What is WHMCS? How to install whmcs on a server

What is WHMCS? How to install the WHMCS billing system on any server, namely a VPSie.

 

Starting a website hosting business or simply offering web hosting services to clients is a great way to deliver value-added services locally and globally.

 

With web designers and developers in mind, it can be a way to bundle additional services and products with a client and maintain an ongoing relationship after development has been carried out for clients.

 

WHMCS billing and client manager can be used to automate the creation and management of web hosting services for clients while you sleep. This information will explain WHMCS and how it can be used for your business needs.

 

What does WHMCS stand for exactly?

WHMCS means Web Host Manager Complete Solution. WHMCS was initially developed as a billing system control panel, which allowed the automated provisioning and creation of cPanel hosting accounts using the Web Host Manager control panel within cPanel and WHMCS.

 

What is WHMCS used for?

WHMCS is not only a fully supported web hosting client management panel with continuous 3rd part integrations. The primary purpose of WHMCS is to provide web hosting businesses ​with a cart system that can be integrated into websites so that visitors can purchase web hosting services, which are then automatically set up.

 

Unlike a traditional cart or billing system, WHMCS integrates with a vast range of website hosting servers and related applications and scripts so that when a client/customer purchases a service on your website, WHMCS will collect payment or multiple payments, create a user account for clients to manage their services, and automatically provision web hosting accounts on any given hosting server, you have configured.

 

WHMCS provisioning and automation saves web hosting sellers hours of manually configured work, makings customer communications and queries straightforward for admins and end-users. WHMCS provides all of the tools and options you need to create client/customer creation and automation, and management happens, including:

 

Customer Support

Billing Management

Auto provides customers with accounts and access information

Creation of hosting services with no human input

Reports

Fraud Management and reporting

Order Management

Domain Registration

WHMCS is not only used for setting up cPanel accounts on your VPS server. WHMCS be used to automate provisioning on so many systems to name a few:

VirtualEnvironmentss

VPN Accounts

Game Servers

VPS Hosting

Domains

Email Accounts

Dedicated Servers

Cloud Hosting

And a wide variety of other web services and online business-related products that can be automated.

 

How much does WHMCS cost per month?

WHMCS pricing is billed monthly based on the number of clients you have and with or without WHMCS branding. WHMCS starts at $15.95/month for up to a maximum of 250 clients, going up to a maximum of $39.95/month for unlimited clients. Below is the current pricing for WHMCS as of 2020/2021.

The monthly cost of Plans

Starter

Price USD 15.95

Number of Clients 250

Includes “WHMCS” branded link

Plus

USD 18.95

250 Clients

Customizable/No Branding

Professional

USD 24.95

1000 Clients

Customizable/No Branding

Business

USD 39.95

Unlimited Clients

Customizable/No Branding

Priority Support

WHMCS is self-hosted,d which means that the WHMCS billing automation system will be hosted on your own VPSie service; you will need to consider the cost of setting up a server to house the control panel for clients.

 

How do I and how would I use WHMCS?

Getting started with WHMCS is easy if you Follow these steps:

Purchase a license for WHMCS on the official website. Select a plan depending on the number of clients that order web hosting from your website. You can start small and then upgrade or downgrade whenever you need to.

 

Purchase a VPSie server, then install WHMCS using the WHMCS installation guide. VPSie recommends a server using cPanel / WHM so that WHMCS can be easily installed without much skills needed. WHMCS is also available with the Softaculous app,p which we highly recommend; if you have Softaculous available with your hosting provider or as a license, it would be much easier for long-term management and upgrades.

 

When the WHMCS installation is completed, you can begin configuring the billing system (whmcs.) Configuring WHMCS by creating products, setting up the design of the panel on your website, and many textual and graphical edits needed to make your website look professional to clients and visitors.

 

You can now integrate WHMCS into your main website or company domain.com website or use WHMCS as a stand-alone billing system shopping cart for users to purchase domains and other hosting services you may wish to provide.

 

What is a WHMCS module?

A WHMCS module is a third-party add-on that can be integrated into WHMCS to add functionality to the panel or merge it with another service. For example,

 

VPSie could develop a WHMCS module so that hypothetically resellers of VPSie servers can fully automate an order process of a server or allow clients to add server management functions into their client area for their clients/customers.

What are the alternative billing systems to the WHMCS billing system?

WHMCS isn’t the only billing system when it comes down to web host management systems. While WHMCS is the most popular web-hosted billing system, alternative options include Clientexec and Blesta. 2votess worth considering and researching, you should check that the application meets the needs you want to automate and has a module for the control panel you want to use, for example, ControlWebPanel.

 

Finally

Once you have installed WHMCS, you need a server hosting partner you can trust to deploy/provide servers your clients will be hosted on. We recommend booking a server consultation to listen to your needs and find a server that meets your needs and budget at VPSie.com.

 

How to Quickly Setup and Install WHMCS on your VPS Server

Once you have purchased a license directly from WHMCS, you will have access to the source files in a zip file archive to set up WHMCS on your VPS server, dedicated server, or shared web hosting server.

 

Operating System (OS) Centos 7 (64bit)

Get a web server up and running,g preferably Apache2 with PH, P, and configure your DNS records to point to your VPSie IP address. Most use CloudFlare for easy DNS management and energy using an A record in your domain settings of the cloudflare.com account.

 

yum install apache2 php php-cli

 

Install MySQL or MariaDB. VPSie would highly recommend MariaDB, a third-party 100% compliant MySQL replacement that is more resource intensive friendly, compatible, and much faster. 

 

Run the following command:

 Yum install mysql mysql-server

Put the WHMCS files in the zip into /var/www/ or the folder you created to be your website’s root.

 

1s,t edit permissions chmod 777 the configuration.php file and then open up the directory in your web browser where the WHMCS source files are. g.g: domain.com/billin.g You can enter your VPS Server (VPSie) IP address or domain name, aka hostname, into your web browser.

 

Now a WHMCS install page will appear and help you install whmcs on your VPS server or server. It would be best to have a SQL database name, a username/password with the correct permissions to the particular database, and a valid license key from whmcs.com for this WHMCS installer. After everything is finished, your WHMCS is up and running and ready for tasks. If you are finding any difficulty, read all official WHMCS documentation on the official website.

 

WHMCS VPSie module variables