Install

CommyPanel is installed on the server it manages. It controls Docker and nginx on that machine, so use a server you are happy to dedicate to your apps.

Requirements

• A fresh or lightly used server running Ubuntu 24.04, Ubuntu 26.04 or Debian 13 (or newer), with systemd. Other systems are refused. Debian 12 is not supported because it ships PHP 8.2 and CommyPanel needs 8.3 or newer.
• amd64 or arm64.
• Root access, and at least 1 GB of RAM (more if you build large apps on the server).
• Ports 80 and 443 free for your apps, one more for the panel (8443 by default), and 2053 if you want to use the database tools.

Install it

Run this as root:

curl -fsSL https://github.com/CommyPanel/panel/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sudo bash

The installer downloads the release, checks its SHA-256 checksum and stops if it does not match, then installs everything and prints a one-time setup link. Open it, create your admin account, and you are done. The link works once and expires after an hour; run sudo commypanel setup-url for a new one.

Your browser will warn about the panel's certificate. It is self-signed until you give the panel a domain of its own (see Domains and HTTPS).

Options for the installer: --panel-port N to choose another port, --no-docker if you manage Docker yourself, --version X to install a specific version, --yes to skip the question before an upgrade, and --verbose to see everything it does instead of the progress display.

Release candidates are published as pre-releases, so the one-line installer only ever installs the latest stable release. To try a candidate, use its own installer: curl -fsSL https://github.com/CommyPanel/panel/releases/download/v0.6.0-rc.1/install.sh | sudo bash -s -- --version 0.6.0-rc.1 (with the version you want).

Open the firewall

CommyPanel does not change your firewall. Open ports 80, 443, the panel port, and 2053 for the database tools, for example with ufw:

sudo ufw allow 80,443,8443,2053/tcp

What it installs

What	Where
nginx, PHP (from your distribution), Git, SQLite tools, Docker (Docker's own repository, or the distribution's docker.io)	installed with apt
The panel code, one folder per release	/opt/commypanel/releases/<version>; /opt/commypanel/current points at the live one
Panel data: databases, builds, logs	/var/lib/commypanel
The agent's private state: TLS keys, certificates	/var/lib/commypanel-agent
Settings and the panel's own certificate	/etc/commypanel
nginx sites for your apps (written by the agent)	/etc/nginx/commypanel
The commypanel command	/usr/local/bin/commypanel

It creates a commypanel system user for the web app and its workers, and these services:

• commypanel-agent: the only part that runs as root. It talks to Docker, nginx and Let's Encrypt on the panel's behalf, over a local socket that only the commypanel user can use.
• commypanel-queue@1, commypanel-queue@2: run deployments and certificate requests.
• commypanel-scheduler: re-checks domains, renews certificates and makes the nightly backups.

The panel's PHP code is owned by root and read-only to the panel user. PHP comes from your distribution's packages, so security fixes arrive through normal apt upgrade (see Maintenance). nginx's default site is disabled, because CommyPanel installs its own catch-all site for certificate validation.

After the install

1. Open the setup link, create the first admin account, and turn on two-factor authentication when it offers.
2. On the welcome page, accept the Let's Encrypt terms and give the panel a domain of its own if you have one (both can be done later).
3. Deploy your first app.