Accounts page allows administrators to create, manage, and monitor individual hosting accounts under a specific hosting plan. Open it from Customers > Accounts in the sidebar.

Overview

URL: /admin/hosting-accounts

The page lists every hosting account on this server, with the account count shown next to Accounts in the sidebar. Seven columns are visible by default:

Column	What it shows
Username	The account's system username.
Quota	The disk quota assigned to the account.
Disk Used	Files and databases together, as measured by the last usage refresh. A size that could not be measured is marked; see Last known disk usage.
Package	The hosting plan the account runs on.
Suspended	Whether the account is suspended.
Backups	Whether the account has a backup repository, and the state of its latest run.
Provision State	How far provisioning got, for example Provisioned.

Toggle Columns

Toggle columns shows or hides the rest: Domain, Setup Date, Reseller/Owner, Backups, Feature List, Status, Provision State, Disk Usage, Disk Warning, DB Disk Usage, Files (inodes), Bandwidth (This Month), Addon Domains, Subdomains, Alias Domains, FTP Accounts, Databases, Email Accounts, Email Forwarders, and Email Autoresponders.

Since panel 1.9.0, Disk Usage counts files and databases together against the plan's Disk Space, and Files (inodes) shows how many files and folders the account holds against the plan's limit.

Since panel 1.9.3, Addon Domains counts the account's domains besides its main domain, so an account with only its main domain shows 0. The column shows the figure of the last usage refresh, so an account not refreshed since the update still counts its main domain. See How addon domains are counted.

The Bandwidth (This Month) column and account view report bandwidth for the current calendar month, which resets on the first day of each month.

Sorting by disk usage

Since panel 1.9.3 you can sort the list by Disk Used and by Quota. Accounts without a figure come last in either direction; for Quota, Unlimited comes after the numbers and N/A last. The reseller panel's account list sorts the same way.

Last known disk usage

The usage figures come from a refresh that measures each account regularly. A home directory with a very large number of files can take longer to measure than a refresh allows. Since panel 1.9.3 such an account keeps its last known size instead of showing 0:

• The Disk Used column, the Disk Usage column, the account page, Usage details, and the client dashboard show the last known size, marked stale since the date of the last successful measurement. Hover the mark for the explanation: "The last refresh could not measure the home directory, so this is the last known size."
• The plan's disk limits and warnings use that last known size instead of 0, so a home that could not be measured is not treated as empty. Growth since the last successful measurement is not seen until the home is measured again.
• When the home keeps failing to be measured over repeated refreshes, the mark reads cannot be measured since a date, and every administrator gets a A home directory cannot be measured notification in the bell. It names the account and says what to check: what makes the home slow to measure, for example a very large number of files. Then use Refresh Data on the account.

Refresh Data in Usage details, and Refresh Usage on the account page, measure the account now. When the home still cannot be measured, the warning says so and suggests trying again later.

Actions

• Login - Allows administrators to impersonate the user (impersonation mode)
• More options menu:
  • Usage details - View the account's usage of disk, bandwidth, databases, email, and the rest of the plan limits
  • Edit Account - Change hosting plan, reseller, or SSH access
  • Change Password - Update the account password
  • Suspend - Temporarily disable account access
  • Delete - Permanently delete the account

On a hub

Since panel 1.9.1, when Hub Mode is on, the page also shows where each account lives in the cluster:

• Cluster column - This hub, Moving to a server while a migration runs, or Moved to a server once a migration moved the account. The Cluster filter narrows the list to Moved to another server, Moving, or Only on this server.
• Migrate to another server - opens the migrate dialog on Cluster Accounts for the account. It is offered while the account is on this server and no migration of it is running.
• Remove the copy on this server - offered on an account that was migrated to another server. It deletes the old copy here, with its files, databases, and mailboxes on this server, and does not touch the account on the other server. Since panel 1.9.4 the DNS of the moved domains stays with the server that now holds the account: a zone that a node serves is kept in the cluster, and only the old copy's own records are removed. Before 1.9.4 removing the copy also took the node's records out of DNS until the hub's next check put them back. The confirmation reads "The account lives on server since migration #id. This deletes the old copy here: its files, databases and mailboxes on this server. DNS of the moved domains stays with server. The account on server is not touched." It can be used once the migration completed and its data check passed; until then, its tooltip says why it is not available. Deleting a domain on the hub keeps a zone a node serves in the same way.
• Remove copies of migrated accounts - the bulk form of the previous action. Accounts that were not migrated, or whose data check did not pass, are skipped.

