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Websites & Domains. Creating a website ​

In the "Websites & Domains" section, you create a website on a domain: you choose the website type and parameters, the panel saves a setup plan as a draft, and when you give the go-ahead it installs the required software and sets the website up — step by step, with a log and a retry if a step fails.

The whole process below is shown using WordPress as the example: it needs the most components, so it demonstrates every feature of the section. Websites of other types — static site, PHP, and reverse proxy — are created the same way; only the form fields and the plan steps differ.

Before you start ​

  • If the website should open over HTTPS, point the domain's DNS to the server in advance: without it, the certificate cannot be issued. How to do this is described in Websites & Domains. Domains and SSL certificates.
  • You do not need to install Nginx, PHP, or MariaDB beforehand: if they are missing from the server, they become part of the setup plan and are installed when you start the setup.

Create a website ​

Click "Create website":

  • in a domain row — the domain is already filled in on the form;
  • in the section header — enter the domain yourself. If it is not in the list, it is added together with the website.

If the domain already has a website, you will see the notification "This domain already has a website".

In the "Create website" dialog, set the essentials; you can leave the other fields as they are:

  • "Website type" — "WordPress". Other types: "Static site" (HTML, CSS, JS), "PHP" (your own code), and "Reverse proxy" (requests are passed to your application, whose address goes in the "Application address" field). The type determines the form fields and the plan steps.
  • "PHP version" and "WordPress version" — the versions the website will run on. Choose the PHP version to match the requirements of your theme and plugins: if the server does not have that version, the panel installs it. Leave the WordPress version on "Latest" unless you have a reason to take an earlier one.
  • "Create a MariaDB database" — for WordPress this is on and cannot be turned off. The "Configure database" button opens the "Database name", "User", and "Password" fields. The panel fills in any empty fields automatically: the database name and user are derived from the domain (for example.com they are example_com and example_com_user), and the password is generated. A generated password cannot be viewed afterwards: set your own here or change it later.
  • "Web server" — Nginx: the websites in this section run on it.
  • "Issue SSL certificate" — this toggle is on by default: the certificate is issued during setup, and the website opens over HTTPS. This works only if DNS is set up in advance (details). If you turn the toggle off, the website opens over HTTP.
  • "Website folder" — a folder inside /home/www/, named after the domain by default. The folder is created automatically; you only need to specify its name: Latin letters, digits, ., -, and _.
  • "Setup plan" — what the panel will do when you start the setup. The list changes along with your choices above.

Click "Create". You will see the notification "Website draft saved successfully", and the website row expands. At this point nothing has been installed or changed on the server yet.

Draft and setup plan ​

The new website's row shows the "Draft" label and the plan — the steps the panel will carry out. For WordPress, these are:

  • "Nginx" — the web server;
  • "PHP" with the version number — the interpreter;
  • "MariaDB" — the database server;
  • "WordPress" — the CMS installation.

Software that is already on the server is marked "Done" right away. The virtual host and the database for WordPress are created by the WordPress installation itself, so there are no separate steps for them. Websites of other types have a different plan: for example, a PHP website has the "Virtual host" and "Database" steps.

The draft is saved: you can close the page and come back later — the setup does not begin until you start it.

What you can change in a draft ​

  • The PHP version. Click the gear icon on the "PHP" step, choose another version, and click "Apply". The step and the website row show the new version.
  • The database parameters — for websites whose plan has a "Database" step (for example, a PHP website). The gear icon on this step opens the database name, user, and password; click "Save" after making changes. The password is write-only: when you open the form again, the field is empty. For WordPress, the database parameters are set only in the create dialog.

Everything else — the domain, website type, WordPress version, SSL, and folder — cannot be changed in a draft; you can only create the website again (details).

Start the setup ​

  1. Click "Start setup".
  2. Follow the progress. In the website row, the label changes to "Setup · …" with a step counter, completed steps are marked "Done", and the start button is inactive for now. While the row is expanded, the status updates automatically. How long it takes depends on what has to be installed: seconds if the software is already on the server, longer if PHP and MariaDB are being installed.
  3. When the setup finishes, the label changes to "Running" and the website's parameters replace the plan.

Only one website can be set up at a time; see the notes.

If a step fails ​

The setup stops at the failed step. The website row gets the label "Error · …" and the message "Setup stopped with an error. Open the log for the failed step.", and the step gets an "Error" mark and the "Log" and "Retry" buttons.

  1. Click "Log" to open the output of the command the step failed on. For example, if MariaDB is not running while a PHP website is being set up, the "Database" step fails, and the log shows "Error 2003: dial tcp 127.0.0.1:3306: connect: connection refused".
  2. Fix the cause — in this example, start MariaDB in its module (see MariaDB. Managing the module). For a step with parameters (PHP, database), you can also correct the parameters themselves with the gear icon.
  3. Click "Retry" on the step or "Retry from error" above the plan — the setup continues from the failed step. Steps that are already done are marked "Done" and are not run again.

A running website ​

When the website has the "Running" label, expand its row:

  • "Open website" — opens the website in a new tab.
  • "WordPress admin" — opens the website's /wp-admin/ page. On your first visit, the WordPress installer starts: you set the site title and the administrator's username, password, and email address there.
  • "Nginx config" — opens the website's virtual host in the Nginx module, where you configure locations and other fine details; see Nginx. Working with virtual hosts.
  • Below the buttons, the website's parameters are shown: web server, root folder, PHP and WordPress versions, the database and its user.

The toggle in the website row disables and re-enables the website: the label of a disabled website changes to "Disabled".

What you can change ​

The root folder. Click the pencil icon next to the root folder, enter a folder name inside /home/www/ (a nested path such as site/public works too), and click "Save". Files are not moved: the website starts serving files from the new folder, and if it does not exist, the panel creates an empty one. Move the files yourself — until you do, the website opens without them.

The database password. Click the pencil icon next to the database name. In the "Website database" dialog, the database name and user are shown for reference only. Enter a "New password" (there is a generate button next to it) and click "Save" — the old password stops working. The other database settings are available through the "Open in MariaDB" link.

⚠️ Update the password in WordPress too

The panel changes the password only in MariaDB. WordPress reads it from the wp-config.php file in the website folder, so enter the new password there as well — otherwise the website loses its connection to the database.

Important notes ​

  • One setup at a time. While one website is being set up, trying to start another returns the notification "Another website is being set up. Try again later." Wait until the first website shows the "Running" or "Error" label.
  • The certificate is issued only if DNS is set up. If the domain's DNS does not point to the server yet, the certificate is not issued. The website still launches — with a self-signed certificate, and the browser warns about an insecure connection. Set up DNS (how to do it) and click "Issue certificate" in the expanded website row.
  • What can be edited in a draft and what only by re-creating it. In a draft, you can change the PHP version and the parameters of the "Database" step. The domain, website type, WordPress version, SSL, and folder cannot be changed: delete the draft and create the website again. Deleting a draft also deletes the domain together with its certificate (see Delete a domain); when you create the new website, the domain is added again, but you will have to issue the certificate again.
  • Deleting a website deletes the domain. The delete icon in the website row opens the "Delete website?" dialog: the virtual host, the domain, and the certificate are deleted, but the folder with the files, the database, and its user stay on the server. Delete them separately if you do not need them: the folder in the "Files" section, the database and its user in the MariaDB module. The installed software stays as well.
  • The section does not upload website files. The WordPress files are installed during setup. For a static or PHP website, put the files into the website folder yourself — through the "Files" section (file manager), FTP, or SSH.

What's next ​

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