Username - Max 8 letter and no number???

[ko-kylling]

Hello.

I have a few questions:
Why can't I add domains and choose a username for these which length is more than 8 letter and contains number?
Is there a way to make this possible? Maybe not the number part, but at least the length of the username.
If so, is this recommed and if no, why not?

In advance, thanks

Best regards
Morten Johansen

[cPanelDavidG]

Hello.

I have a few questions:
Why can't I add domains and choose a username for these which length is more than 8 letter and contains number?
Is there a way to make this possible? Maybe not the number part, but at least the length of the username.
If so, is this recommed and if no, why not?

In advance, thanks

Best regards
Morten Johansen

cPanel users are created as standard Unix users, as such the limitations of standard unix usernames apply. Some distributions support a length over 8 characters, but allowing this will break other features such as MySQL.

However, you should be able to use a username that contains a number as long as the username does not begin with a number.

[ko-kylling]

cPanel users are created as standard Unix users, as such the limitations of standard unix usernames apply. Some distributions support a length over 8 characters, but allowing this will break other features such as MySQL.

However, you should be able to use a username that contains a number as long as the username does not begin with a number.

Thanks for the quick reply

I only tried with a username that started with a number, so maybe it works with numbers anyway

Why will it break MySQL if I use more than 8 letter for the username?
I know that your competitor, Plesk, allows long usernames

[fmidaglia]

Thanks for the quick reply

I only tried with a username that started with a number, so maybe it works with numbers anyway

Why will it break MySQL if I use more than 8 letter for the username?
I know that your competitor, Plesk, allows long usernames

Same problem, 9 letters username will break the server??

[InstaCarma_Tech]

As cPanelDavidG mentioned, some distros might support more than 8 character username but it can/will certainly break some services if not the entire server. Therefore it is not recommended.

Here are a few things to be kept in mind while choosing a username :

A username must start with a lowercase letter.
The length of a username should be between 3 and 8 characters.
It can consist of lowercase letters and numbers.

[jhanger]

cPanel users are created as standard Unix users, as such the limitations of standard unix usernames apply. Some distributions support a length over 8 characters, but allowing this will break other features such as MySQL.

However, you should be able to use a username that contains a number as long as the username does not begin with a number.

This is not the case. MySQL since v. 3.23 has been able to support up to 16 characters in a username and numbers are permitted, however they are not permitted as the first letter. It also supports usernames with -'s and .'s in the names however the database names may or may not support special characters such as %, / etc....

If anyone has solved the 8 character limit that would be great to see the work around, as MySQL does support this...

In a growing world and 64 bit support nearly 100% available on servers as well as desktops there's no reason we should be limited to such a small number for usernames.

[cPanelDavidG]

This is not the case. MySQL since v. 3.23 has been able to support up to 16 characters in a username and numbers are permitted, however they are not permitted as the first letter. It also supports usernames with -'s and .'s in the names however the database names may or may not support special characters such as %, / etc....

If anyone has solved the 8 character limit that would be great to see the work around, as MySQL does support this...

In a growing world and 64 bit support nearly 100% available on servers as well as desktops there's no reason we should be limited to such a small number for usernames.

Under the current system, if 16 character cPanel usernames are used, since mysql database usernames and database names begin with the username followed by _ in a cPanel/WHM environment, we have a 17 character string before the user types in their preferred name. This will create issues since MySQL only accepts 16 characters for usernames.

We are currently working on removing the username_ requirement, but I prefer to wait until that feature is available in public builds before I comment on that further.

[kmm2908]

Are there any other limitations on a user name?
1. 8 characters
2. Cannot start with a number
3. ???

How about restricted words: cpanel, test, etc..?

[cPanelDavidG]

Are there any other limitations on a user name?
1. 8 characters
2. Cannot start with a number
3. ???

How about restricted words: cpanel, test, etc..?

Regarding "restricted words": basically, it cannot be any existing Unix user on the system. Here's a list of commonly found Unix users on a cPanel/WHM system:

root
bin
daemon
adm
lp
sync
shutdown
halt
mail
news
uucp
operator
games
gopher
ftp
nobody
dbus
mailnull
smmsp
nscd
vcsa
rpc
sshd
rpcuser
nfsnobody
pcap
rpm
haldaemon
cpanel
named
mysql
mailman
cpanelhorde
cpanelphpmyadmin
cpanelphppgadmin
cpanelroundcube
avahi
avahi-autoipd
xfs
mx
postgres
clamav
dovecot
munin

[kmm2908]

Thanks for the reply DavidG; very comprehensive and just what I was looking for!

[baritoneuk]

I'm fairly new to using cPanel and have found the username length restriction quite frustrating. It makes creating readable usernames hard and I prefer longer ones for security. For example if a client's website is called (for example) Cantabile then the best username I can get would be cantabil (one letter short).

I do understand the issue with it being compatible with servers, but could there not be an option to enable/disable this feature for different servers? i.e. if my server can cope with longer usernames then we can enable it? Sorry if that is a silly question! If this is something that is being added, do we have a rough timescale?

[Infopro]

For example if a client's website is called (for example) Cantabile then the best username I can get would be cantabil (one letter short).

Personally I never use the default username suggested by cPanel when creating an account. For security reasons. I like to offer my users the option of using a unique name for their login name. Provided its 8 characters of course.

No one sees this username nor uses this username aside from the host, the system and the end user to login with.

I do not believe there are any plans to make changing username length an option. You are free to start a thread in the Feature Requests forum and ask for it though.

[baritoneuk]

Thanks for your reply.

I don't use the username suggest feature either, I was just giving one example of a perfect username being 1 letter too much.

I don't give access to cPanel for my customers as I manage all their websites for them (and they're not that technical!) so the usernames are for my benefit. Having longer usernames would make it much easier to remember them all and make them more pleasing to the eye.

It's a shame that there are no plans for changing the username length. Perhaps I will start a thread in the feature requests forum, but not sure if many people would share my thoughts. Only one way to find out though!

Thanks.