How to Launch MODX on A2 Hosting (Now Hosting.com)

To launch MODX on A2 Hosting today, you install it on a hosting.com account, because A2 Hosting rebranded as hosting.com in 2025. On a cPanel shared plan you can install MODX 3 through Softaculous in a few clicks, or upload the official package, create a MySQL database and run the /setup/ wizard yourself. Either way, switch PHP to 8.2 or newer first, because MODX 3.2 will not install on anything older than PHP 8.1.

The good news is that almost nothing about the hosting itself changed with the new name. Former A2 shared accounts still run cPanel, the knowledge base simply moved to kb.hosting.com, and the MODX side of the job is the same as on any Apache compatible host. The one thing that did change is MODX itself: the 3.x line has different PHP requirements and different advice about the core folder than the MODX 2 tutorials that still rank in search.

A2 Hosting is now hosting.com: what changed

World Host Group announced its acquisition of A2 Hosting on January 29, 2025, and at the end of April 2025 the company announced that A2 Hosting was becoming hosting.com. Accounts, billing and support moved to the new brand, and the customer portal is now my.hosting.com.

Under the hood, the hosting.com knowledge base still documents shared, reseller and Turbo accounts on CloudLinux servers with cPanel and LiteSpeed PHP handlers, which is exactly the environment MODX has always been happy on. LiteSpeed reads Apache style .htaccess rewrite rules, so MODX’s Friendly URLs file works unchanged.

What MODX 3 needs from your plan

The current release is MODX 3.2.4, published on August 26, 2026. The minimum PHP version was raised to 8.1 in MODX 3.2, and the official server requirements recommend PHP 8.2 or newer. Here is how each requirement maps to your hosting.com cPanel:

PHP 8.3 is a safe default. Newer releases also work, but MODX community members report that they surface more deprecation notices from older Extras, so move up only after you have tested every Extra your site uses.

Option 1: Install MODX with Softaculous

Softaculous is the fastest route and hosting.com documents it in its MODX installation guide. At the time of writing, Softaculous offers the same 3.2.4 release as modx.com.

1. In cPanel, open the Tools page and click Softaculous Apps Installer.
2. Search for modx, or browse to Portals/CMS and click MODx, then click Install.
3. Choose the https:// protocol and your domain. Leave In Directory empty to install at the domain root.
4. Enter the site name, an admin username that is not admin, a strong password and your email. Change the default database name and table prefix if you like.
5. Click Install and wait for the confirmation with your manager URL.

Option 2: Manual install from the official package

A manual install takes a little longer but gives you a clean tree you fully understand, on the exact release you choose. It is also the approach used in our guides to installing MODX on Bluehost and launching MODX on Linode, so the skills carry over.

1. Create the database. In cPanel open Databases, MySQL Database Wizard. Create a database, create a user with a long random password, and grant it All Privileges. cPanel prefixes both names with your account username, so note the full values, for example cpuser_modx.

2. Upload and extract the files. Download the Traditional package from modx.com/download. The MODX docs warn that uploading unpacked files over FTP can corrupt them, so upload the zip itself with cPanel’s File Manager and extract it on the server. Over SSH, the same step looks like this:

cd ~/public_html
unzip modx-3.2.4-pl.zip
cp -a modx-3.2.4-pl/. ./
rm -rf modx-3.2.4-pl modx-3.2.4-pl.zip
ls   # assets  connectors  core  ht.access  index.php  manager  setup ...

3. Check permissions. On hosting.com’s CloudLinux servers PHP runs as your own cPanel user, so the default 755 for folders and 644 for files is enough. MODX needs to write to core/cache, core/config, core/packages, core/import and core/export. Never set anything to 777.

find ~/public_html -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
find ~/public_html -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

4. Run the installer. Browse to https://yourdomain.com/setup/, pick a language and choose New Installation. On the database screen enter localhost, the prefixed user, password and database name, then click Test database server connection and view collations. Leave the utf8mb4 defaults, create your administrator, review the preinstall checks and click Install. On the final screen, tick the box to delete the setup directory before you log in at /manager/.

Friendly URLs and HTTPS

MODX ships its rewrite rules in a file called ht.access so they do nothing until you opt in. Rename it, and if MODX lives in a subfolder, change RewriteBase / to match.

cd ~/public_html
mv ht.access .htaccess

hosting.com states that its free cPanel SSL certificates come with all hosting plans automatically. Confirm yours is active in cPanel under Security, SSL/TLS Status, then open .htaccess and uncomment the three lines under # Force rewrite to https for every host, which MODX already includes.

