Knowing how to use the IP Deny Manager in cPanel is a simple yet powerful way to restrict access to your website by blocking unwanted IP addresses or Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs). It’s an essential feature for improving your site’s security and keeping control over who can view and access your content. This guide explains how to use the IP Blocker, also known as IP Deny Manager, via your cPanel control panel, which is accessible through your Domains.co.za Web Hosting account.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
How to Use IP Deny Manager in cPanel
How to Deny Access to an IP Address or Ranges
This article assumes that you have already logged into your Domains.co.za Account and have accessed the cPanel Dashboard – refer below for steps on how to do this.
1. In the cPanel Dashboard under Tools, scroll down to Security.
2. In cPanel, navigate to the IP Blocker interface
3. Enter the IP address or range in the provided text box. You can input IP addresses in various formats as follows:
FORMAT EXAMPLES:
10.5.3.33 = Single IP address
10.5.3.3-10.5.3.40 = Range
10.5.3.3-40 = Implied range
10.5.3.3/32 = CIDR format
10. = Implied IP address4. Click Add.
IMPORTANT:
When using implied IP addresses like 10., it represents the range 10.*.*.*, blocking access to any IP address beginning with 10.
How to View Currently Blocked IP Addresses
Once added, the system segregates the IP address ranges into subnets in CIDR format and adds them to the .htaccess file. You can view the currently blocked IP addresses in the following:
- Server Setting: Represents the CIDR-formatted IP address range.
- Beginning IP: Indicates the start of the range.
- Ending IP: Denotes the end of the range.
For example, if you block the range 208.74.124.96-208.74.124.128, it will appear in the Currently Blocked IP Addresses list.
How to Unblock an IP Address
To remove an IP address from your list of blocked addresses, follow these steps:
1. Navigate to Currently Blocked IP Addresses and locate the IP address you want to unblock.
2. Click Delete in the Actions column next to the IP address you want to remove from the blocked list.
3. Click Remove IP to finalise the action.
Additional Information
Benefits of Using IP Blocker in cPanel
- Enhanced Security: Block malicious or suspicious IP addresses to protect your site from hacking attempts and other security threats.
- Unauthorised Access Prevention: Restrict specific IP addresses to prevent unauthorised access and manage suspicious behaviour.
- Traffic Management: Reduce unwanted traffic from sources like spam bots or crawlers, which improve site performance and conserve server resources.
- Compliance: Stick to regulatory or security standards by blocking certain IP addresses or ranges.
- Temporary Blocking: Easily block and unblock IP addresses for temporary maintenance or to address security issues.
Login to Domains.co.za Account
1. Go to the Domains.co.za Login website page.
2. Enter your Email and Password and click the Sign In button.
3. You will see the Domains.co.za Dashboard, displaying the Manage Account menu on the left and your Account Information, Account Overview and Open Support Tickets on the right.
Login to cPanel from your Domains.co.za Dashboard
4. Click on Manage Services to view the sub-dropdown menu and select the hosting package for the domain you want to work with – in our example we are using Web Hosting.
5. Click the Manage button to the right of the domain name you want to access.
6. The display will now show Product Information, Quick Manage, Resource Usage and Site Statistics for that domain name.
7. Under Product Information, scroll down to Control Panel, which will display cPanel to the right, and click on the Login button.
8. The cPanel Dashboard will now be displayed.
