Installation

Every NexPanel release is installed with one script, install.sh, from downloads.nexpanel.app. Run one command as root on a fresh server:

curl -fsSLO https://downloads.nexpanel.app/install/install.sh && bash install.sh --all-in-one --email you@example.com

1. What is checked automatically#

The NexPanel release key is built into the installer. Before it runs anything, the installer:

1. downloads install.sh.sig and checks its own file against the key, so a corrupted, outdated or altered copy stops with an error;
2. checks the signature of the release manifest that names the current versions;
3. checks both the SHA-256 and the signature of every package it downloads.

If a check fails, it stops and nothing has been installed. When the script is piped (curl … | bash), there is no file to check, so it checks the published copy instead and says so — download it to a file as above to have your exact copy checked.

Verify it yourself first (optional)#

For an independent check before anything runs as root, download the installer, its signature and the public key, and compare the key with the fingerprint published on nexpanel.app/download:

curl -fsSO https://downloads.nexpanel.app/install/install.sh
curl -fsSO https://downloads.nexpanel.app/install/install.sh.sig
curl -fsSO https://downloads.nexpanel.app/keys/nexpanel-release.pub
openssl pkey -pubin -in nexpanel-release.pub -outform DER | sha256sum
openssl pkeyutl -verify -pubin -inkey nexpanel-release.pub -rawin -in install.sh -sigfile install.sh.sig

The sha256sum line must print 471253db7961a1b2554230e7ba8e65f53805d1f88d45328e1b5826274199e6da and openssl must say Signature Verified Successfully. If either check fails, stop. More detail: Verify a release. You can also read the script first: less install.sh.

2. Choose an install mode#

All-in-one#

The controller and a hosting node on the same server — the quickest start.

curl -fsSLO https://downloads.nexpanel.app/install/install.sh && bash install.sh --all-in-one --email you@example.com

When it finishes:

• Admin panel: https://<server-ip>:2087/admin
• Customer panel: https://<server-ip>:2083/panel
• The admin login and password are saved in /root/nexpanel-credentials.txt (root only). Change the password after the first login.

Useful options:

Until you install phpMyAdmin with SSL on the server's IP (Admin › Nodes › phpMyAdmin), the panels use a self-signed certificate and the browser warns once.

Controller on its own server#

For several hosting servers, run the controller on a separate small server with its own domain:

curl -fsSLO https://downloads.nexpanel.app/install/install.sh && bash install.sh --controller --domain cp.example.com --email you@example.com

This installs Nginx, PHP-FPM, PostgreSQL and Redis, and requests a Let's Encrypt certificate for cp.example.com (point the domain at the server first). The admin panel is then at https://cp.example.com/admin.

Add a hosting node#

1. In the admin panel open Servers › Nodes › Add node, give the node a name and choose its web server.
2. The panel shows a one-time install command for that node. It downloads and checks install.sh, saves the enrollment token in a root-only file and runs:

bash install.sh --node --controller https://cp.example.com \
     --enroll-token-file /root/nexpanel-enroll-token --web-server nginx --php "8.2 8.3"

3. Run it as root on the new server. The token works once and expires after a few hours; the installer deletes the token file when it is done.
4. The node appears as online in Servers › Nodes within a minute.

What the installer does#

1. Checks its own signature against the release key built into it.
2. Reads the signed release manifest (or, with --version, the signed checksum list of that release).
3. Downloads each package it needs and checks both its SHA-256 and its own signature against the NexPanel release key built into the script.
4. Unpacks the packages into /root/nexpanel-install/<version>/ and runs their installers.

Nothing is executed before both checks pass. After installation, updates come from Administration › Updates — see Updates.

Install paths#