cPanel license for VPS - what's the truth? After 2 months of research, even CP doesn't know

[raindog308]

Over the years, I've witnessed more than one forum debate about cPanel licensing terms for VPS.

The question is - can you buy a big server, make a single big OvZ container on it, and then buy a cPanel VPS license. The obvious intent is to pay for the cheaper VPS license instead of a dedicated server license.

On the face of it, this seems to be against the spirit of the cPanel licensing intent...but then, we don't operate based on the "spirit" but rather legal documents, and cPanel can certainly afford lawyers to put rules in its license agreements. That said, I've been unable to find any actual rules in any agreement that would prevent this.

I've heard people say things like "cPanel VPS licenses are limited to 2GB of RAM" or "cPanel VPS licenses are limited to only so much CPU" or "you must have X number of VPSes on the server" and all sorts of urban legend licensing rules. Some are repeated by cPanel resellers.

However, I've read the cPanel legal agreement (Legal Agreements - cPanel Inc.) - cPanel & WebHost Manager End User License Agreement - that covers my use, and virtualization is only mentioned in sections 1.6, 1.20, and 2.6. All it says about virtualization is that it defines the term, cPanel has the right to include data on virtualization in its reporting back to cPanel, and you need one license per VPS.

So...I can buy a 64-core/256GB RAM dedicated server, install OvZ, and buy a VPS license, right?

Well, surely this is easy to clear up. I'll just ask cPanel, Inc. So I did...and I've had a ticket pending since February 3rd (two months!) asking this question. The legal department is still "reviewing" the question. (Ticket 4532311 if any cPanel people want to look it up).

I find this all rather silly. Either there are rules...or there aren't. If there are rules, where are they? Is it a VPS limited to so much memory or...? If I can't put a VPS license on my 64-core server, then what are the limits for the VPS? etc.

To be clear, I'm not advocating anyone do this nor am I trying to cheat cPanel of its deserved revenue. I just wish they'd answer the question.

 

[es2alna]

Hi,

I would like to give you some info that will answer your questions.

I've thought before to do something like that and I'm sure it will work perfectly without any issues but my idea was more efficient than yours because if you make a container it won't act like a dedicated server and will have limits (thanks to the kernel), the limits here are resources.

My idea was to replace the Kernel with VZ Kernel without installing a container, as you can notice this will also work without issues.

What prevented me to do so are 2 points:

1- I didn't test it before and I won't use it on a production server.
2- I like to be honest with myself and give people what they really deserve.

cPanel here worked very hard to provide us with such an amazing control panel -not flawless- but perfect, so I guess its not a big deal to pay extra bucks to appreciate their work. Consider it a donation or appreciation for their job.

Final words: Try to appreciate others work so you could find who will appreciate your work.

Thanks,

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hello

I just wanted to note that I do see ticket 4532311 is still active. It's not been closed, so you should expect a response at some point in the future. Note that the longer than normal response time is due to the legal nature of the question.

Thank you.