Learning to navigate ISPConfig in Debian 11 is essential for managing your servers, and in this guide, we will help you how to go over it.
When it comes to server management, there are several different control panels available in the market. Some of them are very basic, while others are advanced. They include Plesk, cPanel, Webmin, hPanel, DirectAdmin, and ISPManager.
However, ISPConfig is a straightforward and lightning-fast web hosting control panel, and the ISPConfig control panel can monitor and manage services through an easy-to-use graphical user interface. A simple user console is provided to easily monitor the servers, such as web servers, email servers, and DNS servers.
A user can get a range of information about these system resources. In addition, the system administrator can quickly identify various issues from the console. Before proceeding with the installation and configuration details, we will briefly discuss the major features of this control panel.
Introduction to ISPConfig Control Panel
It is a free and open-source web hosting panel that can perform administrative tasks for servers through web browsers. As the platform is very secure, it can manage multiple servers simultaneously. The following are significant features of the ISPConfig Control Panel:
- It is a free and open-source config control panel.
- A range of Linux distributions, such as Debian, CentOS, and Ubuntu, supports it.
- It is available in multiple languages, such as French, Spanish, Italian, and Czech.
- It is highly secure and supports multiple types of users at different levels, such as administrator, reseller, client, and email login.
- It can be used for web server management, mail server management, DNS management, and virtualization.
- It can also be used for configuration mirroring and clusters.
How to Do ISPConfig in Debian 11 – Configure and Install
Now, we will discuss how to install and configure the ISPConfig control panel. Follow the steps below, and ensure you have access as a root user or a user with sudo privileges.
Login as root user
The first step is to log in as the root user. For this purpose, type the following command on the Terminal:
$sudo su –
Edit the hostname file to set the host name
Now edit the hostname of the server in your host file. Use your favorite editor, such as nano, and type the following command on the Terminal:
#nano /etc/hosts
Now, edit the file to ensure changes as follows:
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
# This line should be changed to the correct servername:
127.0.1.1 writersink.com ispserver
# The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts
::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback
ff02::1 ip6-allnodes
ff02::2 ip6-allrouters
Make sure to specify the server name correctly. Now, save and exit the editor.
Reboot the system
After editing the hostname file, reboot your system. For this purpose, type the following command on the Terminal:
#systemctl reboot
Verify the changes
Now verify the server name you have specified is correct by typing the following command on the Terminal:
#hostname
#hostname -f
Update your system
Now, update your system by using the following commands on your Terminal:
#apt update
#apt upgrade
Install ISPConfig
Now, install the ISPConfig in Debian 11 using the following command:
#wget -O - https://get.ispconfig.org | sh -s -- --use-ftp-ports=40110-40210 --unattended-upgrades
The above command will install the ISPConfig in Debian 11 with all the dependencies. This includes Apache2, MariaDB, and PHP. You may want to use Nginx instead of Apache. In that case, you can specify the Nginx as the parameter. In this case, use the following command:
#wget -O - https://get.ispconfig.org | sh -s -- --use-nginx --use-ftp-ports=40110-40210 --unattended-upgrades
A warning may appear. In that case, type ‘yes’ and continue.
Note down the ISPConfig admin and MySQL root password
It will take a while for the installation to complete. Then, you will be shown the ISPConfig admin and MySQL root password. Take note of this information, as you will need this information later on.
Access the ISPConfig control panel
Open your favorite browser and type the following address on the address bar:
https://ispserver.example.com:8080
In the login page that appears, provide the user name and password. If everything goes fine, you will be redirected to ISPConfig Homepage, as shown below.
Now you can add clients and resellers using the Client menu tab. You can add different websites using the Sites menu, and in the Email tab, you can add an email.
Setup a firewall
For an added layer of security, set up a firewall. You can use the necessary ports for various services, such as:
Web: 20, 21, 22, 80, 443, and 40110:40210 (All TCP, no UDP)
Mail: 25, 110, 143, 465, 587, 993, and 995 (All TCP, no UDP)
DNS: 53 (TCP and UDP)
Panel: 8080 and 8081 (All TCP, no UDP)
For this purpose, go to System > Firewall> Add New Firewall Record. The information will be automatically populated. Click Save.
Update ISPConfig control panel
You can update the ISPConfig control panel sometime in the future. For this purpose, type the following command on the Terminal. Make sure you have logged in as a root user:
#ispconfig_update.sh
The above command will check for new releases and guide you through the update process of ISPConfig in Debian 11.
In this article, we have discussed the installation and configuration of the ISPConfig control panel. We started with a brief overview of the ISPConfig control panel features. Then, we talked about how to install and configure the control panel. And lastly, we went over the steps for updating the control panel.
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