{"id":727,"date":"2016-06-29T11:56:35","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T15:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/?p=727"},"modified":"2026-02-05T10:10:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T15:10:37","slug":"using-suexec","status":"publish","type":"ht_kb","link":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/using-suexec\/","title":{"rendered":"What is suEXEC and How do I Use It?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><a style=\"color:#fff; text-decoration:none!important;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/tags\/shared-hosting\/\"><p style=\"background-color:#1a3d6e !important;color:#fff;padding:6px; display:inline-block!important;font-size:12px;font-weight:bold; border-radius:3px;\">Shared<\/p><\/a> <a style=\"color:#fff; text-decoration:none!important;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/tags\/vps\/\"><p style=\"background-color:#1a3d6e !important;color:#fff;padding:6px; display:inline-block!important;font-size:12px;font-weight:bold; border-radius:3px;\">VPS<\/p><\/a> <a style=\"color:#fff; text-decoration:none!important;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/tags\/qs-dedicated\/\"><p style=\"background-color:#1a3d6e !important;color:#fff;padding:6px; display:inline-block!important;font-size:12px; font-weight:bold; border-radius:3px;\">Dedicated<\/p><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h3>What is suEXEC?<\/h3>\n<p>SuEXEC is a feature of Apache that allows CGI scripts to run under your Pair Networks username and not as the default user \"nobody.\" suEXEC can protect your scripts and any files they create from other customers on your server when used properly.<\/p>\n<p>suEXEC performs a function similar to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/cgiwrap\/\">CGIwrap\u00a0<\/a>but with two main differences:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It uses shorter, less complex URLs which do not reveal your account username.<\/li>\n<li>It is enabled on a per-domain name basis and affects every CGI script running under that domain name.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>suEXEC can lead to greater security from other customers on your server. However, if one of your scripts under your domain name that uses suEXEC is compromised, then the attacker could have access to all of your files, including your email files.<\/p>\n<p>We recommend against using suEXEC if you are not familiar with it or if you are running third-party scripts where you have not examined the scripts' source code.<\/p>\n<p>Enabling suEXEC on domains that have CGI scripts already in use can cause problems if those scripts have data files that they created.<\/p>\n<h3>Enabling suEXEC for a Domain Name<\/h3>\n    \t\t<div class=\"hts-messages hts-messages--alert   hts-messages--withicon \"   >\r\n    \t\t\t    \t\t\t    \t\t\t\t<p>\r\n    \t\t\t\t\tThis tutorial is only needed for legacy accounts (Basic, Advanced, Webmaster, and Developer). On current Shared hosting packages, suEXEC is enabled by default.     \t\t\t\t<\/p>\r\n    \t\t\t    \t\t\t\r\n    \t\t<\/div><!-- \/.ht-shortcodes-messages -->\r\n    \t\t\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choose the tutorial that reflects your ACC interface type:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#if-you-are-using-the-legacy-interface\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Legacy Interface<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#if-you-are-using-the-new-acc-interface\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New ACC Interface<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not sure what the difference is? See<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/pair.com\/support\/kb\/which-acc-interface-am-i-using\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Which ACC Interface Am I Using?\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are using the Legacy Interface:<\/span><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Log into the Account Control Center (ACC) at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/pairnet.zendesk.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/my.pair.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">my.pair.com<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the left sidebar, click <\/span><b>Domains<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the drop-down, click <\/span><b>Manage Your Domain Names<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click on the domain name for which you want to enable suEXEC<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scroll down the page until you find the \"suEXEC\" section. Click the <\/span><b>Enable suEXEC<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> button<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the confirmation page, confirm that you wish to enable suEXEC<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are using the New ACC Interface:<\/span><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Log into the Account Control Center (ACC) at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/pairnet.zendesk.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/my.pair.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">my.pair.com<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the top navigation bar, click <\/span><b>Domains<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Find your domain name and click its <\/span><b>Edit<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> button<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the \u201cServices\u201d section, find the <\/span><b>SuEXEC<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> option and click its <\/span><b>Enable<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> button<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the confirmation page, confirm that you wish to enable suEXEC<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>Using suEXEC with PHP<\/h3>\n<p>By default, any PHP scripts under the domain will continue to be run under the default user \"nobody.\"<\/p>\n<p>In order to execute PHP scripts under your Pair Networks username using suEXEC, you must first switch from the default of using the PHP Apache module, to executing PHP through CGI.<\/p>\n<p>To do this, you must first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/connecting-with-ssh\/\">connect to your account via\u00a0SSH<\/a> and copy the CGI version of PHP into your own cgi-bin directory. For more information about connecting to your account via SSH, see our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/connecting-with-ssh\/\">How to Connect to Your Account with SSH article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Use the following command in the command line after you have established an SSH connection:<\/p>\n<pre class=\"prettyprint\">cp \/usr\/www\/cgi-bin\/php8.cgi ~\/public_html\/cgi-bin<\/pre>\n    \t\t<div class=\"hts-messages hts-messages--alert   hts-messages--withicon \"   >\r\n    \t\t\t    \t\t\t    \t\t\t\t<p>\r\n    \t\t\t\t\tThis command may need to be changed if the domain name's cgi-bin has been mapped to a different directory via the ACC.    \t\t\t\t<\/p>\r\n    \t\t\t    \t\t\t\r\n    \t\t<\/div><!-- \/.ht-shortcodes-messages -->\r\n    \t\t\n<p>Then you must <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/accessing-your-htaccess-file\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">create a <tt>.htaccess<\/tt> file<\/a> in the directory where your PHP files reside and add these lines:<\/p>\n<pre class=\"prettyprint\">Action application\/x-pair-sphp \/cgi-bin\/php8.cgi\nAddType application\/x-pair-sphp .php<\/pre>\n<p>Once these items are in place, and suEXEC is enabled, your PHP files will be executed under your Pair Networks username.