If you own a website, managing it may be challenging without a Linux control panel. Moreover, a smart Linux control panel has become a must-have for website owners because of its many benefits. For instance, a Linux control panel simplifies website management. With that in mind, how can you use a Linux-based control panel to manage your website? Read on to discover a general outline of how to use a free or commercial control panel for managing your website.

How to use a Linux control panel

1. Log in to the control panel

First, there are many things you can do with your Linux-based control panel, like changing email settings, adding a new email account, updating your email password, checking the space on your website, setting a vacation message, and monitoring your web analytics. However, you cannot do these until you log in to your control panel for managing Linux-hosted websites. 

Logging in is simple: open your web browser and navigate to the URL for the control panel. Subsequently, enter your login credentials (username and password), which were included in your hosting guide or welcome mail, to access the control panel.

2. Manage domains

Now that you have access to the Linux-based control panel, you can perform essential website management functions like domain management. So what does domain management entail? It involves keeping your personal or corporate domain(s) stable, secure, and able to support your website(s). Thus, managing your domain is crucial to make your website live and accessible. 

In your free or commercial control panel, you can manage the domains associated with your website, including adding new domains, editing existing domains, and removing domains as needed. 

3. Manage email accounts

Email management is essential for running a website, especially one used for a business. For instance, as your brand or business grows, emails can flood your inbox and cause many problems. Further, important emails can get missed, and you can even find yourself sending out multiple responses to a single email. Yes, it can be that challenging even for website administrators.

With a smart tool to manage Linux-hosted websites, you can prevent most of the challenges you are likely to encounter. A Linux-based control panel makes it possible and straightforward for you to manage email accounts associated with your domains, including setting up or creating new email accounts, editing existing accounts, and managing email forwards, autoresponders, storage, and passwords. 

4. Manage databases

A Linux-based control panel allows you to manage databases associated with your website, including creating new databases, editing existing databases, and backing up and restoring databases as needed. You can also install the most popular database management software like MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, and PostgreSQL to manage your large amounts of data.

For every Linux control panel, there are different database management software natively included with the control panel installation. So, you need to know how to access the database management software in your control. Usually, you log into your control panel and search for a database management software manager, select a version if necessary, and install it. Afterward, create databases and users and customize settings. 

5. Manage files

Linux control panels come with a “File Manager” that allows website owners to manage their websites via HTTP. As a result, you won’t have to use an FTP tool or third-party applications. Perhaps you ask: why HTTP? Because it is a less sophisticated feature that provides all the basic file management functionalities simply. 

You can manage the files associated with your website via your control panel, including uploading and downloading files, creating, editing, and organizing files, and managing permissions and ownership. So how do you go about file management tasks? Log into your control panel and locate your File Manager. From there, you can modify the default settings and perform whatever file management task you want. 

6. Monitor website performance

Website monitoring is crucial for optimum website performance and to ensure no disruptions to your website and business. However, monitoring the performance of your website can be complex and challenging because of the many tasks involved. Since keeping an eye on everything has become an uphill battle for website owners, it is essential to use a Linux-based control panel to monitor performance metrics and streamline website performance monitoring.

A control panel provides tools for monitoring website performance, including traffic analysis, resource usage, and error logs. With these tools, it becomes easy to spot and resolve bottlenecks because the monitoring tools enable you to monitor several performance-based metrics and take calculated and informed actions or decisions. 

7. Manage backups

Configuring your control panel and website(s) to suit your needs can be challenging. Likewise, it can be very hard for you to lose your setup due to data corruption or cyber attacks after completing every necessary setting. Thus, the importance of creating and restoring backups. That said, you need not stress over backup management because using a free or commercial control panel makes it a straightforward task.

With your Linux control panel, you can manage backups of your website, including scheduling backups, restoring backups, and downloading backups. Further, some control panels automatically generate backups on your website daily instead of manually generating backups.

Final thoughts

Discussed above are guidelines to help you maximize a Linux-based control panel for managing your website. However, these steps are a general outline and may vary slightly depending on the specific Linux control panel you are using. Besides, there are several free and commercial control panels to choose from in the control panel pool. Thus, it is always a good idea to consult the official documentation of your control panel for more detailed information.