Disable MySQL Strict Mode

You must disable MySQL® Strict Mode in order to run WHMCS on your server. We recommend disabling it at the time of installation to avoid later database errors.

Disabling MySQL Strict Mode requires full root permissions for your server. If you do not have root-level access, contact your hosting provider or system administrator.

Disable MySQL Strict Mode

You can use several different methods to disable MySQL Strict Mode, depending on your preferences and the control panel you use. The example below disables MySQL Strict Mode on a cPanel server using the Terminal feature. You can also use these steps using an SSH client.

To disable MySQL Strict Mode:

  1. Log in to WHM as the root user and go to Server Configuration » Terminal.

  2. Open the MySQL configuration file using your preferred text editor (for example, nano or vi). For cPanel servers, this is the /etc/my.cnf file:

    vi /etc/my.cnf

  3. Edit the sql_mode setting to remove the current value:

    sql_mode=

  4. Restart the MySQL service. To do this in WHM, go to Restart Services » SQL Server (MySQL).

database installation

Last modified: October 29, 2024