Software installed through Softaculous, including WordPress and other apps, needs periodic updates to patch security issues and stay compatible with plugins and themes. Softaculous can apply these updates for you directly from the control panel, and it will flag installations that have a newer version available.
In cPanel
- Log in to cPanel and open Softaculous Apps Installer.
- Click All Installations to see your installed apps. Any app with an update available shows the current and new version numbers.
- Before updating, click the Backup icon for that installation and take a backup, so you can restore quickly if the update causes a problem.
- Click the Update icon (usually an upward arrow) next to the installation.
- Review the update options, such as whether to back up automatically before updating, and confirm.
- Softaculous will run the update and show a completion message once done.
In DirectAdmin
- Log in to DirectAdmin and open Softaculous Apps Installer.
- Open All Installations and locate the app showing an available update.
- Take a backup first from the Backups icon next to the installation.
- Click the Update icon and confirm the update options shown.
- Wait for Softaculous to finish and confirm the new version number matches what you expected.
What Softaculous updates and what it does not
Softaculous updates the core application it installed, such as WordPress itself. It does not automatically update plugins or themes you added afterward, since those are managed from within the application's own admin area rather than through Softaculous. For WordPress specifically, update plugins and themes from Plugins and Appearance inside wp-admin.
If an update fails partway through or the site breaks afterward, restore from the backup you took before updating rather than trying to manually patch files. Restoring gets you back to a known-working state faster and avoids leaving the database and files out of sync.