Installing Apps with Softaculous

Softaculous is the one click installer inside your cPanel. It sets up popular web applications, including WordPress, handling the file uploads and database creation for you. What would take a developer the better part of an hour happens in a few minutes with a short form. By the end of this article, you will know how to install any application Softaculous offers, and how to keep those installations updated.

What Softaculous can install

Softaculous offers hundreds of applications: WordPress for websites and blogs, Joomla and Drupal as alternatives, OpenCart and PrestaShop for online stores, phpBB for forums, and many smaller tools for galleries, surveys, and customer support. If you are unsure which application fits your project, WordPress is the safe default for most business websites. Our Installing WordPress on Managed Hosting article covers that path specifically.

Installing an application, step by step

1. Open cPanel from your client area (My Services, click your hosting plan, then the cPanel login).
2. Find the Softaculous Apps Installer icon, usually in the Software section, and click it.
3. Browse or search for the application you want, then click Install.
4. Fill in the setup form. The important fields are:
   • Choose Domain: pick the domain where the app should live. Leave the directory field empty to install at the domain root (yourbusiness.com), or type a folder name like blog to install at yourbusiness.com/blog.
   • Site Name and Description: your website’s name as visitors will see it. You can change this later.
   • Admin Username and Password: choose something strong and unique. Do not use “admin” as the username.
   • Admin Email: your real email address, used for password resets and notifications.
5. Click Install at the bottom. Wait for the progress bar to finish. Do not close the tab mid install.
6. When it completes, Softaculous shows your new site’s address and the admin login link. Bookmark the admin link.

Keeping installations updated

Softaculous can update your applications for you. In the Softaculous dashboard, the Installations view (the small box icon at the top) lists everything you have installed, with update icons next to anything out of date. Updating through Softaculous is safer than updating files by hand, because it preserves your settings. Take a backup before major updates, just in case. If you run WordPress, also read The First 5 Settings to Change After Installing WordPress once your install is done.

Removing an application cleanly

If you installed something as a test and no longer want it, remove it through Softaculous rather than deleting files in File Manager. Open Installations, click the red X next to the app, and choose to remove the files and database. This leaves no orphaned database tables or stray folders behind.

Common questions

Can I install WordPress in a subfolder and move it later?

You can, but it adds a migration step. If the site is meant to live at your main domain eventually, install it there from the start unless you have a specific reason to stage it elsewhere.

What if the installer says a database already exists?

That usually means a previous install attempt left a database behind. Remove the old installation through Softaculous first, then install fresh.

Staging and cloning: test without fear

Softaculous can clone an installation or create a staging copy, which is a duplicate of your site in a subfolder where you can test changes safely. This is ideal before a major update or redesign. Experiment on the staging copy, and only apply the changes to the live site when you are happy. If the experiment goes wrong, delete the staging copy and your live site never knew it happened. For a business website, this is the professional way to test.

Still stuck? Open a support ticket and tell us which application you are installing and where it got stuck. We will sort it out.