cPanel /scripts Commands: upcp, Licence Refresh, Package Repair and Service Restarts (cPanel 138)

These are the cPanel scripts (in /scripts and /usr/local/cpanel) that server admins use most, each run and checked on cPanel & WHM 138.

Applies to cPanel & WHM 138.0 build 15 (RELEASE tier); AlmaLinux 9.8; MariaDB 10.11; lab test 11 Oct 2026

Short answer:

• Version: /usr/local/cpanel/cpanel -V.
• Refresh the licence: /usr/local/cpanel/cpkeyclt.
• Update: /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/upcp. Add --force to reinstall the current version, or --sync to repair without upgrading.
• Check and repair cPanel’s own packages: scripts/check_cpanel_pkgs --list-only, then --fix.
• Restart a service the cPanel way: scripts/restartsrv_SERVICE.

/scripts is a link to /usr/local/cpanel/scripts, so /scripts/upcp also works.

We checked every script on this page on our cPanel lab server (cPanel & WHM 138.0 build 15, RELEASE tier, AlmaLinux 9.8) on 11 October 2026. We confirmed each one exists, read its --help, and ran the read-only and safe ones: the version, cpkeyclt, check_cpanel_pkgs --list-only, restartsrv_exim --status, whoowns and check_unreliable_resolvers. We did not run upcp --force, --fix or the account scripts, because they change the server.

Careful: some scripts ignore --help and just run

Before you type --help after an unfamiliar cPanel script, know that several of them do not understand it and simply do their job. On our cPanel 138 lab:

• cleanupmysqlprivs started removing MySQL privileges (UPDATE user SET Create_priv='N' ...). On MariaDB 10.4 and later mysql.user is a view, so it stopped at the first statement with ERROR 1356 and changed nothing. On an old MySQL it would have changed users’ rights. Do not run it on a modern server.
• updateuserdomains and fix-cpanel-perl ran without printing anything.
• autorepair tried to download a repair named --help from cPanel and failed.

Read the script first (less /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/NAME) or check cPanel’s documentation before running anything you do not know.

Version and licence

/usr/local/cpanel/cpanel -V          # 138.0 (build 15)
/usr/local/cpanel/cpkeyclt           # Updating cPanel license...Done. Update succeeded.
ls -l /usr/local/cpanel/cpanel.lisc  # the licence file cpkeyclt refreshes

cpkeyclt asks cPanel’s licence server again, which fixes most “licence invalid” messages after an IP change or a renewal. If it fails, see “cPanel license is invalid”: troubleshooting.

Update cPanel: upcp

/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/upcp              # update according to /etc/cpupdate.conf
/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/upcp --force      # reinstall even if up to date
/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/upcp --sync       # repair the installed version, no upgrade (not with --force)
/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/upcp --bg         # run in the background; output only in the log
/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/upcp --security   # only expedited security updates (also runs hourly from cron)

These options come from upcp --help on cPanel 138. --security is new: it applies a security release for your current major version, and packages that cPanel has flagged as security fixes. It follows SECURITY_UPDATES and RPMUP in /etc/cpupdate.conf and does nothing when there is nothing to apply. --cron makes a run follow WHM’s Update Preferences. The settings file on our lab:

CPANEL=release
RPMUP=daily
SARULESUP=daily
SECURITY_UPDATES=hourly
STAGING_DIR=/usr/local/cpanel
UPDATES=daily

Logs are in /var/cpanel/updatelogs/. Choosing a tier: LTS 134, RELEASE 138 or STABLE. When upcp fails: upcp failed: upgrade blocked.

Check and repair cPanel’s packages

/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/check_cpanel_pkgs --list-only     # list altered or missing cPanel packages
/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/check_cpanel_pkgs --long-list     # the same, with the altered files
/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/check_cpanel_pkgs --fix           # reinstall the affected packages

It checks cPanel-managed packages for changed ownership, MD5 mismatches, wrong symlinks and packages that should or should not be installed. On our lab, --list-only took 17 seconds, printed nothing and exited 0, which means everything was intact. --targets limits the check to some packages, and --no-digest speeds it up by skipping the checksum check.

Restart services: restartsrv_*

/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/restartsrv_httpd             # soft restart (default)
/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/restartsrv_httpd --graceful
/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/restartsrv_httpd --hard      # skip the soft restart
/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/restartsrv_exim --status     # is it running? (also the exit code)
/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/restartsrv_dovecot --stop

cPanel 138 on our lab has 46 restartsrv_ scripts, including apache_php_fpm, cpsrvd, cphulkd, dovecot, exim, ftpd, httpd, mysql, named, pdns and postgresql. List them with ls /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/restartsrv_*. Prefer these over systemctl restart on cPanel servers: they use cPanel’s own service handling and support the soft and graceful restarts shown above.

Accounts and ownership

Script	What it does	Note
whoowns DOMAIN	Prints the cPanel user that owns a domain	Ran it: site1
pkgacct USER / restorepkg FILE	Back up / restore one account	See pkgacct and restorepkg
wwwacct DOMAIN USER PASS ...	Create an account	Prefer whmapi1 createacct; wwwacct takes positional arguments
removeacct USER	Terminate an account	killacct does not exist on cPanel 138
updateuserdomains	Rebuild the user/domain maps	Runs straight away, no prompt
modify_accounts	Change accounts’ theme or style	Read its --help
fixquotas	Recalculate disk quotas	See fixquotas repair
mailperm	Fix mail file permissions
rebuildhttpdconf	Rebuild the Apache configuration	Then restartsrv_httpd
cpbackup	Run the configured cPanel backup now

Other useful cPanel scripts and server roles

Script	What it does
setupmailserver, setupftpserver, setupnameserver	Switch the mail, FTP or DNS server software
check_unreliable_resolvers	Tests the resolvers in /etc/resolv.conf (our lab: OK)
update_local_rpm_versions	Changes which package versions cPanel installs (advanced)
rebuild_whm_chrome	Rebuilds the WHM interface frame after plugin changes
convert_roundcube_mysql2sqlite	Moves Roundcube’s storage from MySQL to SQLite

Scripts that are gone

Old guides still mention scripts that do not exist on cPanel 138. On our lab these were missing:

• killacct (use removeacct)
• rebuild_dns_config
• setupmysqlserver
• checkallsslcerts (it moved to /usr/local/cpanel/bin/checkallsslcerts)
• fixmailboxperms (use mailperm)
• migrate_ea3_to_ea4 and makecpphp (EasyApache 3 is long gone)
• install_lets_encrypt_autossl_provider and rebuild_mailman_config

Before you rely on a script from an old guide, check that it exists: ls /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/NAME.

Vendor reference: the cPanel & WHM documentation.

Frequently asked questions

Reading a lot of our guides? Go ad-free with srvScripts Pro for $6 a month. It also pays for new guides. Cancel any time.