Installation

One command, ten minutes, fresh Ubuntu.

The one-line install

On a fresh Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 VPS, run:

root@vps

$ curl -fsSL https://license.novapanel.dev/install.sh | sudo bash

That's it. The installer handles everything: package installs, database setup, Caddy reverse proxy, license activation, and the panel binary itself. Total time: roughly 10 minutes on a 2-CPU / 4 GB RAM VPS.

What you need before running

A fresh Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 server (not a shared host — you need root).
At least 2 GB RAM, 2 CPU cores, 30 GB disk. More is better, especially for mail.
A domain pointed at the server's public IP (you'll be asked for it during install).
Ports 80, 443, 25, 110, 143, 465, 587, 993, 995, 21, 53, 2083, 2087 reachable from the internet (the installer offers to open them via UFW).

Tip: the panel runs at port 2087 (admin) and 2083 (customer), with automatic Let's Encrypt for the hostname you provide. Don't expose the panel via 443 alongside customer sites — Caddy handles that automatically.

What gets installed

PostgreSQL 16 — panel's own database
MariaDB — for customer-owned databases
Caddy — reverse proxy with auto-TLS
PHP-FPM 8.3 — for hosted sites
Postfix + Dovecot + OpenDKIM — mail stack
vsftpd — FTP
PowerDNS — authoritative DNS
ClamAV — virus scanning (Pro)
NovaPanel binary itself, fetched from the license-gated CDN

What it asks you

The installer is interactive — it'll prompt you for:

Hostname for the panel (e.g. panel.example.com)
Admin email address
Admin password
License key, if you have a Pro/Developer one — leave blank for free Community

If you're piping curl ... | sudo bash the installer detects that, re-downloads itself to /tmp, and reattaches to your terminal automatically so prompts work properly.

Non-interactive install (for automation)

Set environment variables before running and the installer skips prompts:

NOVA_HOSTNAME=panel.example.com \
NOVA_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@example.com \
NOVA_ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme123 \
NOVA_LICENSE_KEY=NOVA-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX \
curl -fsSL https://license.novapanel.dev/install.sh | sudo -E bash

After install

Visit:

https://<your-hostname>:2087 — admin panel
https://<your-hostname>:2083 — customer panel

Re-running the installer

The installer is idempotent — re-running on a server that already has NovaPanel just upgrades the binary and re-applies any missing service config. It won't wipe your data.