In this tutorial, we will walk through the complete steps to install aaPanel on a CentOS server. The installation process is straightforward and can be completed in approximately 10 minutes.

aaPanel is a user-friendly yet powerful control panel that allows you to manage a web server through a graphical web-based interface (GUI). It provides one-click installation of LNMP (Linux, Nginx, MySQL, PHP) or LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) environments, along with other software essential for web hosting.

Let’s dive into the process.

Prerequisites

To successfully install aaPanel, ensure you meet the following requirements:

1. A clean, freshly installed CentOS operating system
   
   At the time of writing, only CentOS 7 is fully supported and stable. If CentOS 8 becomes supported, you can follow these same steps.
   
2. Root access to the server
   
   Administrator-level privileges are necessary to execute the required commands.

Step 1: Set the Hostname

Setting a proper hostname is critical, especially if you plan to configure services such as a mail server in the future. Follow these guidelines:

• The hostname should have an A record configured in DNS.
• Use a subdomain of your primary domain, such as server.maindomain.tld.

hostnamectl set-hostname server.maindomain.tld

Step 2: Update the Server

After configuring the hostname, ensure your server is up to date. Use the following command to update the system packages:

yum update -y

This ensures that all installed software is current and any vulnerabilities are patched.

Step 3: Install aaPanel

To install aaPanel, follow the installation instructions provided in the official documentation. You can find the command and details here: aaPanel Installation Tutorial.

yum install -y wget && wget -O install.sh http://www.aapanel.com/script/install_6.0_en.sh && bash install.sh

Once the installation is complete, the system will provide a login URL along with the default username and password. It will appear similar to this:

==================================================================
Congratulations! Installed successfully!
==================================================================
aaPanel Internet Address: http://123.456.78.910:8888/b27de070
aaPanel Internal Address: http://123.456.78.910:8888/b27de070
username: j637jnib
password: cd9f3777
Warning:
If you cannot access the panel, 
release the following port (8888|888|80|443|20|21) in the security group
==================================================================

Post-Installation Setup

After logging in to the aaPanel interface, you will be prompted to select a server environment:

• LNMP (Linux, Nginx, MySQL, PHP): Recommended for websites that require high performance and scalability.
• LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP): A suitable option if your websites do not support Nginx.

Recommendation: If your websites are better supported by Apache, choose the LAMP setup.

Summary

Installing aaPanel on a CentOS server is a quick and efficient way to set up a user-friendly control panel for managing your web hosting environment. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can configure a fully functional server with ease, whether you prefer an LNMP or LAMP stack.

With its one-click installation features and intuitive interface, aaPanel simplifies server management, making it accessible even for users with limited technical expertise. Once installed, you’ll have the tools needed to manage websites, databases, and other server functionalities.