Now switch MODX over. In the manager, click the gear icon, open System Settings and set friendly_urls and use_alias_path to Yes. Add a base tag inside the <head> of every template so relative asset paths keep working on nested URLs:

<base href="[[!++site_url]]" />

Finish with Manage, Clear Cache so existing links pick up the new format.

Protect the core folder (MODX 3 cannot move it)

Older MODX 2 tutorials tell you to move core above public_html. Do not do that on MODX 3. The MODX 3 upgrade documentation states that the core folder can no longer be moved or renamed, because Composer needs predictable paths, and a MODX team member repeated that advice on the community forum in 2026. The supported approach is to block web access instead.

First, activate the deny file that ships inside the core folder, if it is still named ht.access:

cd ~/public_html
[ -f core/ht.access ] && mv core/ht.access core/.htaccess

Then add these rules to the root .htaccess, directly after the existing .well-known and dot directory rules and before the Friendly URLs block:

# Block direct web access to MODX internals
RewriteRule ^(core|_build|_backup|_gitify)/ - [F,L]
RewriteRule ^config\.core\.php$ - [F,L]

Test it from your own machine. A 403 response means the files are protected:

curl -I https://yourdomain.com/core/docs/changelog.txt

Troubleshooting

• The setup screen fails or shows a blank page. The domain is still on an old PHP version. Set 8.2 or 8.3 in Select PHP Version, then reload /setup/.
• Preinstall checks flag a missing extension. Tick it in the Extensions tab of Select PHP Version. zip, intl and fileinfo are the usual suspects.
• Database connection fails. Use the full prefixed database and user names, host localhost, and confirm in the wizard that the user was added to the database with all privileges.
• Every page except the home page returns 404. Friendly URLs are on but the rules are not active. Check that the file is named .htaccess, and that RewriteBase matches your install folder.
• The manager loses its styling after switching to HTTPS. Clear the cache with rm -rf ~/public_html/core/cache/*, then log in again over https://.

Frequently asked questions

Is A2 Hosting still in business?

Yes, under a new name. World Host Group acquired A2 Hosting in January 2025, and the company rebranded as hosting.com in spring 2025. Existing A2 accounts moved over with their services intact, so you now log in at my.hosting.com and find documentation at kb.hosting.com instead of the old A2 sites.

Can I install MODX with one click on hosting.com?

Usually, yes. hosting.com documents a Softaculous install under Portals/CMS, and Softaculous currently offers MODX 3.2.4. Its guide notes that MODX is a Softaculous Premium script, so if it is missing from your installer, the manual upload and /setup/ wizard route works on any cPanel plan with PHP 8.1 or newer.

What PHP version does MODX 3 need?

MODX 3.2 and later require PHP 8.1 at minimum, and the official documentation recommends PHP 8.2 or newer. On hosting.com, choose 8.2 or 8.3 in cPanel’s Select PHP Version tool. If you are on an older 3.x release, upgrade PHP before upgrading MODX to 3.2.

Can I move the MODX core folder outside public_html?

Not on MODX 3. The official documentation says the core folder can no longer be moved or renamed, because its Composer dependencies expect a fixed location. Keep it in place, rename core/ht.access to .htaccess, and add rewrite rules that return 403 for requests to the core folder.

Is shared hosting enough for a MODX site?

For brochure sites, blogs and small business sites, a shared plan is fine because MODX caches pages aggressively. Consider a VPS when you run heavy Extras, large product catalogs or traffic spikes that hit uncached pages. Our Drupal on HostGator guide covers similar shared hosting tradeoffs.

The bottom line

Launching MODX on A2 Hosting now means launching it on hosting.com, but the recipe has not changed much: PHP 8.2 or newer, a cPanel database, and either Softaculous or the official /setup/ wizard.

What separates a quick install from a solid one is the follow through. Rename the two ht.access files, turn on Friendly URLs, force HTTPS, and block the core folder with rewrite rules instead of trying to move it, because on MODX 3 that old advice breaks more than it protects.

About this article: GeekBlog covers U.S. technology news, AI, phones, smartwatches and gaming. Every story is written and checked under our Editorial Policy. Spotted a mistake or have a story tip? Contact our editors.