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How to Enable Composer Globally on CloudLinux + LiteSpeed + WHM (Step-by-Step Guide)

Introduction

If you manage a CloudLinux + LiteSpeed + WHM/cPanel hosting server, you’ve probably faced the struggle of getting Composer (the PHP dependency manager) to work globally for every cPanel user.

On a normal Linux server, installing Composer is easy — but with CloudLinux’s CageFS isolation, users often see:

-bash: composer: command not found

In this post, we’ll walk through how PrenHost fixed this and made Composer available for all clients — safely, globally, and cleanly.

 Step 1 – Install Composer Globally for root

First, SSH into your WHM server as root and run:

cd /usr/local/bin
curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer -o composer-setup.php
php composer-setup.php --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer
php -r "unlink('composer-setup.php');"

Now confirm installation:

composer --version

Expected output:

Composer version 2.x.x

 Step 2 – Fix allow_url_fopen Error

During installation you may see:

The allow_url_fopen setting is incorrect.

Fix it by editing /opt/cpanel/ea-php81/root/etc/php.ini
(Adjust version if you’re using a different PHP build):

allow_url_fopen = On

Then rerun the installer command — installation should complete successfully.

 Step 3 – Expose Composer to CageFS Users

CloudLinux uses CageFS to isolate user environments, so global binaries must be explicitly added.

Run these commands:

mkdir -p /usr/share/cagefs-skeleton/usr/local/bin
ln -sf /usr/local/bin/composer /usr/share/cagefs-skeleton/usr/local/bin/composer

Then create a configuration file:

cat <<'EOF' > /etc/cagefs/conf.d/composer.cfg
[paths]
path=/usr/local/bin
EOF

Rebuild CageFS:

cagefsctl --force-update
cagefsctl --enable-all

 Step 4 – Fix Common CloudLinux Errors

 “File contains no section headers”

That means the /etc/cagefs/conf.d/composer.cfg file was missing the [paths] header.
Use the correct format shown above.

 “Command not found” even after CageFS update

Some servers don’t expose /usr/local/bin inside CageFS.
To fix it permanently, copy Composer to /bin inside the skeleton:

mkdir -p /usr/share/cagefs-skeleton/bin
cp /usr/local/bin/composer /usr/share/cagefs-skeleton/bin/composer
chmod 755 /usr/share/cagefs-skeleton/bin/composer
cagefsctl --force-update

 Step 5 – Verify from a cPanel User

SSH into any cPanel account (e.g. test) and run:

composer --version

You should see:

Composer version 2.8.12 2025-09-19 13:41:59
PHP version 8.1.32 (/opt/alt/php81/usr/bin/php)

Success — Composer is now globally available for all users!

 Bonus Tips from PrenHost

  1. Avoid “root warning” message: 
    echo 'COMPOSER_ALLOW_SUPERUSER=1' >> /root/.bashrc
  2. Increase PHP CLI memory limit (optional):
    Edit /opt/alt/php81/etc/php.ini:

    memory_limit = 512M
max_execution_time = 300
  3. Rebuild CageFS after major updates: 
    cagefsctl --force-update

 Final Thoughts

Setting up Composer globally on CloudLinux can be tricky due to CageFS isolation, but once configured correctly, it’s fully stable and safe for every user.

At PrenHost Ltd, we faced every possible error — from allow_url_fopen issues to CageFS misconfigurations — and turned them into a clear, repeatable setup process.

Now, all cPanel users on our servers can run Composer effortlessly for Laravel, Symfony, WordPress CLI, and more — without manual installs.

 Need Help?

PrenHost offers managed CloudLinux + LiteSpeed hosting with PHP Composer pre-enabled and optimized for developers. Visit www.prenhost.com to learn more.

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