How to manage your applications in Softaculous

This article describes how to manage your installed applications in Softaculous. You can back up and restore applications, do updates, and more.

Updating an application

Depending on your Softaculous settings, you may receive automated e-mail notifications when an update for one of your applications is available. Otherwise, you must manually check for application updates. In either case, it is important to keep your installed applications up to date. Many updates contain important security fixes that are crucial to minimizing the possibility of your site getting hacked.

To update an application, follow these steps:

1. Log in to cPanel. In the Software/Services section of the cPanel home screen, click Softaculous. The Softaculous home page appears.
2. In the icon list at the top right, click the icon (All Installations icon). The list of installed applications appears.
3. Locate the application that you want to update, and then click the  icon (Upgrade icon).
4. On the Software Upgrade page, note the URL and path. To create a backup of your installation before upgrading, select the Create Backup check box.
5. Click Upgrade. Do not browse to another page until the update process is complete.

Backing up an application

You can back up installed applications at any time, and then restore them later if necessary. You can back up an application's files, database, or both.

To back up an application, follow these steps:

1. Log in to cPanel. In the Software/Services section of the cPanel home screen, click Softaculous. The Softaculous home page appears.
2. In the icon list at the top right, click the icon (All Installations icon) . The list of installed applications appears.
3. Locate the application that you want to back up, and then click the  icon (Backup icon).
4. To back up your site's files, select the Backup Directory check box.
5. To back up your site's database, select the Backup Database check box.
   If your application does not use a database, this option is not available.
6. Click Backup Installation. Do not browse to another page until the backup process is complete.

Restoring an application backup

You can restore backups of installed applications. This feature is invaluable if your site's data becomes corrupted or suffers a security breach, for example. You can restore an application's files, database, or both.

To restore an application backup, follow these steps:

1. Log in to cPanel. In the Software/Services section of the cPanel home screen, click Softaculous. The Softaculous home page appears.
2. In the icon list at the top right, click the  icon (Backups and Restore icon). The list of application backups appears.
3. Locate the backup that you want to restore, and then click the  icon (Restore icon).
   You can also download an application backup to your local computer. To do this, click the  icon (Download Backup icon).
4. To restore your site's files, select the Restore Directory check box.
5. To restore your site's database, select the Restore Database check box.
   If your application does not use a database, this option is not available.
6. Click Restore Installation.
7. Click
   to start the restore process. Do not browse to another page until the restore process is complete.

Removing an application

You can uninstall an application if you no longer want it on your web site.

To remove an application, follow these steps:

1. Log in to cPanel. In the Software/Services section of the cPanel home screen, click Softaculous. The Softaculous home page appears.
2. In the icon list at the top right, click the icon (All Installations icon) . The list of installed applications appears.
3. Locate the application that you want to remove, and then click the  icon (Remove icon).
4. To remove your site's files, select the Remove Directory check box.
5. To remove your site's database and user, select the Remove Database and Remove Database User check boxes.
   If your application does not use a database, these options are not available.
6. Click Remove Installation.