cPanel ELevate Guide Print

cPanel allows you to upgrade your operating system through its cPanel elevate system. While typically associated with the ability to upgrade versions of Enterprise Linux (CentOS, AlmaLinux, CloudLinux), it can also upgrade between Ubuntu versions.

cPanel elevate currently supports upgrading the following operating systems:

• CentOS 7 to AlmaLinux 8
• CloudLinux™ 7 to CloudLinux 8
• Ubuntu® 20 to Ubuntu 22
• AlmaLinux 8 to AlmaLinux 9

cPanel accomplishes these upgrades by wrapping the following projects and adding cPanel specific logic:

• RHEL-based systems: The Leapp Project.
• Ubuntu-based systems: The do-release-upgrade script.

cPanel has also provided extended lifecycle support, including security updates to cPanel/WHM for the following operating systems.

• CentOS 7 + cPanel/WHM January 1st, 2026.
• CloudLinux 7 + cPanel/WHM January 1st, 2026.

You can determine if you need to elevate based on the following notice or similar in WHM:

If you wish to elevate, we recommend completing backups of all your accounts before proceeding. If you encounter any issues, your server may no longer be operational. It is critically important you have your own offsite backups before proceeding, as Hawk Host does not provide backups for cloud computes.

If you wish for the Hawk Host team to assist with Elevate, we may be able to help. We cannot guarantee that we can complete an elevator during a specific time or that it'll be completed successfully, but our team, however, has significant experience with Elevate.

You can find specific guides on how to use elevate with specific operating systems as well as how to fix common issues encountered:

• CentOS 7 to AlmaLinux 8
• CloudLinux™ 7 to CloudLinux 8
• Ubuntu® 20 to Ubuntu 22
• AlmaLinux 8 to AlmaLinux 9