This guide explains how to convert CentOS 8 to CentOS 8 Stream and install the CentOS Web Panel (CWP) control panel. The process is straightforward, requiring only a few steps.

CentOS Web Panel fully supports CentOS 8 Stream, with dependencies maintained by the CWP repository. This means you can expect a stable operating system, as updates are delayed and managed through their own repository. You also have the option to use either the CWP repository for delayed updates or the Stream base repository for regular updates.

Let’s begin. Ensure you have CentOS 8 installed on your server. If it’s not already the Stream edition, follow the steps below to convert it.

Step 1: Converting CentOS 8 to CentOS 8 Stream

If CWP is already installed, follow only Steps 1, 3, and 4.

1. Install the centos-release-stream package:

dnf install centos-release-stream

2. Swap CentOS Linux repositories with Stream repositories:

dnf swap centos-{linux,stream}-repos

3. Backup and move repository files:

mv /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-AppStream.repo /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-AppStream.repo.bak
mv /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Base.repo /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Base.repo.bak
rsync -av /etc/postfix/ /etc/postfix.bak/
dnf module disable postfix
rpm -e --nodeps qt5-qtbase qt5-qtbase-common qt5-qtbase-gui

Note: Ignore “No such file or directory” errors during mv commands or “package qt5-* is not installed” errors; these are safe to skip.

4. Enable the PowerTools repository:

sed -i 's/enabled=0/enabled=1/g' /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Stream-PowerTools.repo

5. Synchronize the distribution:

dnf distro-sync

Troubleshooting:

If you encounter errors, clean packages and update:

dnf clean packages
dnf update

If issues persist, run updates with –nobest and –allowerasing:

dnf update --nobest
dnf update --allowerasing

6. Verify the upgrade by checking the CentOS version:

cat /etc/centos-release

Expected output:

CentOS Stream release 8

7. Reboot the server:

reboot

Step 2: Installing CWP on CentOS 8 Stream

After converting to CentOS 8 Stream, proceed with the following commands to install CWP:

1. Install required packages:

dnf install epel-release -y
dnf install wget screen -y

2. Download and execute the CWP installer:

cd /usr/local/src
wget http://centos-webpanel.com/cwp-el8-latest
sh cwp-el8-latest

Step 3: Installing Additional Dependencies

1. Install required dependencies:

yum install oniguruma oniguruma-devel gcc make gcc-c++ cpp kernel-headers.x86_64 libxml2-devel openssl-devel bzip2-devel libjpeg-devel libpng-devel freetype-devel openldap-devel postgresql-devel aspell-devel net-snmp-devel libxslt-devel libc-client-devel libicu-devel gmp-devel curl-devel libmcrypt-devel pcre-devel sqlite-devel libdb-devel enchant-devel libXpm-devel mysql-devel readline-devel libedit-devel recode-devel libtidy-devel libtool-ltdl-devel libwebp libwebp-devel expat expat-devel cmake libmemcached libmemcached-devel

2. Create a symbolic link for cmake:

ln -s /usr/bin/cmake /usr/bin/cmake3

Step 4: Rebuild the Mail Server

From the CWP Admin Panel:

1. Navigate to Mail > MailServer Manager.
2. Rebuild the mail server as required.

That’s It!

By following these steps, you’ve successfully converted CentOS 8 to CentOS 8 Stream and installed the CWP control panel.