<\/p>\n    \t\t<div class=\"hts-messages hts-messages--alert   hts-messages--withicon \"   >\r\n    \t\t\t    \t\t\t    \t\t\t\t<p>\r\n    \t\t\t\t\tCertain features of the PHP module, such as sending custom HTTP headers to the browser, are not available when PHP as run as a CGI script.    \t\t\t\t<\/p>\r\n    \t\t\t    \t\t\t\r\n    \t\t<\/div><!-- \/.ht-shortcodes-messages -->\r\n    \t\t\n<h3>Alternatives to suEXEC<\/h3>\n<p>In addition to suEXEC, we offer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/cgiwrap\/\">CGIwrap<\/a>, which allows you to run only specific scripts as your Pair Networks username.<\/p>\n<p>You can also use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/php-as-cgi\/\">php-cgiwrap\u00a0<\/a>to run your PHP scripts under your own username.<\/p>\n    \t\t<div class=\"hts-messages hts-messages--danger   hts-messages--withicon \"   >\r\n    \t\t\t    \t\t\t    \t\t\t\t<p>\r\n    \t\t\t\t\tYou cannot use both suEXEC and cgiwrap\/php-cgiwrap at the same time. Attempting to do so will result in Internal Server errors for anything run though cgiwrap.    \t\t\t\t<\/p>\r\n    \t\t\t    \t\t\t\r\n    \t\t<\/div><!-- \/.ht-shortcodes-messages -->\r\n    \t\t\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is suEXEC? SuEXEC is a feature of Apache that allows CGI scripts to run under your Pair Networks username and not as the default user &#8220;nobody.&#8221; suEXEC can protect your scripts and any files they create from other customers on your server when used properly. suEXEC performs a function&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"ht-kb-category":[175],"ht-kb-tag":[178,176,177],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What is suEXEC and How do I Use It? - Knowledge Base - Pair Networks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"suEXEC is a feature of Apache that allows CGI scripts to run under your Pair Networks username and not as the default user &quot;nobody.&quot; suEXEC can protect your scripts and any files they create from other customers on your server, when used properly.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/using-suexec\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is suEXEC and How do I Use It? - Knowledge Base - Pair Networks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"suEXEC is a feature of Apache that allows CGI scripts to run under your Pair Networks username and not as the default user &quot;nobody.&quot; suEXEC can protect your scripts and any files they create from other customers on your server, when used properly.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/using-suexec\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Knowledge Base - Pair Networks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pairnetworks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-05T15:10:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pairNetworks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/using-suexec\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/using-suexec\/\",\"name\":\"What is suEXEC and How do I Use It? - Knowledge Base - Pair Networks\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-29T15:56:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-05T15:10:37+00:00\",\"description\":\"suEXEC is a feature of Apache that allows CGI scripts to run under your Pair Networks username and not as the default user \\\"nobody.\\\" suEXEC can protect your scripts and any files they create from other customers on your server, when used properly.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/using-suexec\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/using-suexec\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/using-suexec\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What is suEXEC and How do I Use It?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/\",\"name\":\"Knowledge Base - Pair Networks\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Pair Networks\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Gb_TUkUE_400x400.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Gb_TUkUE_400x400.jpeg\",\"width\":360,\"height\":360,\"caption\":\"Pair Networks\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pairnetworks\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pairNetworks\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pairnetworks\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/2269676\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pairnetworksinc\/pins\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/pairnetworks\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is suEXEC and How do I Use It? - Knowledge Base - Pair Networks","description":"suEXEC is a feature of Apache that allows CGI scripts to run under your Pair Networks username and not as the default user \"nobody.\" suEXEC can protect your scripts and any files they create from other customers on your server, when used properly.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/using-suexec\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What is suEXEC and How do I Use It? - Knowledge Base - Pair Networks","og_description":"suEXEC is a feature of Apache that allows CGI scripts to run under your Pair Networks username and not as the default user \"nobody.\" suEXEC can protect your scripts and any files they create from other customers on your server, when used properly.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/using-suexec\/","og_site_name":"Knowledge Base - Pair Networks","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pairnetworks\/","article_modified_time":"2026-02-05T15:10:37+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@pairNetworks","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/using-suexec\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/using-suexec\/","name":"What is suEXEC and How do I Use It? - Knowledge Base - Pair Networks","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-06-29T15:56:35+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-05T15:10:37+00:00","description":"suEXEC is a feature of Apache that allows CGI scripts to run under your Pair Networks username and not as the default user \"nobody.\" suEXEC can protect your scripts and any files they create from other customers on your server, when used properly.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/using-suexec\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/using-suexec\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/using-suexec\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What is suEXEC and How do I Use It?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/","name":"Knowledge Base - Pair Networks","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/#organization","name":"Pair Networks","url":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Gb_TUkUE_400x400.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Gb_TUkUE_400x400.jpeg","width":360,"height":360,"caption":"Pair Networks"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pairnetworks\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/pairNetworks","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pairnetworks\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/2269676\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pairnetworksinc\/pins\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/pairnetworks"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb\/727"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ht_kb"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb\/727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10523,"href":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb\/727\/revisions\/10523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ht_kb_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb-category?post=727"},{"taxonomy":"ht_kb_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb-tag?post=727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}