Create your first client account in WHM

July 21, 2026 · 3 min read · Markdown

This guide is for DrivenHost resellers creating their first client account. You will do it in WHM, the reseller control panel, and the order matters: build a package first, then create the account from it. You need your WHM login and the client's domain name.

Create a package first

A package is a reusable template of limits: disk space, bandwidth, number of email accounts, databases, and so on. You could type limits by hand on every account, but packages keep your clients consistent and make later changes painless, since editing a package updates every account assigned to it.

1. Log in to WHM.
2. In the search box at the top left, type Packages, then click Add a Package.
3. Give it a name that describes the tier, such as basic or business, not a client's name. Packages outlive individual clients.
4. Set the resource limits: disk quota, monthly bandwidth, and the maximums for email accounts, databases, subdomains, and addon domains. Start conservative; you can raise limits on a package at any time, and think about how many of these accounts fit inside your own reseller allocation.
5. Leave the settings you do not recognize at their defaults and click Add.

Plan to end up with two or three packages covering the tiers you sell. Resist creating a bespoke package per client.

Create the client account

1. In the WHM search box, type Create a New Account.
2. Enter the client's domain. A username is suggested automatically from the domain; the default is fine.
3. Set a strong password, or generate one, and enter the client's email address. That address receives account notices and is where their password resets go, so it must be theirs, not yours.
4. Under Package, select the package you just made.
5. Leave the DNS and mail routing settings at their defaults unless you know you need otherwise, then click Create.

WHM confirms the account and shows the new account's details. The client's site will resolve once their domain's nameservers or DNS records point at your reseller hosting.

What the client sees, and keeping logins separate

Your client gets a normal cPanel login: File Manager, email, databases, backups, all scoped to their own account. They never see WHM, your other clients, or your reseller settings.

Keep your own hosting separate from your reseller role. Do not host your personal or business site inside the WHM root reseller account itself; create a cPanel account for your own site the same way you just did for the client. And never do a client's day-to-day work while logged in as them with a password you both share. If you need to work inside their cPanel, use the account list in WHM (List Accounts) and click the cPanel icon beside the account to log in without a password. Their credentials stay theirs, yours stay yours.

If it didn't work

• "Domain already exists" or a username conflict. The domain is on another account somewhere on the server, possibly a half-finished earlier attempt. Check List Accounts and remove or rename the duplicate.
• Creation fails with a resource or quota error. The package's limits exceed what remains in your reseller allocation. Lower the package limits or review what your existing accounts are using.
• The account was created but the site does not load. That is almost always DNS: the client's domain is not pointing at your hosting yet. Nothing is wrong with the account.

If WHM throws an error you cannot read, paste it into a ticket at /support and we'll decode it.

Stuck partway through? Support is answered by the engineers who run the servers, around the clock.

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