Check cPanel Login Logs

cPanel login logs are records that track and document login activities on a cPanel hosting control panel. These logs capture important information such as the date and time of each login attempt, the IP address and hostname from which the login originated, the username used for authentication, and the success or failure status of the login.

Here we cover how to check the cPanel login logs for account logins.

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Check cPanel Logs

IMPORTANT: This solution will require root access and is only available on our VPS or dedicated hosting. If root access needs to be obtained, follow the guide on requesting root access.
NOTE: The cPanel logins, also known as the cPanel access logs, are recorded in /usr/local/cpanel/logs/access_log.

1. SSH into the server
2. Run cat /usr/local/cpanel/logs/access_log | grep -aE 'userna5.*GET.*login'
   REPLACE: userna5 in the command above with the specific cPanel username.
   NOTE: This command will list all logins on the specified user.  The entire log file can be viewed with cat /usr/local/cpanel/logs/access_log.

Checking .lastlogin

NOTE: .lastlogin is available on all cPanel hosting plans.

1. Log into the cPanel
2. Navigate to the File Manager, located in the Files section
   
3. View the .lastlogin file, located in the home directory
   TIP: If .lastlogin is not present, show hidden files in File Manager.
   NOTE: The .lastlogin file shows a list of all IPs that have logged in and on what dates.  The file is only updated when the logged-in IP changes and so not every individual login is shown.
   EXAMPLE: The following is an example of the .lastlogin file contents.  In this example, the IP 12.34.56.78 has been the only IP to log in since December 20, 2022.  Note that each login is not tracked and the user at 12.34.56.78 has likely logged in multiple times since December 20, 2022.
   

   12.34.56.78 # 2022-07-01 13:26:07 -0400
   78.56.34.12 # 2022-08-08 11:12:32 -0400
   12.34.56.78 # 2022-08-08 12:38:49 -0400
   78.56.34.12 # 2022-08-08 12:44:43 -0400
   12.34.56.78 # 2022-08-08 15:30:26 -0400
   78.56.34.12 # 2022-08-10 05:12:26 -0400
   12.34.56.78 # 2022-08-10 12:56:43 -0400
   34.56.78.12 # 2022-08-16 13:34:13 -0400
   12.34.56.78 # 2022-08-16 14:18:26 -0400
   56.34.12.78 # 2022-08-18 05:35:35 -0400
   12.34.56.78 # 2022-08-18 07:06:21 -0400
   12.78.56.34 # 2022-12-08 16:20:19 -0500
   12.34.56.78 # 2022-12-09 08:47:59 -0500
   12.78.56.34 # 2022-12-15 14:25:13 -0500
   12.34.56.78 # 2022-12-20 07:48:09 -0500