Supported installation platform

The current official installer validates the server before deployment. Use a clean server that meets the following minimum requirements.

• Operating system: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.
• Architecture: amd64 / x86-64.
• Memory: minimum 2 GiB physical RAM.
• Disk: minimum 10 GiB free space.
• Access: root SSH access.
• Network: working Internet connectivity and public IPv4.
• DNS: a production hostname pointing to the server.
• Licence: valid JKPanel licence information.

These are installer minimums. Production sizing should be increased according to the number of websites, databases, mailboxes, backups and customer workloads hosted by the server.

1. Provision a clean VPS

JKPanel Server controls the hosting stack directly. Install it on a clean Ubuntu 24.04 LTS server rather than on a machine already managed by another hosting control panel.

Before continuing, apply normal operating-system updates and verify that the server has the expected public network connectivity.

2. Prepare the panel hostname

Choose the permanent management hostname before installation, for example:

panel.example.com

Create the appropriate public DNS record so the hostname resolves to the server's public IPv4 address.

Allow DNS propagation before relying on the hostname for HTTPS and production administrator access.

3. Connect to the server as root

Connect through SSH using the root account or enter a root shell before running the installer.

ssh root@SERVER_IP

The JKPanel installer refuses to continue when it is not executed as root.

4. Run the official installer

Use the JKSolutions installation endpoint:

bash <(curl -fsSL https://install.jksolutions.online/install.sh)

The installer downloads the certified release through HTTPS and validates the release checksum before installation.

Do not copy the installer from third-party websites or use unofficial mirrors.

5. Installer information

During installation, provide the deployment information requested by the installer. Depending on the edition and installation mode, this can include:

• Administrator email address.
• JKPanel licence key.
• Panel hostname.
• Primary hosting domain.
• JKPanel edition.
• Server timezone.
• Public IPv4 address where automatic detection is not suitable.
• Bind address where the server architecture requires one.

Use deployment-specific values. Do not reuse credentials, tokens or configuration files copied from another JKPanel server.

6. DNS and network preparation

The panel hostname must resolve correctly before the server is placed into production.

• Confirm the management hostname resolves to the intended server.
• Permit ports required by the hosting services that will be enabled.
• Keep unnecessary network services closed.
• Confirm outbound DNS and HTTPS connectivity.
• Confirm system time and timezone are correct.

7. HTTPS and first access

After the installer completes successfully, open the configured panel hostname using HTTPS:

https://panel.example.com/

Sign in using the administrator credentials created during installation. Do not ignore browser certificate warnings on a production system.

8. First-login checks

Before adding customer websites, review the new server installation.

• Verify the server hostname and panel URL.
• Verify HTTPS and certificate status.
• Check CPU, memory and disk availability.
• Confirm Nginx and PHP-FPM are healthy.
• Confirm MariaDB is healthy.
• Confirm Redis and other enabled support services are healthy.
• Review server firewall and service exposure.
• Verify that the administrative account is functioning correctly.

9. Validate hosting functionality

Before onboarding customers, create a controlled test workload.

1. Create or assign a test hosting account.
2. Create a test website.
3. Verify the site's DNS record.
4. Verify Nginx routing.
5. Verify the selected PHP-FPM runtime.
6. Create and test a database where required.
7. Issue and validate SSL for the test website.
8. Confirm logs and resource reporting are functioning.

10. Optional mail services

If JKMail or integrated mail hosting is enabled for the server, complete the mail-specific DNS and security configuration before offering mailbox services.

Typical production mail configuration includes:

• Mail hostname and forward DNS.
• Reverse DNS / PTR where supported by the provider.
• MX records.
• SPF.
• DKIM.
• DMARC.
• Valid SMTP/IMAP TLS certificates.
• Authenticated submission controls and brute-force protection.

See the JKMail documentation for the mail-specific deployment workflow.

11. Production security

• Restrict root SSH access according to your server policy.
• Use strong unique administrator credentials.
• Keep the operating system and JKPanel components updated.
• Maintain firewall rules appropriate to enabled services.
• Keep Fail2Ban or equivalent authentication protection operational where configured.
• Protect API credentials, tokens and integration secrets.
• Do not leave temporary installer or diagnostic files publicly exposed.

12. Backup before customer onboarding

Create a recoverable baseline backup after installation and initial configuration, but before large-scale customer onboarding.

The backup strategy should cover JKPanel configuration, hosted website data, databases, DNS data where applicable, mail data where applicable, and other deployment-specific state required for recovery.

13. Continue with Initial Setup

After installation validation, continue with the JKPanel Server Initial Setup guide.

Initial setup covers the server identity, services, resource review, hosting packages, first customer, test website, backup policy and production readiness.