The page of an account that was moved away says where it now lives, with View migration and Open on the server that holds it. Changes made to the old copy are not copied to that server.

Search and Filtering

• Search - Filters records across visible columns.

• Filter - Located next to the search bar:

  • Filter by Hosting Plan
  • Filter by Reseller
  • Filter by Feature List
  • Includes a Reset button to clear all filters

Creating a Hosting Account

Clicking the Create Account button opens a modal with two tabs: Account Information and Reseller.

Tab 1: Account Information

Hosting Configuration

• Domain (required) - Main domain name for the account. A default subdomain is pre-filled under the server's free temporary domain, its myboltip.com name (see What keeps the myboltip.com name), or since panel 1.9.4 under the temporary domain set on the Branding tab of General Settings. Internationalised (non-ASCII) domain names are accepted: enter them in Unicode and AdminBolt stores them in Punycode. The document root on the server uses that Punycode form. See Internationalised domain names.
• Hosting Plan (required) - Select one of the available hosting plans from the dropdown.

Account Credentials

• Username (required) - System username for the hosting account. Reserved system names are refused with "Reserved system username is not allowed". Since panel 1.9.3 bolt-ssh is one of them, and a new account can no longer be called postmaster, abuse, hostmaster, webmaster, mailer-daemon, noc, or security, or have a name that starts with systemd-. An account that already has such a name keeps working, and it can still be restored, moved between nodes, or re-provisioned.
• Password (required) - Secure password input with a strength indicator.
  • Password strength is displayed below the field (e.g., "Weak password", "Strong password").
  • Click Generate Secure Credentials to auto-generate a strong password.

Tab 2: Reseller

Reseller Details

• Reseller - Assign the account to a reseller (optional). Select from the dropdown or leave empty.

Server Configuration

This tab shows when it has something to offer: Enable SSH Access (see Giving an account owner the SSH Terminal) and, since panel 1.9.3, Mail Server. Mail Server shows once the panel has a mail server besides its own: Default Mail Server (the default), Local Mail Server, or a deployed mail server. "Changing it points the mail DNS records of the account at the new server. Existing mailboxes stay where they are." See Email Servers.

Buttons

• Create - Save the hosting account.
• Cancel - Close the modal without saving.

When the home folder already exists

Since panel 1.9.3 a new account is refused when its home folder, /home/<username>, already exists on the server, for example left behind by an account deleted earlier. The message reads "The directory /home/<username> already exists on the server. Choose another username, or ask the server administrator to review that directory." Nothing is stored, so the username stays free.

Choose another username, or review that folder on the server and move it out of /home or remove it once it is no longer needed. Health lists such folders. Resellers creating an account see the same message.

When the web server cannot load the new account

Since panel 1.9.3 an account is created even when the web server cannot load its website straight away. The panel then shows a warning instead of a success message, with the reason and the next step. The account does not need to be created again: its website starts working once the cause is repaired. The account owner sees the same state in the Served column of the client Domains page.

Impersonating a User

Clicking the Login button next to a hosting account will impersonate that user and open their dashboard.

While impersonating:

• A blue bar appears at the top of the screen indicating "Impersonating user {username}"
• You will see the user's interface exactly as they would
• To exit impersonation mode, click the Leave button in the top bar

You stay signed in to the admin panel meanwhile. Since panel 1.9.4, the bar on admin pages names the account that is open in the other panel, "You are also logged into the client panel as account.", and keeps Leave, so you can see and end the impersonation from the admin panel too. When the account was deleted during the impersonation, the bar reads "The account you are logged into in another panel no longer exists." Leave then ends the impersonation with "Impersonation ended. The account you were logged into no longer exists.", and you stay signed in as administrator.

Viewing Hosting Account Usage

You can view detailed usage per account with Usage details in the row's More options menu:

Since panel 1.9.3 the dialog opens at once on the figures of the last usage refresh, and its first line says when they were taken: "Figures from the last refresh at" a date and time. Refresh Data measures the account now.

