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Notification Templates in cPanel & WHM

Notification Templates in cPanel & WHM allow you to customize system alerts for various events such as disk quota warnings, backup failures, SSL expiration, and new account creation. These templates are built using Template Toolkit and can be safely customized in the dedicated custom directory to ensure changes persist after updates. Understanding the file structure, available variables, and correct customization workflow enables full branding and personalization of system notifications.

cPanel Notification TemplatesWHM Email TemplatesCustomize cPanel Notificationsicontact_templatescPanel Alerts

~2 min read • Updated Feb 18, 2026

1. What Are Notification Templates?


In cPanel & WHM, notifications are sent for many system events such as disk quota limits, backup failures, new account creation, or SSL expiration. These notifications are generated using Template Toolkit, which allows full customization. You can modify the text, colors, branding, support links, and even the structure of the message.


Default and Custom Template Paths


  • Default: /usr/local/cpanel/etc/icontact_templates/
  • Custom (recommended): /var/cpanel/templates/icontact_templates/

Important: Any modification inside the default directory will be overwritten during a cPanel update. Always use the custom directory.


2. Template File Naming Structure


Template files follow this naming pattern:


textnotification_name.type.tmpl

  • notification_name: The event name (e.g., wwwacct/Notify)
  • type: The template type such as subject, html, or text

3. Important Notification Templates


Some of the most commonly used notification templates include:


  • Backup/Failure.*: Backup failure
  • chkservd/Notify.*: Service down alerts
  • Quota/DiskWarning.*: Disk quota warning
  • SSL/CertificateExpiring.*: SSL certificate expiring soon
  • wwwacct/Notify.*: New account creation

4. Template Variables


4.1 CPANEL Variables


  • CPANEL.locale: User locale
  • CPANEL.split_time_dhms(): Converts seconds into days/hours/minutes

4.2 NOTICE Variables


  • NOTICE.domain: Domain name
  • NOTICE.ip_address: IP address
  • NOTICE.host_server: Server hostname
  • NOTICE.quota_limit: Disk quota limit

Each template includes a header listing all available NOTICE variables for that specific event.


5. How to Customize Notification Templates


Step 1 — Create the Custom Directory


mkdir -p /var/cpanel/templates/icontact_templates

Step 2 — Copy include and wrapper (first time only)


cp -rpl /usr/local/cpanel/etc/icontact_templates/{include,wrapper} \
/var/cpanel/templates/icontact_templates/

Step 3 — Copy the Template You Want to Edit


cp /usr/local/cpanel/etc/icontact_templates/wwwacct/Notify.subject.tmpl \
/var/cpanel/templates/icontact_templates/wwwacct/Notify.subject.tmpl

Step 4 — Edit the Template


nano /var/cpanel/templates/icontact_templates/wwwacct/Notify.subject.tmpl

Example of a customized subject line:


[% CPANEL.locale.maketext('New account created on [_1] ([_2])', NOTICE.host_server, NOTICE.domain) %]

Step 5 — Rebuild Templates


/usr/local/cpanel/bin/rebuild-templates

Conclusion


With Notification Templates, you can fully personalize cPanel & WHM alerts to match your brand, language, and service requirements. Using the custom template directory ensures your changes persist through updates and gives you complete control over system messaging.


Written & researched by Dr. Shahin Siami

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