# Netdata on a cPanel or DirectAdmin Server: EPEL vs Official Install, Security and Licence (Tested)

Source: https://srvscripts.com/guides/netdata-cpanel-directadmin-install/
Updated: 2026-10-17
Publisher: srvScripts (https://srvscripts.com/)

**Short answer:** for Netdata on cPanel (AlmaLinux) you can install Netdata from EPEL (`dnf install netdata`) or with Netdata’s official script (`kickstart.sh`). The official install is newer (2.12.1 vs 2.2.6 in our test) and includes the collectors for MySQL, Apache and web logs. However, it **listened on 0.0.0.0:19999 with no login**, so we could open the dashboard from another server. After any install, set `bind to = 127.0.0.1 ::1` in the `[web]` section of `/etc/netdata/netdata.conf`, restart, and reach it through an SSH tunnel. The Netdata agent is GPLv3. The dashboard of the official build is under Netdata’s own NCUL1 licence, and Netdata Cloud’s free plan covers 5 nodes.

In short: for Netdata on cPanel (AlmaLinux) you can install Netdata from EPEL (dnf install netdata) or with Netdata's official script (kickstart.sh). The official install is newer (2.12.1 vs 2.2.6 in…

We tested both installs on our cPanel lab (AlmaLinux 9.8, cPanel 138, 4 cores, 3.8 GB RAM) on 11 October 2026, then removed Netdata and restored the server. We did not test on DirectAdmin; the steps are the same apart from the Apache status URL.

## EPEL or the official installer?

|  | EPEL package | Official kickstart.sh |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Version in our test | 2.2.6 | 2.12.1 |
| Install time | 12 s, 12 packages | 40 s, 21 packages plus Netdata’s repo |
| Listens on | 127.0.0.1 and ::1 only | 0.0.0.0:19999 and [::]:19999 (all addresses) |
| Dashboard | Old open-source v1 dashboard (GPL) | Current dashboard (v3 files), licensed NCUL1 |
| go.d collectors (MySQL, Apache, Nginx, web logs, Exim, PHP-FPM …) | Not included; no package for them in EPEL | Included |
| eBPF, OpenTelemetry, systemd-units plugins | No | Yes |
| Charts found on our cPanel lab | 1,703 (system, apps, users, systemd services) | 2,086, plus 41 MySQL and 8 Apache charts after the setup below |
| Memory (all Netdata processes) | About 80 MB | About 275 MB (go.d.plugin alone about 120 MB) |
| Other changes to the server | None | Added netdata.repo, two RPM signing keys, and enabled the CRB repository |
| Updates | With dnf update | With dnf update from Netdata’s repo (plus netdata-updater) |

**Our advice:** on a production hosting server, use EPEL if CPU, memory, disk and per-account charts are enough. Use the official packages if you need the MySQL, Apache and web log collectors, and lock the port down straight after installing.

## Install from EPEL

```
dnf install epel-release
dnf install netdata
systemctl enable --now netdata
ss -ltnp | grep 19999          # 127.0.0.1:19999 and [::1]:19999
```

The service was installed disabled. Once started, it listened on localhost only, because the EPEL build’s config sets `bind to = localhost`.

## Install with the official script

```
curl -fsSL -o /root/netdata-kickstart.sh https://get.netdata.cloud/kickstart.sh
less /root/netdata-kickstart.sh       # read it before running it as root
sh /root/netdata-kickstart.sh --stable-channel --disable-telemetry --non-interactive --native-only
```

- `--native-only` uses Netdata’s RPM/DEB repository instead of a static build in `/opt/netdata`.

- `--disable-telemetry` created `/etc/netdata/.opt-out-from-anonymous-statistics`; without it, anonymous statistics are sent.

- The script ran `dnf config-manager --set-enabled crb` to get dependencies. If you keep repositories minimal on a cPanel server, note it and disable CRB again after the install if nothing else needs it.

- On our lab the service was enabled but not running after the script finished; `systemctl start netdata` started it.

## Lock down port 19999 straight away

With the official install, our second lab server could fetch the dashboard over the internet (`HTTP 200`), because that lab’s firewall was off. On a server where CSF or firewalld only opens the usual panel ports, 19999 stays closed. Do not rely on that alone:

```
cat >> /etc/netdata/netdata.conf