What the Nova 3.8.x release notes say
Two entries in the cPanel & WHM release notes concern Nova for WordPress. Nova 3.8.0-1, released on 20 October 2026, adds a dependency on the WP Toolkit Site Import feature: a feature list can no longer enable Nova for WordPress without it. On upgrade, the plugin turns on the required features in every feature list that already enables Nova for WordPress. This holds even for a list where you had disabled wp-toolkit or wp-toolkit-site-import: the upgrade overrides it, and the notes ask you to review those lists after updating. Nova 3.8.3-1, released on 26 October 2026, goes further: Nova for WordPress now requires WP Toolkit. On a server without it, the option disappears from Feature Manager and from the add-a-package screen. The plugin installs WP Toolkit on its own, then shows the option again. To prevent this automatic installation, create the file /var/cpanel/nowptoolkit.
What this changes in practice on a server
- WP Toolkit can arrive unasked — with Nova 3.8.3-1, the plugin installs it in the background on a server that lacks it, without you launching anything.
- Functions switch on in your lists — with Nova 3.8.0-1, feature lists that already enable Nova for WordPress receive the required functions during the upgrade.
- A deliberate setting can be undone — a list where
wp-toolkitorwp-toolkit-site-importwas disabled gets modified, according to the release notes. - An option can vanish — without WP Toolkit, Nova for WordPress no longer appears in Feature Manager or when you create a package.
- Removing WP Toolkit is not enough — according to the notes, the system reinstalls it until the blocking file exists.
- The block is a single file —
/var/cpanel/nowptoolkitprevents the automatic installation, and you delete it the day you change your mind.
What the procedure assumes: root access
Everything below runs on the server itself. Creating a file in /var/cpanel requires root access, and reviewing or fixing feature lists is done in WHM with server administration rights. It therefore concerns a VPS or dedicated server under a cPanel licence whose administration you hold. It does not apply to a reseller account or to shared hosting: on those plans, the host decides on updates and on what they install, and you cannot place this file. If that is your situation, the right move is to ask your host how it handles Nova and WP Toolkit on its servers. If you administer your own server, the decision is yours, and that is exactly why it deserves a procedure rather than a surprise at the next automatic update.
Decide before the update: allow it or prevent it
There is no single right answer, only a decision to take before the update takes it for you. If you offer Nova for WordPress to your clients, or if WP Toolkit is already part of your estate, letting the plugin install WP Toolkit is consistent: the option stays available in Feature Manager and in packages. If you run a lean server with a deliberately limited set of software, or if you want to validate each component before exposing it to client accounts, it is better to prevent the automatic installation and install WP Toolkit the day you have decided to. In both cases the common point is the same: record the state of the feature lists before the update, so you can compare afterwards. The release notes describe no other effect on lists than that of version 3.8.0-1; what you have not recorded, you will not be able to observe.
Before the update: record the state of your feature lists
Schedule a checking window
Identify the date the cPanel update will reach your server, or the day you launch it yourself. Allow half an hour before and half an hour after, with no other change in parallel, so that any difference has only one possible cause.
Log in to WHM as root
Open WHM with the root account, then go to the feature lists section and Feature Manager. That is where you see which functions each list enables.
List the feature lists that enable Nova for WordPress
These are the lists that version 3.8.0-1 will modify during the upgrade. Note their names and the packages that use them, because these are the ones you will check first.
Record the state of two functions per list
For each list, note whether
wp-toolkitandwp-toolkit-site-importare enabled or disabled. A dated screenshot or a table in your operations notebook is enough; what matters is being able to reread the earlier state.Spot the deliberate settings
If you disabled one of these two functions in a list on purpose, for example for a plan that should not offer WordPress management, write it down in plain words. These are the settings the upgrade is likely to override.
Check whether WP Toolkit is already present
Note whether WP Toolkit is already installed on the server. If it is, Nova 3.8.3-1 has nothing to install; if it is not, that is the case where the automatic installation triggers.
