Vesta Control Panel- An Introduction
Using Vesta Control Panel (VestaCP), you can not only create but also manage emails, MySQL databases, FTP accounts, and manage DNS records. It’s an open-source portal! Vesta Control Panel allows you to configure and manage core web server services through a simple web-based interface. In situations where reseller features of WHM/cPanel are not needed, this can be used as an alternative free solution to WHM/cPanel.
A few of the features can be implemented by paying for plugins, but the control panel’s core functionality is free. VestaCP is a tool that anyone, even novice system administrators, can use for managing their VPS websites.
Following is a list of VestaCP’s features:
- UI that is easy to use and clean
- GNU General Public License version 3
- Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificates & SNI (Websites can move from HTTP to HTTPS, which is safer, by using SSL certificates.)
- Support for Wildcards
- Templates for configuring systems
- The support of the DKIM protocol
- A fast backup system
- A monitoring system for systems
- A spam filter and an antivirus program
- Billing support for WHMCS.
- CLI & API that are powerful
- Platform that is secure
- The automatic updating of the software;
- User-friendly update manager
- Servers for Web, DNS, databases, mail, and FTP
- and many more…
Preinstallation checklist
To begin with, it’s crucial that the currently installed operating system (OS) is supported by Vesta. Installing VestaCP is easy thanks to the pages here:
Below is the image of install page:
As you can see in the second image, these are the supported OS of VestaCP. Out of these three OS, the most preferred option is CentOS.
Before starting installation process, there’s one thing to check out. Make sure that your operating system doesn’t lag behind in updates. To do so following commands are helpful:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
NOTE: Having selected LAMP while purchasing your OS, or manually installed some of the server software, you will need to reinstall your OS to a blank template in order to use Vesta.
Getting started with Vesta Installation
Vesta can be installed by accessing the installation page and generating the installation commands. Create a Generate Install Command based on your preferred software.
Now you need to enter few commands.
You can connect as root via SSH with the first command from your Linux or Mac desktop. But if you are running windows operating system, then you need to check PuTTY configuration.
Here are the details you need:
Hostname: Your server’s IP address is its hostname,
Username: root (the default administrator username),
And password: Password for root access to your server.
As soon as you’ve connected to your server (and installed curl in case of Ubuntu servers), Installation can be started by using directions 2 and 3:
Command 2: curl -O http://vestacp.com/pub/vst-install.sh
Command 3: bash vst-install.sh
And password: Password for root access to your server. You will see a Vesta installation screen that lists the options for installation and asks for confirmation after running the third command. To continue, type “y” and press Enter.
You should expect to spend 10 to 15 minutes on the installation. It will typically show progress in a verbose log for most of the time. It is possible, however, that there will be instances with no output for 3-5 minutes. The process will seem to be stuck, but don’t worry it’s still running. You should not interfere with the installation because this is normal. When the installation is complete, a welcome screen will appear with the control panel access information.
Initial configuration:
After installing the Vesta Panel, we can access it through a web browser and begin configuring your domain name. After the installation, you will receive an IP-based URL, which you will need to open and log in with your username and password. After you log in, you can create a new web domain by clicking on the Web tab as shown below:
After you log in, you can create a new web domain by clicking on the Web tab as shown below: A screen for adding a domain will appear then. You can enter your domain name and add it to the server there.
For your server to support Personal Nameservers, ensure DNS Support is enabled.
IMPORTANT: Never include the “www.” part of your domain name, as the control panel will automatically create the alias for “www.domain.tld”.
Your domain name has now been added, but before you can point it to your server, you will need to set up the Personal Nameservers for it. The DNS tab of your control panel will allow you to do this.
Select the Add Record button and create two “A” records for your Personal Nameservers.
To view all records associated with your domain name, click on the List N Records button on the DNS tab once the records have been created. Here’s where you need to locate the NS type records and change their value to the personal name servers you will be using.
As the last step, you will need to navigate back to the DNS tab and click on Edit next to your domain name to update your SOA record and enter your private nameserver. Now that you have set up your personal nameservers on the server side, you’re done. It’s now all about registering them with your domain name registrar.
You can switch the domain name to your personal nameservers once they are registered, and after DNS propagation, it will be pointed to your server within 24-48 hours.
The conclusion:
Congratulations! You now have everything you need to get started. We have now covered everything you need to know about installing Vesta Control Panels on a dedicated server.