> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.noxity.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Web hosting — first steps

> What to do in the first ten minutes after your hosting plan provisions: log into cPanel, point your domain, set up email, install your site, enable SSL, configure backups.

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  <div className="mb-3 text-sm text-gray-500 dark:text-gray-400">
    Updated: April 29, 2026
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          By <strong className="font-semibold">Matic Bončina</strong>
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          Founder
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Your welcome email has a cPanel URL, a username, and a temporary password. From there it's a short walk to a live, backed-up site. This page goes through the order most people work in.

No hosting plan yet? The [pricing page on noxity.io](https://noxity.io) lists what's included at each tier. If the welcome email never arrived, jump to [No email received?](/home/essentials/no-email-received).

## The first ten minutes

<Steps>
  <Step title="Log into cPanel">
    Open the cPanel URL from the welcome email. For shared plans this is usually `https://cpanel.noxity.io:2083`; VPS and container plans get a per-server URL. Sign in with the username and temporary password from the email.

    First thing once inside: change the password. Top-right corner, your name, **Password & Security**, set something you'll remember. We treat the temporary password as one-time-use.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Point your domain at the account">
    If the domain is registered with Noxity, open the [domain panel](/domains/management/panel) and set nameservers to **In-house DNS** (the cPanel pair: `ns1.noxity.io` and `ns2.noxity.io`{/* TODO: confirm exact nameserver hostnames */}). The change saves at the registry within seconds; resolvers pick it up over the next hour.

    If the domain is registered elsewhere, log into that registrar and change the nameservers there to the same Noxity pair. To keep DNS at the existing host instead, point an A record at the IP from your welcome email. Both shapes are covered on [external DNS](/domains/management/ns/external).

    A temporary `<account>.servernoxity.io` URL ships in the welcome email so you can test before DNS propagates.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set up email">
    cPanel's **Email Accounts** tool creates `you@yourdomain.com` in two clicks. Pick the username, set a password, click **Create**. To connect from Apple Mail, Outlook, or any IMAP client, hit **Connect Devices** on the account; the connection details fill in for you.

    Forwarders (`info@yourdomain` redirects to some Gmail address) live under **Forwarders** in the same section. Catch-all addresses sit under **Default Address**. Full walkthrough on [Email accounts](/web-hosting/cpanel/email-management/email-accounts).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Install your site (or upload it)">
    For a fresh WordPress install, open **WP Toolkit**, click **Install**, pick the domain, set the admin login. Five clicks; PHP version, database, and SSL configure themselves. Detailed walkthrough on [WordPress installations](/web-hosting/cpanel/domain-management/wordpress-management/installations).

    To upload an existing site, use **File Manager** (browser), **FTP** (port 21), or **SSH/SFTP** (Power plans, port 22). Files go into `public_html/` for the primary domain, or `public_html/subdomain/` for sub- and add-on domains.

    For other CMS or framework installs (Drupal, Joomla, Magento, custom Laravel, Node.js), see the [Application Hosting](/web-hosting/application-hosting/cms/wordpress/wordpress-example) section.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm SSL is live">
    Let's Encrypt issues a certificate automatically once the domain resolves to the account. Open `https://yourdomain.com` in a browser; you should see the padlock without warnings. If not, **SSL/TLS Status** in cPanel shows what's missing. The usual culprit is a DNS record that hasn't propagated yet, or an HTTP-01 validation that needs the domain reachable. Walk-through on [SSL/TLS overview](/web-hosting/cpanel/security-settings/ssl-tls-certificates/overview).

    <Tip>
      Behind Cloudflare or another proxy, the validation route changes. See [SSL/TLS settings](/web-hosting/cpanel/security-settings/ssl-tls-certificates/settings) for the proxy-friendly setup.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm backups are running">
    JetBackup runs nightly off-server backups by default. Nothing to enable. Open **JetBackup 5** in cPanel and the **Home** screen shows the last successful backup date and the retention window. Take a fresh manual snapshot once the site is set up so your rollback target is your "good" state, not whatever was on day one.

    Restoring from a backup is one click. Full walk-through on [JetBackup](/web-hosting/cpanel/file-management/jetbackup).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## After the first ten minutes

The basics are done. Common next steps:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Add another domain" icon="plus" href="/web-hosting/cpanel/domain-management/domains">
    Add-on, parked, and sub-domains all configure the same way under **Domains** in cPanel.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Set up a database" icon="database" href="/web-hosting/cpanel/database-management/manage-databases">
    MySQL / MariaDB databases via the **Databases** section. WordPress and Drupal already created theirs in step 4.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Tune performance" icon="bolt" href="/web-hosting/cpanel/software/accelerate-wp/overview">
    AccelerateWP for WordPress sites: caching, optimisation, the works. LSCache plus Redis on the LiteSpeed side covers the rest.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Lock the account down" icon="shield" href="/web-hosting/cpanel/security-settings/overview">
    Imunify360, IP blocker, Mod Security, two-factor on cPanel itself. Skim the **Security Settings** section once.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="My welcome email lists a temporary domain. Can I use it forever?">
    The `<account>.servernoxity.io` URL stays valid as long as your account exists, but it's intended for testing while DNS propagates. Don't link to it from public content. It doesn't pass SEO well, and we reserve the right to retire individual servers' temp domains during infrastructure changes.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I move the existing files from my old host without a migration?">
    Sure. Download via your old host's File Manager or FTP, upload to ours. For WordPress sites, plugins like All-in-One WP Migration produce a single-file export you can re-import here. For larger sites or anything with a database, the [migration team](/web-hosting/migrations/inbound/inbound-example) handles cPanel-to-cPanel for free.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The site loads fine on `<account>.servernoxity.io` but the real domain shows the old host">
    DNS hasn't propagated yet, or the nameservers at the registry haven't updated. Confirm at the [registry](https://lookup.icann.org/) what nameservers your domain currently points at. If they're not the Noxity ones (or the IP isn't ours), the change either hasn't been made or hasn't been picked up yet. Resolvers cache DNS for the length of the previous record's TTL, often up to 24 hours.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I logged in but cPanel looks different from the screenshots">
    cPanel ships several themes; we run the default Jupiter theme. If you see a different one, your hoster previously set it. Your [Members Area](https://members.noxity.io) account profile lets you switch back, but the underlying tools work the same way regardless.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Need a hand?

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Open a ticket" icon="life-ring" href="https://members.noxity.io/submitticket.php">
    Best for anything that needs an account check or a config change on our end.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Live chat" icon="messages" href="https://noxity.io/contact">
    Faster for quick questions during business hours.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<div className="mt-8">
  <Accordion title="Sources" icon="book-bookmark">
    * [Web Hosting overview](/web-hosting/overview)
    * [Migrations](/web-hosting/migrations/migrations-example)
    * [Domain panel](/domains/management/panel) · [In-house DNS](/domains/management/ns/inhouse) · [External DNS](/domains/management/ns/external)
    * [Email accounts](/web-hosting/cpanel/email-management/email-accounts)
    * [SSL/TLS overview](/web-hosting/cpanel/security-settings/ssl-tls-certificates/overview)
    * [JetBackup](/web-hosting/cpanel/file-management/jetbackup)

    <div className="mt-4 pt-4 border-t border-gray-200 dark:border-gray-800 text-xs text-gray-500 dark:text-gray-400 italic leading-relaxed">
      These guides were ported from our legacy knowledgebase by AI, then reviewed and extensively tested by humans before publication to ensure the migration went through smoothly.
    </div>
  </Accordion>
</div>