System requirements

#Supported operating systems

The installer reads /etc/os-release and only continues on the releases below. On anything else it stops with an "unsupported system" error.

For a new server we recommend Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, or AlmaLinux 9 if you prefer the Red Hat family. Every distribution gets the same panel and the same features; only the package sources differ (PHP comes from Sury on the Debian family and from EPEL and Remi on Enterprise Linux).

#Enterprise Linux and SELinux

On AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux and RHEL, SELinux stays in enforcing mode and the installer defines the booleans, ports and file contexts the panel needs. If SELinux is disabled, the rules are still written to the policy store and take effect once you enable it. An Enterprise Linux install needs helper files that ship inside the bipanel package; the one-line command on the download page fetches the package and runs the installer from the right place.

#CPU architecture

Supported architectures are x86_64 and ARM64 (aarch64). On any other architecture the installer stops with an "unsupported architecture" error. Both get the same features; x86_64 is the recommended choice.

#Hardware and VM sizing

The installer only checks memory: below 1500 MB of total RAM it warns that at least 2 GB is recommended for MariaDB, PHP and Node.js builds, but it does not stop. Disk space and CPU count are not checked; the table gives sensible starting points for sites, databases, mail and backups. What really decides the storage you need is how many accounts you host and whether backups live on the same disk.

#Clean server requirement

bipanel is built for a freshly installed server and writes its own web server, database, mail and DNS configuration. Before it starts, the installer looks for:

• the known install directories of other control panels,
• Nginx,
• Apache (the apache2 or httpd package),
• a MySQL or MariaDB server package.

If any of these is found, it warns that the server does not look clean and stops. You can continue with --force, but existing configuration may be changed, so we don't recommend it. Back up your existing sites, install on a clean server and move the sites over by restoring them from those backups.

Two situations pass the check:

• bipanel is already installed: the installer runs in update/repair mode.
• A bipanel install was interrupted (its install log is still there): the install resumes where it stopped.

#Root access

The installer must run as root and exits immediately otherwise. If you log in as a user with sudo rights, run the command through sudo:

$ curl -fsSL https://bipanel.io/install.sh | sudo bash -s -- --hostname server.example.com --email [email protected]

The server needs outbound internet access during the install: the bipanel package is downloaded from bipanel.io and its SHA-256 checksum verified, while system packages come from the distribution, PHP and Node.js repositories. Every installer option is covered on the Installation page.

#Hostname and DNS

The server needs a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) such as server.example.com. Without --hostname, the installer uses the output of hostname -f; if that is not a valid dotted domain name, the install stops. The installer sets the name as the system hostname and adds it to /etc/hosts.

Before or right after installing:

• Create an A record for the hostname pointing at the server's IP address. The panel's Let's Encrypt certificate is issued for this name; until then you will see a self-signed certificate warning on first login.
• If you will run your own nameservers (ns1, ns2), register "glue" records for them at your domain registrar pointing at the server IP.
• If the server will send mail, it needs a public IPv4 address, outbound port 25 must not be blocked by your hosting provider, and the reverse DNS (PTR) record should return the hostname.

Without --email, the admin email is set to root@<hostname>.

#Ports to open

The installer configures UFW on the Debian family and firewalld on Enterprise Linux and opens the ports below (unless you pass --without-firewall). The SSH port is opened first; if SSH listens on a port other than 22, both that port and 22 are opened. If your provider has a separate network firewall or security group, open the same ports there as well.

Once installed, Server Admin is at https://<hostname>:2087/admin and the user panel at https://<hostname>:2083.

#Docker and Railway installs

The operating system, clean server and port requirements above apply to the native server install. The Docker install runs on any Linux VPS with Docker Engine 24+ and Compose v2; 2 GB of RAM works and 4 GB is recommended. It has no mail server, DNS server or FTP. Docker and Railway installs are covered in detail on the Docker and Railway page.

#Editions and licensing

Community and Pro have the same system requirements. Without a license key, the Community edition runs free for up to 3 hosting accounts; see pricing and Licensing for the differences between editions.