How to Repair and Configure Disk Quotas in cPanel & WHM

1. Introduction and Important Warnings

Disk quotas in cPanel & WHM restrict how much disk space each cPanel account can use. While quotas are enabled by default, certain operating systems—such as Ubuntu, CloudLinux 7 after updates, or XFS-based filesystems on CentOS 7/AlmaLinux/Rocky—require additional steps to ensure quotas function correctly.

Warnings:

• Ubuntu may require the quota_v2 kernel module to enable quotas.
• CloudLinux 7 updates may break quotas—run fixquotas after every update.
• On XFS filesystems, re-enabling quotas requires special handling.
• Always take a backup before modifying quota configurations.

2. Check Whether Quotas Are Enabled

2.1 Method 1 — Using mount

mount

If you see usrquota or grpquota in the mount options, quotas are enabled.

Correct example:

/dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00 on / type ext4 (rw,usrquota,grpquota)

2.2 Method 2 — Check /etc/fstab

cat /etc/fstab

If usrquota appears in the options column, quotas are enabled.

Note: Do not manually edit fstab unless absolutely necessary.

2.3 Method 3 — Check Active Quotas

repquota -a

If you see tables for block and inode limits, quotas are active.

3. Enable Quotas on Devices

If quotas are disabled or not functioning, run the cPanel initialization script:

/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/initquotas

This script:

• Adds usrquota to fstab
• Creates quota.user and aquota.user files

Verify quota files:

ls -l /*.user

Expected output:

-rwxr--r-- 1 root root 13312 ... /aquota.user
-rwxr--r-- 1 root root 32 ... /quota.user

If files are missing or zero bytes, rerun initquotas.

4. Fix Quotas on XFS Filesystems

On XFS (CentOS 7, AlmaLinux, Rocky, RHEL 7, CloudLinux), quotas may require additional repair steps.

4.1 Method 1 — WHM (Recommended)

Navigate to:

WHM » Home » Server Configuration » Initial Quota Setup

4.2 Method 2 — Command Line

/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/fixquotas

Then remount the filesystem:

mount -o remount /

4.3 Method 3 — Manual XFS Configuration

Use Red Hat’s XFS quota documentation for advanced manual configuration (rarely needed).

5. Fix Quotas on Ubuntu

Some Ubuntu kernels do not include the quota_v2 module by default.

5.1 Check if the module is loaded

lsmod | grep quota_v2

If no output appears, the module must be installed.

5.2 Install the correct quota_v2 module

Steps:

1. Identify the current kernel image:
   

   grep BOOT /proc/cmdline | cut -f1 -d' ' | cut -f2 -d'='

2. Find the package that owns the kernel:
   

   dpkg -S /boot/vmlinuz-

3. Trace reverse dependencies:
   

   apt-cache --installed rdepends linux-image-

4. Install the appropriate linux-modules-extra package.

Examples:

apt install linux-modules-extra-aws
apt install linux-modules-extra-azure
apt install linux-modules-extra-gcp
apt install linux-image-extra-virtual

Or simply run:

/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/fixquotas

6. Virtuozzo / OpenVZ Quota Notes

On Virtuozzo/OpenVZ systems:

• Enable second-level (per-user) quotas in addition to container-level quotas.
• This must be done on the parent node.

7. Quick Troubleshooting Summary

• Quota not enabled? → initquotas
• Quota enabled but not working? → fixquotas + mount -o remount /
• Ubuntu quota broken? → Install quota_v2 module
• CloudLinux 7 updated? → Always run fixquotas

8. Diagnostic Commands

If issues persist, gather the following outputs:

mount | grep quota
repquota -a | head -10
ls -l /*.user

Conclusion

Proper quota configuration is essential for accurate disk usage reporting and account management in cPanel & WHM. By following the steps in this guide, you can enable, repair, and troubleshoot quotas across all supported operating systems, including XFS-based distributions, Ubuntu, CloudLinux, and Virtuozzo.