DirectAdmin tutorial for beginners
A DirectAdmin beginner starts at the user login on port 2222 with the details from the host's welcome email. Change the password, create one mailbox in E-mail Manager, upload the site into public_html, add the MySQL database and user, request the free SSL certificate, and download a backup before anything else.
A first-week DirectAdmin walkthrough for users holding one website: log in, mail it, upload it, secure it, back it up.
knowledge
- Read time
- 4 min
- Sections
- 8
- Updated
- 14 Nov 2026
- Written by
- WebJi® team
Last editorial update: 15 November 2026.
Who should use this DirectAdmin tutorial?
Work through this guide when your hosting provider has issued you a DirectAdmin username for one website, and you want the site live and backed up without reading the whole manual. Every step below happens at the User level, which is the login a normal customer receives. The other two levels exist for different jobs, and touching them too early is how beginners break things:
- User: your domains, mailboxes, files, databases and SSL certificates. This tutorial never leaves it.
- Reseller: packages and customer accounts, for people who sell hosting. Skip it until you do.
- Admin: server hostname, IP addresses and full-server backups. Skip it unless the server is yours.
On the Evolution skin one login can expose all three levels, and the switch is the level menu at the top of the page. If it reads Admin or Reseller, set it to User before you create mail or upload files. Note which panel you actually hold: WebJi® Linux shared hosting is managed through the ControlPanel.Systems panel, and cPanel hosting is a separate WebJi® product at ₹297 a month — a DirectAdmin login therefore arrives from whichever host issued it. The panel-by-panel differences are covered in cPanel vs DirectAdmin.
How do you log in to DirectAdmin the first time?
Your host's welcome email holds the panel address, the username and the first password, and the panel itself answers on port 2222. The address is normally https followed by the server hostname or your domain, then :2222. A certificate warning on that port is the panel's own certificate, not your website — continue only when the hostname in the browser matches the one in the mail.
- Open the panel address from the welcome email and sign in. On the Evolution skin, set the level menu to User.
- Open Account Manager → Password and set a password you use nowhere else — not for mail, not for WordPress.
- Log out and sign in again with the new password. Reaching the dashboard confirms the change took.
If the level menu still shows Admin or Reseller after login, switch it to User before moving to the next section, or you will be configuring the wrong scope.
How do you create your first mailbox?
Open E-mail Manager, then Email Accounts, and add one address — for example info@yourdomain — with its own password and a quota inside your account limit. Then open webmail from the same menu and send a test message to a mailbox you already read; reply to it from there.
The mailbox is proven only when your reply appears in webmail. An address that merely sits in the account list is not evidence. If webmail sends but the outside mailbox never receives, check the domain's MX record at wherever DNS is hosted — do not rebuild the server's nameservers over one mailbox. Deeper mailbox groundwork is in the business email setup guide.
How do you upload your website files?
Open File Manager, enter public_html for your main domain, and upload the site there — the index file belongs directly in that folder, not one level deeper. You can upload files one by one, or upload a single zip and extract it inside public_html.
Reload the domain in the browser. Your own page means the folder is right. A host placeholder, or a bare list of files, means the index file is still one folder too deep — a second public_html nested inside the first is the classic cause. Move the files up and reload. Larger site moves are faster over SSH; the SCP command guide covers secure copies.
How do you create a MySQL database and user?
Open MySQL Management, create the database, create a database user, and grant that user all rights on that one database only. Then open phpMyAdmin from the same area and click the new name — the database appearing in the left column proves it exists.
Write the database name, username and password in a private note; an installer such as WordPress will ask for all three. Never store that password in a file under public_html. When a database misbehaves later, repairing and optimizing MySQL from phpMyAdmin is usually faster than restoring a backup.
How do you turn on HTTPS for the site?
Open Account Manager, then SSL Certificates, and request the free Let's Encrypt certificate for the bare domain and for www if both should open. If a force-HTTPS control is offered on the same screen, switch it on, then refresh the site.
You are done when the address stays on https and the browser shows a padlock. If the request fails with "domain does not point to this account", the domain's A record still points elsewhere — fix that record where DNS is hosted, wait for it to answer, and request the certificate again.
How do you take a backup you can actually restore?
Open Account Manager, then Create/Restore Backups, include domain files, mailboxes and databases, run the backup, and download the finished archive from File Manager to your own computer. A backup that still lives on the same server is not a backup.
Open the downloaded file once: it should be far larger than a few kilobytes. A near-empty archive restores nothing. Only after that download is safe should you install applications — Softaculous and the manual route are both covered in how to install WordPress on DirectAdmin, and keeping copies in more than one place is the point of the 3-2-1 backup rule.
Frequently asked questions
Which DirectAdmin level should a beginner work in?
User. Reseller exists to package and resell hosting accounts; Admin exists to run the server itself. On the Evolution skin all three may be visible behind one login, so check the level menu at the top reads User before creating mailboxes or uploading files.
Why does DirectAdmin ask about a certificate when I log in?
The warning on port 2222 concerns the panel's own self-signed or hostname certificate, not your website's SSL. It is safe to continue when the hostname in the browser bar matches the hostname in your welcome email. Your public site gets its own free Let's Encrypt certificate later, from Account Manager → SSL Certificates.
My site shows a file list instead of my page. What is wrong?
The index file is not directly inside public_html. A common cause is extracting an archive so that a second public_html (or a build folder) nests inside the first. Move the contents up so index.html or index.php sits in public_html itself, then reload the domain.
Does the user backup include email and databases?
Only if you tick those options under Account Manager → Create/Restore Backups before running it. Select domain files, mailboxes and MySQL data together, then download the archive from File Manager. A file kept only on the server will not survive a server failure, so keep a copy off the machine.
Can I follow this guide on WebJi® hosting?
Not on Linux shared plans, because those use the ControlPanel.Systems panel; cPanel hosting at WebJi® is a separate product. This DirectAdmin walkthrough applies wherever a host — including VPS providers — has issued you a DirectAdmin login on port 2222.
Last editorial update: 15 November 2026. Prices follow the dated sources on this page; checkout confirms current charges.
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