Deployment Overview of BrainyCP on Server¶

Prerequisites and Basic Requirements¶

The following requirements must be met before deploying the BrainyCP application:

• Operating System: Ubuntu (compatible with apt package manager).

• Privileges: Root access is required for installation and configuration.

• Domain: The application is configured for the hostkey.in zone.

• Ports:

• Internal communication: Port 8000.

• External secure access: Port 443.

FQDN of the Final Panel¶

The fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for accessing the panel follows the format: brainycp<Server ID>.hostkey.in:443

Replace <Server ID> with the specific identifier assigned to the server instance.

File and Directory Structure¶

The application and its supporting components are organized in the following locations:

• Installation Directory: /usr/local/brainycp

• Installer Script: /root/install.sh

• Nginx Configuration Directory: /root/nginx

• Nginx User Configuration: /data/nginx/user_conf.d

• Nginx Environment File: /data/nginx/nginx-certbot.env

• SSL Certificates Storage: /etc/letsencrypt (mounted via Docker volume)

Application Installation Process¶

The BrainyCP application is installed using a non-interactive shell script. The process involves the following steps:

1. Verify if the installation directory /usr/local/brainycp already exists.

2. If not present, ensure the wget utility is installed via the apt package manager.

3. Download the installer script from http://core.brainycp.com/install.sh to /root/install.sh.

4. Execute the installer with automatic confirmation of all checks using the command:

   yes | bash ./install.sh
   

5. Reboot the server immediately after a successful installation to finalize the setup.

Docker Containers and Their Deployment¶

The reverse proxy and SSL management are handled by Docker containers defined in a Compose file.

Compose File Location: /root/nginx/compose.yml

Container Configuration:

• Service Name: nginx

• Image: jonasal/nginx-certbot:latest

• Restart Policy: unless-stopped

• Network Mode: host

• Environment Variables:

• CERTBOT_EMAIL: [email protected]

• Volumes:

• nginx_secrets (external) mounted to /etc/letsencrypt.

• /data/nginx/user_conf.d mounted to /etc/nginx/user_conf.d.

Deployment Command: To start or update the containers, execute the following command from the /root/nginx directory:

docker compose up -d

Proxy Servers¶

The deployment utilizes Nginx within a Docker container to handle reverse proxying and SSL termination via Certbot.

Configuration Details:

• The Nginx configuration file for the specific instance is located at /data/nginx/user_conf.d/brainycp<Server ID>.hostkey.in.conf.

• The proxy is configured to forward traffic from the external port to the internal application port.

• The proxy_pass directive is set to http://127.0.0.1:8002 within the location block.

• SSL certificates are managed automatically by the nginx-certbot container using the Let's Encrypt service.

Permission Settings¶

The following permissions are applied to critical directories and files:

• /root/nginx: 0755 (Owner: root, Group: root).

• /root/nginx/compose.yml: 0644 (Owner: root, Group: root).

• /root/install.sh: 0700 (Owner: root).

Location of Configuration Files and Data¶

Key configuration and data files are stored in the following paths:

• Main Application: /usr/local/brainycp

• Docker Compose Definition: /root/nginx/compose.yml

• Nginx Environment Variables: /data/nginx/nginx-certbot.env

• Custom Nginx Site Config: /data/nginx/user_conf.d/brainycp<Server ID>.hostkey.in.conf

• SSL Certificates: /etc/letsencrypt (via Docker volume mount)

Available Ports for Connection¶

The system exposes the following ports for connectivity:

• Port 443: HTTPS traffic for external access to the BrainyCP panel.

• Port 8000: Internal communication port for the BrainyCP application.

• Port 8002: Internal proxy target port used by the Nginx container to forward requests.

Starting, Stopping, and Updating¶

Service management for the proxy and SSL components is handled via Docker Compose.

• Start/Update Containers:

  cd /root/nginx
  docker compose up -d
  

• Stop Containers:

  cd /root/nginx
  docker compose down
  

• View Logs:

  docker compose logs -f
  

The BrainyCP application service itself is managed by the system's native service manager after the initial installation and reboot.