Prevent the automatic installation of WP Toolkit
Open a root session on the server
Connect to the server over SSH with root access, as for any administration task.
Create the blocking file
Create the file
/var/cpanel/nowptoolkit. The release notes only ask for its creation. For example,touch /var/cpanel/nowptoolkitis enough to create it.Check that it exists
List the file with
ls -l /var/cpanel/nowptoolkitto confirm it exists. Do this before the update: the block must be in place when Nova moves to 3.8.3-1.Record the decision
Write in your operations notebook that the block is intentional, with the date and the reason. A forgotten file ends up surprising whoever wants to install WP Toolkit six months from now.
After the update: compare and correct
Check the Nova version
Confirm the plugin has reached the expected version, 3.8.0-1 or 3.8.3-1 or later, before drawing any conclusion about the state of your lists.
Reopen the feature lists you noted
Take the list you drew up before the update and compare two functions per list:
wp-toolkitandwp-toolkit-site-import. Any function now enabled that you had disabled was overridden by the upgrade.Correct what you chose to disable
If a list must stay without WordPress management, restore the setting you want. Note, however, that Nova for WordPress can no longer be enabled in a list without the dependency: you therefore have to choose between that option and blocking the function.
Check Feature Manager and packages
On a server without WP Toolkit, Nova for WordPress no longer appears in Feature Manager or when adding a package. If the option is missing, that is consistent with the release notes, not a breakdown.
Check whether WP Toolkit is present
If the blocking file exists, WP Toolkit must not have been installed by the plugin. If it is there without you having decided it, reread the timeline: the installation may have come before the file was created.
Try it on a test server first
If you have a second server, for example a staging VPS under a cPanel licence, run the update on it first. Checking the feature lists there takes ten minutes, and you learn what production will do before it does it. The release notes do not say whether the blocking file removes a WP Toolkit that is already installed: treat it as a way to prevent installation, not to uninstall.
Troubleshooting: the symptoms this update produces
The release notes give no error message for these cases, because they are intended behaviours rather than failures. They are recognised by their symptom, and each has an explanation in the notes. Before looking for a fault elsewhere, check that the behaviour you see does not match one of them. Most calls for help come from an option that has disappeared or a function that switched itself on, and the answer is almost always in the Nova version number and in whether the blocking file is present.
Four symptoms, four explanations
- Nova for WordPress has vanished from Feature Manager — the server has no WP Toolkit, and since Nova 3.8.3-1 the option is shown only with it. Let the plugin install it, or install it yourself.
- WP Toolkit came back after you removed it — according to the notes, the system reinstalls it. Create
/var/cpanel/nowptoolkitif you do not want that reinstallation. - A disabled function is enabled again — the upgrade to Nova 3.8.0-1 overrides lists that had disabled
wp-toolkitorwp-toolkit-site-import. Correct them by hand. - The file exists but nothing seems to have changed — check its exact path,
/var/cpanel/nowptoolkit, and the order of events: it must exist before the automatic installation triggers.
What this changes for your clients' sites
For an agency hosting client sites on a cPanel server, the issue is not WP Toolkit itself, it is the stability of behaviour. A client whose plan does not include WordPress management must not end up with that function active because an upgrade ran overnight. Conversely, a plan that does include it must not lose the option because a component is missing. The check described above comes down to two records, one before and one after, and it turns an endured update into a controlled change. It also saves time for support: when a client asks a question, you know what was enabled the day before. To install WordPress on the client side, the dedicated guide describes the procedure in cPanel; this article deals only with what the server does.
Remember three actions: record the state of the feature lists before the update, decide on the /var/cpanel/nowptoolkit file, then compare afterwards. They require root access, so a server you stay in charge of. To understand what the licence that makes this administration possible covers, or to compare cPanel & WHM with Plesk, see the linked articles below.
