The Problem

When you try to create or modify FTP users in cPanel, you receive:

Error. Could not edit /home/username/etc/ftpquota

The only times I have seen this error is when you are transferring a cPanel account over from one web host to another one. The other host is using a non-standard method for the way accounts are set up. In this example, the transfer was coming from SiteGround. Siteground has their users’ etc folders created as Symbolic links as opposed to stored in the users’ home folders.

A quick way to verify if this is your problem is to do an ls. If you see the following, then its a problem:

    root@vps [/home/username]# ls -la | grep etc  
    etc -> /sdb/backup/mails/username/etc  

The Fix

The best way would be to contact the old hosting company. Ask them to remove the symlink and copy its former destination into your home folder. i.e.:

    cp -rfp /sdb/backup/mails/username/etc /home/username/  

Once that is finished, transfer the account again like normal.

In case your old host says no, or you simply want to do it yourself, there is an easy alternative. However, cPanel will no longer recognise any of your previous FTP users, email accounts, or forwarders. You will have to re-create them all.

Delete the symlink and create an etc folder inside your home directory. The beauty of cPanel is that it will automatically create the necessary files inside the new folder when you set up new FTP and mail users.

    rm -f etc/  
    mkdir etc/  
    chown username:mail etc/