CustomBuild in DirectAdmin – Complete Guide to Installation, Updates, Configuration, and Advanced Customization

1. What Is CustomBuild?

CustomBuild is the core software management tool inside DirectAdmin. It handles installation, updates, configuration, and rebuilding of nearly all major services:

• Web servers (Apache, Nginx, OpenLiteSpeed)
• PHP versions and extensions
• MariaDB/MySQL
• Exim, Dovecot, SpamAssassin
• FTP servers
• Web applications (phpMyAdmin, RoundCube, etc.)

Because CustomBuild compiles from source, it provides:

• Full customization
• Immediate access to new versions
• Lower memory usage (only required modules compiled)

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2. Getting Started with CustomBuild

Graphical Interface:

Admin Level → CustomBuild → Updates

Command-Line Interface (CLI):

Main command:

da build

Or directly:

/usr/local/directadmin/custombuild/build

Main configuration Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.

/usr/local/directadmin/custombuild/options.conf

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3. Essential CustomBuild Commands

# List installed versions
da build versions

# General help
da build help

# List all configurable options
da build opt_help

# Full detailed option list
da build opt_help full

# Rebuild webserver configs
da build rewrite_confs

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4. Updating Software

Update individual services:

da build apache
da build php
da build exim
da build dovecot

Update all services:

da build update_versions

Full rebuild (use only for fresh installs or major repair):

da build all

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5. Automatic Updates

Recommended auto-update setup:

da build set cron yes
da build set cron_frequency weekly
da build set email [email protected]
da build set notifications yes
da build set clean_old_webapps yes
da build cron

Fully automatic updates (use with caution):

da build set updates yes
da build cron

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6. Deep Customization with CustomBuild

CustomBuild supports advanced customization through the custom/ directory.

Directory structure:

• configure/ → default configs
• custom/ → your overrides (higher priority)

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Example: Add a custom flag to Nginx

cd /usr/local/directadmin/custombuild
mkdir -p custom/nginx
cp -fp configure/nginx/configure.nginx custom/nginx/configure.nginx

# Edit the file and add your flags
da build nginx

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Example: Change Apache MPM

mkdir -p custom/ap2/conf/extra
cp -fp configure/ap2/conf/extra/httpd-mpm.conf custom/ap2/conf/extra/httpd-mpm.conf

# Edit the file
da build rewrite_confs

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7. Pre/Post Build Hooks (CustomBuild 2.0+)

You can run custom scripts before or after any build action.

Example:

mkdir -p custom/hooks/nginx/post
vi custom/hooks/nginx/post/myscript.sh

Script content:

#!/bin/bash
echo "Nginx build completed! Running custom tasks..."

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8. Choosing the Right Web Server

Web Server	Pros	Cons	Shared Hosting?
Apache	Industry standard, full .htaccess support	Higher RAM usage, slower for static files	Yes
Nginx	Very fast, low memory usage	No .htaccess support	No
Nginx + Apache	Speed + .htaccess support	Higher RAM usage	Yes (8GB+ RAM)
OpenLiteSpeed	Excellent performance, HTTP/3, built in cache	Limited .htaccess support	Yes
LiteSpeed	Best performance, HTTP/3, strong caching	Commercial license required	Yes

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Switching web servers:

da build set webserver openlitespeed
da build openlitespeed
da build php
da build rewrite_confs

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9. Troubleshooting & Advanced Tips

Debug CustomBuild:

da build apache --debug

This keeps temporary files in /tmp/ for inspection.

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If you see g++ or libexpat errors:

CentOS/RHEL/CloudLinux:

yum -y install gcc-c++

Debian/Ubuntu:

apt-get -y install g++

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Add a custom alias (e.g., /billing):

cd /usr/local/directadmin/custombuild
echo "billing=billing_system" >> custom/webapps.list
da build rewrite_confs

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Change subdomain DocumentRoot:

User Level → Sub-Domains Setup → Document Root Override