Drupal modules

Drupal modules install through Composer (the modern, recommended path) or the Extend page in the Drupal admin UI. Flashcloud adds the environment underneath: LiteSpeed for request handling, SSH access for Composer and drush, and a PHP version picker so a module's requirements don't fight your server config. Softaculous Apps Installer is also available in cPanel for one-click app installs if you're setting up a new site.

Installing a module with Composer

If your Drupal site was set up with Composer (the standard for Drupal 9/10/11), install modules from the project root:

composer require drupal/webform
drush en webform -y

Composer downloads the module and its dependencies into web/modules/contrib and updates composer.json / composer.lock. The drush en command enables it. SSH Access is available by default under cPanel's Security section on hosting accounts.

Run composer update periodically to pull security patches for contrib modules, and check the module's project page on drupal.org for a "Covered by Drupal's security advisory policy" badge before relying on it in production.

Installing without Composer (Extend page)

Older or manually-deployed Drupal installs can still use the classic method:

1. Download the module's .tar.gz from drupal.org.
2. Upload it to web/modules/contrib/ (or sites/all/modules/contrib/ on Drupal 7) using the File Manager tile in the portal, or an FTP client with your FTP Accounts credentials.
3. Extract it in place.
4. Log in to Drupal, go to Extend, find the module, check its box, and click Install.

This works, but you lose Composer's dependency resolution. If the module needs a specific version of a library, you're tracking that by hand. Composer is worth the switch if you're still on this pattern.

Matching PHP version to module requirements

Every Drupal module declares a minimum PHP version, and mismatches are a common cause of a blank white screen after enabling one. Check the module's composer.json or its drupal.org project page for the require block before installing.

Your account's PHP version is set from the PHP Version tile in the portal, and it applies per domain, so you can run different versions for different sites on the same account. Check drupal.org for the PHP minimum your Drupal version requires. If a module throws a syntax error or a "requires PHP" fatal right after activation, this tile is the first place to check.

If a module needs a PHP extension that isn't on by default, imagick or redis for example, that's a separate toggle in cPanel's Select PHP Version tool, under the extension checkboxes for your account's active PHP version.

Performance modules you probably don't need

Drupal's contrib ecosystem has a long list of caching and performance modules: boost, memcache integrations, page cache tuners, built to compensate for hosting that doesn't cache well by default. On Flashcloud, LiteSpeed and LSCache already handle full-page caching at the server level, the same mechanism described in how we make your site fast. Installing a competing cache module on top can cause double-caching bugs, stale pages that won't clear, or two systems fighting over the same cache headers.

Before adding a performance module, check whether Drupal's built-in Internal Page Cache and Dynamic Page Cache core modules (enabled by default) are enough. They usually are. LiteSpeed handles the rest at the server layer.

When a module needs cPanel access

Some modules (image processing, PDF generation, certain migration tools) need command-line tools or PHP extensions that aren't exposed in the portal. For those, use the cPanel one-click login to reach cPanel, then open Select PHP Version for extension toggles or SSH Access for anything requiring shell commands. See accessing cPanel for when cPanel is the right tool versus the portal.

When to contact support

If a module install leaves your site with a white screen or a fatal error you can't diagnose from the message alone, open a ticket from Support in the portal. Include the module name, the error text, and whether you installed via Composer or manually. If the fix involves sharing database or SSH credentials, use the ticket's secure-share panel rather than pasting them into the ticket body.