# DirectAdmin da CLI: update, build, config-set and More

Source: https://srvscripts.com/guides/directadmin-da-cli/
Updated: 2026-10-06
Publisher: srvScripts (https://srvscripts.com/)

Modern DirectAdmin builds expose one binary, `da`, that wraps most of what used to be a collection of scripts and manual file edits. It updates the panel, drives CustomBuild, reads and writes `directadmin.conf` with validation, and offers a growing set of user-management subcommands. For anyone automating servers — provisioning scripts, configuration management, or just a consistent runbook — it is the interface to standardise on, because the underlying files and their formats change between releases while the CLI stays stable. The tool is self-documenting; `da --help` and `da <subcommand> --help` list what your build supports, and this guide covers the subcommands that matter day to day.

In short: da update upgrades the panel on the channel set by update_channel, da build <target> wraps CustomBuild, da config-get and da config-set read and write directadmin.conf with validation and an automatic reload since 1.710, and da login-url…

**Short answer:** `da update` upgrades the panel on the channel set by `update_channel`, `da build <target>` wraps CustomBuild, `da config-get` and `da config-set` read and write `directadmin.conf` with validation and an automatic reload since 1.710, and `da suspend-user`, `da unsuspend-user` and `da login-url` cover account tasks. Keep production servers on the `stable` channel and use `da <subcommand> --help` to see what the installed build supports.

## Version and channels

DirectAdmin releases every two to three weeks; 1.711 shipped on 2026-09-22 and 1.712 is expected shortly. Releases flow through four channels: `alpha`, `beta`, `current` and `stable`. `current` receives each release as it is published; `stable` lags by a release or two so that regressions found by `current` users are fixed first. Production hosting nodes belong on `stable`; a staging server on `current` tells you what is coming.

```
da version
da config-get update_channel
da config-set update_channel stable
```

Note that `./build update_versions` in CustomBuild no longer updates DirectAdmin itself since 1.704; it only refreshes CustomBuild’s version list. The panel is updated with:

```
da update
```

That fetches the newest build for the configured channel and restarts the service. Updates are also applied automatically by the daily task queue when auto-updates are enabled in **Admin Level → Admin Settings**, which we recommend on the stable channel given the security fixes in recent releases (the 1.711 TLS privilege-escalation fix is a recent example). To pin a server temporarily, disable the automatic update in Admin Settings rather than changing channels, so you do not forget the channel change later.

## The CustomBuild wrapper

`da build` is a wrapper around `/usr/local/directadmin/custombuild/build`. The two forms are interchangeable, and the wrapper saves a `cd`:

```
da build update
da build versions
da build options | grep webserver
da build set php1_release 8.4
da build php
da build rewrite_confs
```

`da build update` refreshes the CustomBuild scripts and version metadata; run it before any other build target on a server that has not been touched for a while. `da build versions` compares installed and available versions of everything CustomBuild manages, which is the quickest way to see that PHP or MariaDB is behind. `da build set` writes `options.conf` with validation, so a typo in an option name is rejected rather than silently ignored. Every target that `./build` accepts works through `da build`.

## Reading and writing directadmin.conf

`da config-get` and `da config-set` are the supported way to change panel settings. They validate the key, write `/usr/local/directadmin/conf/directadmin.conf`, and since 1.710 reload the running service automatically, so a `systemctl restart directadmin` after each change is no longer needed:

```
da config-get ssl
da config-set dkim 1
da config-set acme_disable_after_failures 5
da config | grep ^acme_
```

Editing the file by hand still works but bypasses validation, and a malformed line stops the panel from starting. Keys that existed only in old releases are removed on update — 1.703 dropped the `letsencrypt_*` family in favour of `acme_*` — so a provisioning script that sets a removed key gets an error from `config-set`, which is exactly what you want rather than a silently ignored setting.

A few keys need a full restart even now, notably anything affecting the listening port or bind address. `da config-set` prints a note when that applies.

