If you uploaded WordPress or another app to your hosting account by hand, for example through FTP or File Manager, instead of installing it through Softaculous, you can still bring it under Softaculous's management. Importing an existing installation lets you use Softaculous's one-click update, backup, clone, and password-reset tools on a site you did not originally install with it, without reinstalling anything or losing your existing content.
Why Import an Existing Installation?
Once an app is imported, it shows up alongside your other Softaculous installations. That means you can:
- Update the app's core files, themes, and plugins with a single click
- Take and restore backups through Softaculous instead of managing them manually
- Clone the site to create a staging copy
- Reset the admin password from Softaculous if you ever get locked out
Without importing, none of these tools can see or act on the installation, since Softaculous only tracks what it installed itself or what you have explicitly imported.
Take a full backup of your site and its database before importing. The import process itself does not usually change any files, but it is good practice whenever a new system starts managing an existing site.
How to Import an Existing Installation
Open Softaculous from your control panel: in cPanel, look for the icon of the app you installed (for example the WordPress icon) under the Softaculous Apps Installer section; in DirectAdmin, it is the same Softaculous interface, reached through the Extras or Software menu depending on your theme. The steps inside Softaculous itself are identical on both panels.
- Click the icon for the app you want to import (for example WordPress, Joomla, or another CMS).
- Along the top of the installer screen, click the Import tab (next to Install and All Installations).
- Softaculous scans your account's directories and lists any installations of that app it can detect that are not yet under its management.
- Find the installation you want to bring in and click Import next to it.
- Confirm any details Softaculous asks for, such as the admin email address associated with the site, then submit.
- Once the import finishes, open All Installations (or Current Installations) and confirm the site now appears in the list.
If Softaculous Doesn't Detect Your Installation
Sometimes Softaculous cannot auto-detect an installation, usually because it is in an unusual folder structure or the app's version is too old or too new for the scanner to recognize. If the Import tab shows nothing for your site:
- Check that you are looking under the correct app icon. WordPress installs only show up under the WordPress import scan, and so on.
- Look for a manual path option on the Import screen, where you can type the exact folder the app is installed in (for example public_html or public_html/blog) so Softaculous checks that location directly.
- If it still is not detected, contact support with the installation's folder path and app version. In some cases a very customized or heavily modified installation cannot be safely imported, and it is better to keep managing updates manually than to force an import that could misread the site's structure.
After a successful import, treat the site the same way you would any Softaculous-installed app. See How to Update an App Installed with Softaculous for the next step.