New VMware Quick Install, can't connect to cPanel

[calvarez]

I'm trying to migrate from an older server to a new one. I installed the new one with VMware ESXi 4.1 and the cPanel VM was installed using the CentOS auto-installer ISO from the cPanel downloads. I have done the install twice to make sure it wasn't just a fluke. When the install completes, the server can be accessed with SSH, but the cPanel web connection is rejected.

This webpage is not available
The webpage at https://208.86.121.35:2087/ might be temporarily down or it may have moved permanently to a new web address.
Error 102 (net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED): Unknown error.

I've confirmed that the auto-install completed:

[root@cpanel selinux]# tail -f /var/log/cpanel-install*
==> /var/log/cpanel-install-autoinstaller.log <==
Starting CentOS system update
Finished CentOS system update, starting cPanel installation

==> /var/log/cpanel-install-thread0.log <==

==> /var/log/cpanel-install-thread1.log <==

==> /var/log/cpanel-install-thread0.log <==
cPanel install started at: Tue Mar  1 21:58:22 2011!

==> /var/log/cpanel-install-thread1.log <==
cPanel install started at: Tue Mar  1 21:58:22 2011!

Broadcast message from root (Tue Mar  1 21:58:28 2011):

cPanel installation Complete

==> /var/log/cpanel-install-autoinstaller.log <==
cPanel installation Complete

The license verification for my IP address says it is valid and active. I've been unable to run a command found in the docs:

[root@cpanel ~]# /usr/local/cpanel/cpkeyclt
-bash: /usr/local/cpanel/cpkeyclt: No such file or directory
[root@cpanel ~]#

Any ideas?

[cPanelJared]

From what you are describing, the installation did not complete. Does /usr/local/cpanel exist? Also, does the /scripts directory exist?

You can try running a forced cPanel update to see if it will fetch and install the missing files:

# /scripts/upcp --force

Once the forced update is finished, see if cPanel is listening on the WebHost Manager ports:

# netstat -nalp|grep :2086
# netstat -nalp|grep :2087

Also, make sure that the default firewall is deactivated:

Troubleshooting a Recent Installation

If this does not help, please submit a ticket so that we can log into the server and investigate directly. If this is somehow being caused by a problem with our ISO, we will need to identify the problem and correct it.

[calvarez]

Jared, that seemed to do it, thanks! It was clear the installation didn't complete properly, as several items gave a "not found--reinstalling" message. Now it seems functional, but is there any danger that I've got a server that will have future problems (IE, not a proper installation)? Any further testing I should do before I copy my accounts and deploy it?

[cPanelJared]

Without being able to log in and see the server for myself, I cannot say for certain, but the forced cPanel update should have corrected any remaining issues. The reason we see most often for an incomplete cPanel installation is some type of network problem, ranging from a failure to resolve outside domains to a routing problem or network interruption, and running a forced cPanel update after the problem is corrected will usually replace the missing or misconfigured components.

[calvarez]

Everything seems to function correctly, so we'll continue with the migration. I'm rather certain there aren't networking issues, as we deploy VMware servers several times per month and own the entire network they run on, using the same configs for each and every deployment. All of the standard network testing from within the cPanel VM looks perfect.

Thanks for your quick responses.

[cPanelTristan]

I did want to mention one slight other issue we've seen where cPanel does not properly install, but the installer should bail out early in the process when this happens. If the hostname is not a fully qualified name but a short name, so something like server rather than server.mydomain.com, then the cPanel installer will fail to complete.

You can set the hostname in CentOS with the following command before the cPanel installation:

hostname server.mydomain.com

You might also want to edit /etc/sysconfig/network for the HOSTNAME= line to put the full name there as well, so server.mydomain.com again.

[calvarez]

It does have an FQDN which is in DNS and in the hosts file. We usually use short names but have learned that cPanel really wants everything to be a full name.