The dialog displays current usage vs. limits for various hosting resources, including:

Resource	Used	Total	Usage
Disk Space	e.g. 0.14 MB	e.g. 10000 MB	e.g. 0%
of which Databases	e.g. 0.00 MB	e.g. 10000 MB	e.g. 0%
Bandwidth (This Month)	e.g. 5.57 MB	e.g. 50000 MB	e.g. 0%
Addon Domains	e.g. 2	e.g. 5	e.g. 40%
Subdomains	e.g. 1	e.g. 5	e.g. 20%
Parked Domains	e.g. 0	e.g. 5	e.g. 0%
FTP Accounts	e.g. 3	e.g. 5	e.g. 60%
Databases	e.g. 2	e.g. 5	e.g. 40%
Email Accounts	e.g. 4	e.g. 5	e.g. 80%
Email Forwarders	e.g. 1	e.g. 5	e.g. 20%
Email Autoresponders	e.g. 0	e.g. 5	e.g. 0%

Note: Values shown above are examples. The actual usage will depend on each individual account's activity and plan limits.

How to read the Usage column, since panel 1.9.3:

• 0% - nothing is used of a limit, for example no addon domains yet. Since panel 1.9.3 Addon Domains does not count the main domain, so an account with only its main domain shows 0 of its plan's limit. See How addon domains are counted.
• Unlimited - the plan sets no limit for the resource.
• N/A - the value has not been measured: an account no refresh has measured yet, or no bandwidth recorded for this month.

of which Databases is the databases' share of the same Disk Space allowance, not a second limit. A disk size the last refresh could not measure is the last known one, marked as described in Last known disk usage.

Editing a Hosting Account

You can modify:

• Hosting Plan - Reassign the user to a different plan.
• Reseller - Assign or change the reseller. Administrators only; resellers do not see this field.
• Bandwidth Limit Override - A per-account monthly bandwidth cap in MB. Helper text: Overrides the hosting plan bandwidth limit for this account only. Leave empty to use the plan limit, 0 means unlimited. The override survives a plan change, so switching the account to a different plan does not reset it. The account owner cannot change or remove it from the client panel.
• CloudLinux LVE Resource Overrides - shown on a server with CloudLinux, since panel 1.9.0. Limits for this account only, in place of its plan's: CPU speed (%), Physical memory (MB), Virtual memory (MB), I/O throughput, I/O operations, Processes, and Entry processes. Leave a field empty to use the plan value. The account is still held to its reseller's ceiling, if one is set; see Reseller Accounts. Resellers see this section too and can set it for their own accounts, within that ceiling.
• Extra open_basedir Paths - Administrators only: since panel 1.9.3 resellers do not see this field, and a value sent from the reseller panel is ignored. Additional absolute paths to allow in the account's PHP open_basedir, one per line. The account home is always included, and the Softaculous/SitePad path is added automatically when Softaculous is installed, so this field is only for paths of your own. A line the panel cannot use is named in the error and nothing is saved. Saving applies the paths to the account's websites.
• Account isolation (CageFS) - shown to administrators on a CloudLinux server, since panel 1.9.0. Keeps the account inside its own filesystem view; turning it off lets the account see the rest of the server. The switch shows the account's CageFS state as the server holds it, read each time the form opens, and saving applies a change. When that state cannot be read, the switch is locked and saving leaves CageFS as it is. When the account is saved but the CageFS change could not be applied on the server, the panel says so. Resellers do not see this switch.
• Mail Server - since panel 1.9.3, once the panel has a mail server besides its own. Moves the account's mail to another mail server: its mail DNS records are pointed at the new server, and its existing mailboxes stay where they are. Administrators only. See Email Servers.
• Enable SSH Access - Turns SSH access on or off for the account. The switch appears only when the server has the SecureBox service or the Terminal module installed. Since panel 1.9.0, switching SSH access off leaves the account in CageFS.

Click Submit to apply changes.

open_basedir on CloudLinux

With CageFS in use, a path outside the account home also has to be available inside the account's CageFS before the account can reach it. Adding it here alone is not enough.

Suspending an account

Suspend in the row's More options menu shows the suspension page on every website of the account, and the account owner can no longer sign in. Since panel 1.9.3:

• A website whose folder is a link that leads outside the account's home directory is suspended at the web server instead, so the link cannot keep the site online. The panel then shows a warning that names those domains, with the next step: "Ask the account owner to replace the link with a real folder inside the home directory; until then the web server keeps these sites suspended."
• When a domain could not be suspended at all, the warning names the domains that may still be serving their sites, with the next step "Check that the agent is running, then unsuspend and suspend the account again."
• Unsuspend names any domain that may still show the suspension page, with the next step "Check that the agent is running, then suspend and unsuspend the account again."
• The account's own API keys are read only while it is suspended. Requests that change something are refused with HTTP 403.