## User administration

DirectAdmin 1.712 has no `da user` command group, so older examples with `da user list` or `da user suspend` fail. Suspending and unsuspending are top-level commands that take `--user` or `--domain` and a reason id; the ids (billing, abuse, spam, inactive, other and the quota ones) are listed in `/usr/local/directadmin/data/templates/suspension_reason.txt`. The account list is the user data directory, and instead of setting a password on the command line you create a short-lived single-sign-on link. We ran `da suspend-domain` and `da unsuspend-domain` on a DirectAdmin 1.712 test server (the site returned 403 while suspended and 200 after); `da suspend-user` takes the same options. Run `da --help` to see the commands on your build.

```
ls /usr/local/directadmin/data/users/
da suspend-user --user=example --reason=billing
da unsuspend-user --user=example
da suspend-domain --domain=example.com --reason=abuse
da unsuspend-domain --domain=example.com
da login-url --user=example --expiry=10m
```

[](https://srvscripts.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/da-suspend-domain-1006.png)da suspend-domain –reason=billing, then da unsuspend-domain: the site returns 403 while suspended and 200 after. DirectAdmin 1.712, 6 Oct 2026.

[](https://srvscripts.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/da-cli-checks-1006.png)The other commands from this guide on the same server — exit code 0. The login key is replaced with “Token”; IP addresses masked.

For anything not covered, the `/api/` HTTP endpoints are the alternative. The legacy `CMD_*` endpoints are being removed release by release (`CMD_AJAX_GET_COUNTS` in 1.704, the limits endpoints in 1.706, the file-manager tree endpoint in 1.711, `CMD_AJAX_SEARCH` in 1.712), so scripts written against them need updating; [Replacing removed legacy API endpoints](/guides/directadmin-removed-api-endpoints/) has the mapping.

## Task queue and service control

Some operations are still queued rather than executed by the CLI. The task queue file is processed every minute:

```
echo "action=rewrite&value=named" >> /usr/local/directadmin/data/task.queue
echo "action=rewrite&value=httpd" >> /usr/local/directadmin/data/task.queue
```

Failures land in `/var/log/directadmin/errortaskq.log`. Service restarts go through systemd, and since 1.691 the panel’s Service Monitor is systemd-only, so use `systemctl restart exim` rather than legacy init scripts.

## Common pitfall: running da as the wrong user

`da` must run as root. Running it under `sudo` from a user shell works, but running it as the `diradmin` service user does not, and the failure modes are confusing: `config-set` reports success while writing to a file the panel never reads, or `build` cannot write to `custombuild/`. Provisioning tools should invoke it from a root session and check the exit code.

## Verify

After any change, confirm the setting took effect and the panel is healthy:

```
da config-get update_channel
da version
systemctl is-active directadmin
tail -n 20 /var/log/directadmin/error.log
```

For CustomBuild changes, `da build versions` should show the installed version matching the option you set. Keep a short script that runs these four commands after every update; it takes seconds and catches the one release in twenty that needs a manual follow-up. Update-related failures, including license refresh problems, are covered in [DirectAdmin license errors and da update failures](/guides/directadmin-license-error-update-failures/).

## DirectAdmin da CLI at a glance

**Official documentation:** [DirectAdmin documentation](https://docs.directadmin.com/), [Linux man pages](https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/).

**Related guides:** [DirectAdmin removed legacy API endpoints in 2025–2026: what they were and their /api/ replacements](https://srvscripts.com/guides/directadmin-removed-api-endpoints/) · [Broken custom Apache/nginx templates after the DOCROOT token change in DirectAdmin 1.710](https://srvscripts.com/guides/directadmin-docroot-token-1-710/) · [Installing DirectAdmin on AlmaLinux 9/10 and Debian 13 (modern license, web installer vs CLI)](https://srvscripts.com/guides/install-directadmin-almalinux-debian-13/).

## Frequently asked questions

### Does da config-set also work on older DirectAdmin builds?

The `da` binary and its `config-set` subcommand exist on all Go-based builds, but the automatic reload only arrived in 1.710; on earlier releases run `systemctl restart directadmin` after changing a setting.

### How long does da update take?

Typically under a minute: the download is a single binary of a few tens of megabytes and the service restart takes seconds, so users notice at most a brief interruption to the panel interface.

### Can I undo this?

A `da config-set` change is reversed by setting the previous value again, and CustomBuild options by `da build set` with the old value. Reverting a panel update means switching to a channel that still carries the older release and running `da update`, which is rarely needed.