How We Determine a Browser Locale

Overview

In cPanel & WHM version 11.32, we introduced a localized login page that allows users to select a locale for their session. Several factors determine the locale that you see when you log in to cPanel, WHM, or Webmail.

cpsrvd service checks

When you log in to the cPanel, WHM, or Webmail interface, the cpsrvd service uses the following process to determine which locale to display:

1. The cpsrvd service checks whether a locale query string parameter exists in the URL. If it does, the browser sets the session_locale cookie to the same value.

   • For example, the https://example.com:2083/login?locale=ru URL sets the Russian locale in the cPanel interface.
   • The session_locale cookie overrides the account’s configured locale and is valid for one year.

2. The cpsrvd service checks whether your browser already contains the session_locale cookie. If it does, the login interface and the rest of the user’s session uses the specified locale.

3. If the URL does not specify a locale query string and the browser does not have a session_locale cookie, the cpsrvd service checks whether your browser sent an Accept-Language header. If it did, the cpsrvd service uses the first valid locale that corresponds to the value of the Accept-Language header.

   Note:

   Some browsers don’t allow the Accept-Language header.

4. If none of the above steps were able to set a language, the login system uses the Server Locale setting’s value in WHM’s Tweak Settings interface (WHM >> Home >> Server Configuration >> Tweak Settings).

   • cPanel & WHM stores this setting in the /var/cpanel/cpanel.config file as the service_locale variable.
   • You can customize the language that the system uses to display a customer’s preferred locale in WHM’s Configure Application Locales interface (WHM >> Home >> Locales >> Configure Application Locales).

5. If your system does not meet any of the above conditions, the login system uses the U.S. English locale (en) by default.