Web Administration: No Permission to Create SubDomains

Question: Hi there. I just tried to create a sub-domain of my domain and I received a message that said: “There was a problem creating the sub-domain: You do not have permission to create subdomains of the server’s hostname.“. I have pasted the exact error message below:

The Error Message

In the past, I could do this no problem and now, when I really need to get it done, my cPanel won’t let me. Any idea what’s going on? Thanks for your help. Tracey, Burlington, Vt

Permissions to Create Sub-domains on Server

Tracey, let’s help you with this one.

The reason that you were able to create sub-domains before and not now is that many server management environments, such as the Web Hosting Manager (WHM) software that you will find in most environments, have been updated to more locked-down and secure by default. The ability to do certain tasks, like create a sub-domain, has been removed as a default permission.

However, there is a quick solution so that you can be up and running in no time. You will need to visit your WHM software for the hosting server. If you do not have access to do this because you host with a 3rd party, you can send this document to them so that they know what to do.

Within WHM, click Server Configuration on the home screen, and then click the choice for Tweak Settings as you see in the photo below:

In Tweak Settings, you now want to click the “Domains” tab and your screen should look like this:

As you see in the graphic, you want to set “Allow users to park subdomains of the server’s hostname.” to “On”. Previously, this setting defaulted to “On” which is why people that have upgraded are having problems with sub-domain creation because the default is now “Off”.

Once you make this change Tracey, you should be able to create sub-domains and rid yourself of that little nastygram telling you: “There was a problem creating the sub-domain: You do not have permission to create subdomains of the server’s hostname.”

Hope this helps with your problem and have a great day.

Cheers,
Richard

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Richard Cummings

Director of SEO, Social Media, and Web Content Development at The SEO System

Richard Cummings has been practicing online marketing for many years and has setup and optimized hundreds of WordPress sites.He founded The SEO System to provide SEO, social media, and online marketing services and software to businesses.