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VPS and Web Hosting 12 min read

FASTPANEL: Easily Manage a VPS Server

Install FASTPANEL on a clean VPS, secure access to port 8888, then manage sites, certificates, databases and backups from a single interface.

Administering multiple sites on a VPS should not require memorizing every configuration file. FASTPANEL brings together in a single interface the creation of sites, domains, databases, FTP accounts, SSL certificates, backups, and PHP versions. This guide follows the original installation, corrects it where the documentation has evolved, and adds useful precautions for a server actually exposed to the Internet.

What FASTPANEL supports

FASTPANEL is a hosting administration panel. It installs and controls the services necessary for websites without removing the ability to intervene via SSH. Its Standard license is free. An optional extended license adds, among other things, brand customization, Prometheus metrics, server alerts, additional statistics, Node.js management, and dedicated support.

FASTPANEL dashboard in French showing sixteen sites and server resources
The dashboard centralizes sites, their status, and the main VPS resources. The original screenshot was faithfully localized into French.

From the same dashboard, you can notably:

  • create, suspend, or delete sites and their system users;
  • manage domains, DNS zones, subdomains, and redirects;
  • create MySQL or PostgreSQL databases and their accounts;
  • issue Let’s Encrypt certificates and force HTTPS redirects;
  • choose a PHP version per site, view logs, and run an analysis;
  • organize FTP accounts, mail, scheduled tasks, and backups;
  • automatically deploy common applications or create a static site, PHP, Node.js, with a reverse proxy or systemd service.

The platform automates a large part of the work, but the VPS remains your responsibility: system updates, access control, external backups, and monitoring must always be organized.

Preparing the VPS

The official documentation requires a clean 64-bit installation, with no other panel or web stack already installed, with root access. The announced minimum is a 1 GHz core, 1 GB of RAM, and 5 GB of free space. For multiple sites, plan for a significantly larger margin depending on PHP, the database, mail, and the actual load.

FASTPANEL still supports several generations of Debian, Ubuntu, and RHEL-compatible distributions. For a new installation, choose a maintained version such as Debian 12 or Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, on a VPS located in Belgium or the European Union if this matches your latency and data processing constraints.

Log in via SSH, open an administrator session, and update the system. On Debian or Ubuntu:

sudo -i
apt-get update && apt-get upgrade
apt-get install ca-certificates wget
reboot

Log back in after the reboot, check the DNS resolution and server time, then confirm that no existing service is already occupying the web ports.

timedatectl
getent hosts repo.fastpanel.direct
ss -lntup

Installing the platform

The original article still used an HTTP address. Today, use the HTTPS command published by FASTPANEL:

wget https://repo.fastpanel.direct/install_fastpanel.sh -O - | bash -

The script installs the necessary packages, configures the services, and displays at the end the panel address, the fastuser identifier, and an initial password. Running a remote script with root privileges requires trusting its source. To examine it before execution, first download it to a file:

wget https://repo.fastpanel.direct/install_fastpanel.sh -O /root/install_fastpanel.sh
less /root/install_fastpanel.sh
bash /root/install_fastpanel.sh

Temporarily store the displayed credentials in a password manager. Upon first access, the panel asks for an email address to activate its license.

Diagnosing an IPv6 issue

During the installation described in 2023, the script could not reach certain repositories as long as IPv6 was active. This is not a normal step of FASTPANEL. Start by checking the DNS, IPv6 route, firewall, and connectivity to the repository:

getent ahosts repo.fastpanel.direct
curl -4I https://repo.fastpanel.direct/
curl -6I https://repo.fastpanel.direct/
ip -6 route

If the provider announces IPv6 without providing a functional route and you have confirmed that this specifically blocks the installation, the old workaround was to add the following lines to /etc/sysctl.conf:

net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6 = 1
net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6 = 1
net.ipv6.conf.lo.disable_ipv6 = 1

Save, exit the editor, then apply the change with sysctl -p. Then restart the installation. Remove these three lines as soon as the IPv6 network is fixed. A permanent disabling can make domains with AAAA records unreachable and disrupt mail or monitoring services.

Securing the first access

The panel listens by default on port 8888. For the first access, open:

https://IP-DU-SERVEUR:8888/

A certificate warning may appear as long as the IP address uses the initial certificate. After logging in, replace the provided password, enter the panel address on an administrative domain or subdomain, point its DNS to the VPS, and issue a Let’s Encrypt certificate.

Port 8888 should not remain accessible to the whole world. In the FASTPANEL firewall or the provider's firewall, allow it only from your administration address or your VPN, then deny other sources. Verify access from a second session before closing the first to avoid locking yourself out.

Creating the first site

Click the add button, enter the domain, then follow the wizard. The official documentation recommends creating a separate system user for each new site. This separation limits the impact of a compromised application and clarifies file permissions.

The wizard then offers the site engine, database, and backup. Depending on the project, choose WordPress or another available application, PHP, a static site, a reverse proxy, Node.js, or a systemd service. Node.js is part of the features associated with the extended license.

FASTPANEL site management screen in French with FTP, DNS, SSL, PHP, and backup tools
Each site has a compact space for its files, databases, domains, certificates, backups, logs, and PHP settings.

Before publishing, create the domain's DNS records pointing to the VPS address. If DNS is managed elsewhere, only enable the functions actually needed in FASTPANEL. Wait for propagation, then check the IPv4 and IPv6 responses:

dig +short A exemple.be
dig +short AAAA exemple.be

SSL, PHP, applications, and backups

Certificate and HTTPS redirect

FASTPANEL can install an existing certificate, create a certificate signing request, generate a self-signed certificate, or request a free Let’s Encrypt certificate. This last option requires that the registered domain already points to the server address and that the validation is reachable. The HTTP to HTTPS redirect is not enabled automatically: open the site settings and enable it after issuing the certificate.

PHP and components

The PHP version is chosen separately for each site. FastCGI mode is generally suitable for classic applications; the command-line version is set independently. The component catalog also offers, depending on the system and license, Git, Composer, Redis, Fail2ban, Roundcube, PostgreSQL, and several PHP versions.

Backups outside the VPS

A snapshot at the host is useful, but it does not replace an application backup. FASTPANEL can create full backups of sites and databases, with restoration of individual elements. Differential plans also exist, but their restoration is more limited and the feature is still flagged as experimental in the documentation.

Add storage located on another server, encrypt the backups with a secret passphrase kept outside the VPS, and regularly test a restoration. An archive stored only on the same disk will disappear with it.

Maintenance and best practices

  • install system updates and check services after each reboot;
  • let the FASTPANEL automatic update mechanism run and check its logs in case of failure;
  • use a unique password per account and a separate system user per site;
  • limit access to ports 22 and 8888 to an administration network or VPN;
  • regularly check logs, security scans, quotas, and certificate expiration dates;
  • monitor disk space, memory, mail queues, and site availability from an external probe;
  • document DNS zones, scheduled tasks, and backup destinations before any migration.

If an automatic update must be restarted manually, the documentation indicates the following tool:

/usr/local/fastpanel2/app/updater

Conclusion

FASTPANEL makes the daily administration of a VPS much more accessible: sites, certificates, databases, files, logs, and backups remain gathered in a clear interface. Installation takes little time; the key is then to treat the panel as a sensitive administration component, compartmentalize sites, and keep restorable backups off the server.

References

About the author

Jeremy Kraft runs the infrastructure and the self-hosted services of the IBCSC. These guides describe configurations that were actually deployed and re-checked before publication.

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