InterServer 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app for cPanel
By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5
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An InterServer customer has more than one login. The customer portal at my.interserver.net is where you pay, order and cancel services and open support tickets (InterServer). Each web hosting plan also has its own cPanel login, and a cPanel VPS or dedicated server adds WHM. InterServer treats these as separate identities, each with its own password (InterServer).
That matters for two-factor authentication (2FA). InterServer's help explains how to protect cPanel and WHM with an authenticator app. It doesn't explain how to turn it on for the customer portal, even though the portal's sign-in page has a box for a code from an authenticator (InterServer). 2FA is optional everywhere. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app that makes time-based codes works the same way.
How we checked this guide: the InterServer steps come from InterServer's own knowledge base and sign-in page, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. The two 2FA articles say InterServer reviewed them on October 15, 2026. We haven't tested the steps on an InterServer account, and cPanel's menus vary with its theme and version, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
Turn on 2FA for your cPanel account
The cPanel feature only appears if the server's administrator has made it available. On a shared hosting plan, that administrator is InterServer, and its article doesn't say whether every plan has it. Turning it on server-wide also doesn't sign anyone up: each cPanel user enrolls on their own (InterServer).
InterServer's article gives these steps (InterServer):
- Sign in to cPanel at its HTTPS address.
- Go to Security > Two-Factor Authentication. If your theme looks different, look for the same feature under another heading.
- Choose Set Up Two-Factor Authentication.
- cPanel shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If cPanel is open on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, then tap + and Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone. Delete the screenshot afterwards: anyone who has the QR code can make your codes.
- If you can't scan, cPanel also shows the account and key details. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and type the key into Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
- Type the current code from Novaz and finish the setup.
Before you sign out, InterServer suggests opening a private browser window and signing in there with your password and a new code. Keep your first session open until that works.
InterServer also warns, "Do not photograph or share the QR code in a support ticket" (InterServer).
On a VPS or dedicated server: WHM
If you run WHM, you are the server's administrator, and there are two separate jobs. First, the server policy, under Security Center > Two-Factor Authentication. Turning that on doesn't enroll any account. Second, your own WHM login: open Manage My Account, choose Set Up Two-Factor Authentication, scan the QR code with Novaz and type the code it shows (InterServer). The cPanel users on your server then enroll themselves, as above.
No backup codes in InterServer's help
Neither InterServer article mentions backup or recovery codes. Plan as if there are none. Unless you back up Novaz, the phone is your only source of codes, so turn on iCloud backup or save a file with Export to file… (both under Settings › Backup). If you run your own server, InterServer's WHM article says to settle how an administrator would recover access before anyone enrolls (InterServer).
If cPanel rejects your code
InterServer's first advice is to check that the phone sets its time automatically, that you picked the right account in the app, and that the code hadn't run out. It also asks you not to keep guessing (InterServer). On iPhone, go to Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?
Changing phones
Setting up 2FA again creates a new key, and the entry on your old phone stops working (InterServer). So do it while you can still sign in: run the setup again in cPanel and scan the new QR code with Novaz on the new iPhone. If you have a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can skip this: restore your accounts on the new iPhone and the existing entry keeps working. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.
If you lose your authenticator
Without codes, you need the server's administrator to restore access after checking who you are (InterServer). For InterServer hosting, that means a support ticket. Sign in to the customer portal and choose Support; InterServer says account matters should be raised while signed in (InterServer). Its help doesn't say what proof it asks for or how long a 2FA reset takes. If you are the WHM administrator, the recovery is yours to do on the server. See Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
The customer portal
The portal's sign-in page asks for a code in a field labeled Enter Code from Authenticator when an authenticator is set up on the account (InterServer). InterServer's help doesn't say where that setting is, so we can't give steps for it. What the help does document is an IP limit: under Billing > Session Limits, you can add an IP range, and the portal then refuses sign-ins from anywhere else (InterServer). Use it with care, because a new home or mobile connection can lock you out.
