Deployment Overview of aaPanel on Server¶

Prerequisites and Basic Requirements¶

To ensure a successful deployment, the server must meet the following requirements:

Operating System: Ubuntu (latest stable version recommended).
Privileges: Root or sudo access is required for all installation steps.
Network/Ports:
80 (HTTP) - Required for SSL certificate validation via Certbot.
443 (HTTPS) - Standard web traffic.
3000 (TCP) - Default aaPanel management port.
Dependencies: The installation process requires curl, wget, and python3-pexpect.

If a custom domain is not provided, the system uses a default subdomain template based on the server ID.

The following directories are used for configuration, SSL certificates, and proxy management:

/root/nginx: Contains the Docker Compose file for the Nginx reverse proxy.
/data/nginx/user_conf.d/: Stores Nginx configuration files for custom domains.
/www/server/panel/: The primary installation directory for aaPanel data and SSL certificates.
/etc/letsencrypt/live/: Standard location for Let's Encrypt SSL certificates (if managed via Certbot).

The application is installed using a combination of a dedicated shell script and system configuration:

System Preparation: The installer ensures all package locks (apt or dpkg) are released to prevent conflicts during installation.
Installer Download: The official aaPanel installation script is downloaded from the developer's repository:
```
https://www.aapanel.com/script/install_7.0_en.sh
```
Execution: The installer is executed with the aapanel flag to perform a non-interactive installation. All logs are captured in /root/aapanel_install.log.
Service Initialization: Once installed, the bt service is enabled and started via systemd.
Post-Installation Configuration: The application is automatically configured with the following default credentials:
Username: aaPanel
Password: aaPanel123
Port: 3000

Firewall: Ensure ports 80, 443, and 3000 are open in the system firewall.
SSL/TLS: The application supports SSL via Certbot. If a custom domain is used, an Nginx reverse proxy handles HTTPS termination to secure the connection between the client and the panel.
Service Management: The core service is managed through systemctl or the bt command-line utility.

The deployment utilizes a Docker container to manage SSL certificates and Nginx reverse proxying via Docker Compose.

Nginx Reverse Proxy Container

Image: jonasal/nginx-certbot:latest
Network Mode: host
Environment Variables:
CERTBOT_EMAIL: Set to the administrative contact email.
Volumes:
nginx_secrets:/etc/letsencrypt: Persistent storage for SSL certificates.
/data/nginx/user_conf.d:/etc/nginx/user_conf.d: Mapping of custom Nginx configurations.
Restart Policy: unless-stopped

Several automated actions are performed to finalize the environment:

Port and Credential Reset: The installation script uses the bt utility to programmatically change the default port to 3000, set a standard username, and update the password.
SSL Certificate Provisioning: If SSL is required for a custom domain, the system performs the following:
Stops the aaPanel service temporarily.
Releases port 80 from any existing processes.
Uses certbot in standalone mode to obtain certificates.
Copies the resulting fullchain.pem and privkey.pem into the aaPanel SSL directory (/www/server/panel/ssl/).
Nginx Configuration Generation: Nginx configuration files are generated to act as a reverse proxy, forwarding traffic from port 80/443 to the internal aaPanel port (3000) while handling ACME challenges for certificate renewal.

To update the main application:

Since this is a direct installation via script, updates should be performed through the aaPanel web interface or by re-running the official installation script if required by the developer.