The administrator API (POST /api/hosting-accounts/{id}/suspend and /unsuspend) and the reseller API (POST /api/reseller/hosting-accounts/{id}/suspend and /unsuspend) still answer 200 in these cases, and add warning and next_step to the answer. A suspension adds the domain lists domains_suspended_at_web_server and domains_still_served; an unsuspend adds domains_still_suspended and a correlation_id.

Giving an account owner the SSH Terminal

Account owners open a terminal in the browser from Security > SSH Terminal in the client panel. The entry appears once you have set up the following, which depends on whether the server runs CloudLinux:

What to set up	On a CloudLinux server	On a server without CloudLinux
Terminal service	Install the Terminal module from Modules.	Check that SecureBox reads Installed under Manage services on the Health page, and install it there if it does not. The Terminal module does not install without CloudLinux.
Hosting plan	Tick SSH Terminal in the feature list assigned to the account's hosting plan.	Nothing to set: see the note below.
Account	Switch on Enable SSH Access in Edit Account. The switch appears once the Terminal module is installed.	Switch on Enable SSH Access in Edit Account.

When you create an account, the same option is the Enable SSH Access checkbox on the Server Configuration tab of the create form, shown under the same condition.

Terminal and SecureBox cannot run side by side: the Terminal module does not install while SecureBox is installed and running, and asks you to stop or uninstall SecureBox first.

Note: When SecureBox is installed, the SSH Terminal entry appears for every account with SSH access, whether or not its plan's feature list includes SSH Terminal. To keep the terminal from an account, switch off its SSH access.

An account without SSH access never sees the entry. The account owner's side is described in SSH Terminal.

Contact email

Since panel 1.9.3, a hosting account has a Contact email: the address security alerts and account notices for the account are sent to, such as a malware threat found in its files or a suspension by the malware scanner. See Threat notifications to clients.

• When you create an account, the field is in the Account Credentials section of the Account Information tab.
• On an existing account, it is in Edit Account.
• The account owner can set it on Password & Security in the client panel.

The field is optional. Without an address, the notices still reach the notification bell of the client panel. Resellers see the same field on their own accounts.

Over the REST API, email sets the address: POST /api/hosting-accounts and PUT /api/hosting-accounts/{id} for administrators, the same paths under /api/reseller/ for resellers, and PUT /api/client/account for the account owner. Send null or an empty string to clear it. An account imported from another AdminBolt server keeps its address.

Changing the Primary Domain

Change primary domain, in the Actions menu of the account's View page, renames the account's main domain. Enter the New primary domain and submit.

The account moves as one piece: the site files, the virtual host, the PHP-FPM pool, the web logs, and the DNS zone are re-created under the new name, and the old name stops serving.

Mail is not moved. A domain that carries mailboxes, forwarders, autoresponders, a catch-all, domain forwarders, or a mailing list is refused up front, and the message says so. Move or remove the mail first, then rename.

Since panel 1.9.3, the domain's free SSL certificate is reissued under the new name in the next nightly AutoSSL run, as long as AutoSSL is switched on for the account. Until then the previous certificate is served. A certificate from another issuer is not reissued: issue or upload one for the new name. See Mail SNI.

When the rename is applied but a follow-up step does not land, the result is reported as Primary domain changed with warnings and names what still needs attention.

Note: This is an administrator action. Clients cannot rename their account's primary domain. Renaming a secondary domain is unchanged, and stays available where it already was.

Changing Password

From the dropdown menu, select Change Password.

• Enter a new password and confirm it
• Password strength will be displayed
• You can auto-generate a secure password with the built-in generator
• Click Submit to apply the new password

Since panel 1.9.2, when the stored password of a hosting account can no longer be read, the customer cannot create MariaDB databases and is told to reset the hosting account password. Resetting it here fixes that.

The administrator API

Since panel 1.9.4, PUT /api/hosting-accounts/{id} changes the same fields as Edit Account: the reseller, the bandwidth limit, the extra open_basedir paths, the CloudLinux LVE limits and CageFS, and the contact details. An unknown field is refused by name with 422, and nothing is applied. POST /api/hosting-accounts/{id}/refresh-usage measures the account again, like Refresh Usage, and DELETE /api/hosting-accounts/{id}/migrated-copy removes this server's copy of an account that moved to another node, like Remove the copy on this server. See Edit the rest of the account for the fields and answers.