Features you would like to have in a control panel

TerensM

Hi there, I were wondering which are the top requested features to have in a server control panel? maybe I will start developing something.

Kassem

Hi @TerensM

Instead of starting from scratch, maybe you can help out in https://cipi.sh/home/ ?

It's based on Laravel like the other decoupled server control panels, you install it on a control server and then add as many servers you want to manage.

Cipi is free for any personal and commercial use and it's a perfect alternative to Runcloud, Ploi.io, Serverpilot, Forge, Moss.sh and similar software...

Instead of making it a paid product, he is making it available for free and MIT licensed!

TimboJones

1. Adding SSH keys
2. Running post-install script/commands
3. User upload/mount ISO

chiccorosso

I can’t leave plesk because I have it reimport of backup and ftp backup

flaunt7

Laravel has become a lot common now and running and installing it on shared hosting is very difficult for both us and our clients. It would be awesome if you add auto installation of it.

GreenPeace

Use low server resources.

jessicaAcehost

It all depends on the cleint-oriented segment . Some want to have minimal 3-rd party software and only basic services like "web-server, SQL, handler, etc", without those cartoons in the panel where you can install everything and anything. However, some require those features like fantastico, 100500 features of autoinstallation scripts even if they won't be used at all.

So in the end, if you want to develop something you need to decide which part of the audience you want. First as a start(as minimal software as possible) would be a good idea to a bare configuration of the server without those 100500 features which won't be used at all. Once that works (server, handlers, security updates etc) you can add another branch within the same installator based on the license type so then the destination client can choose what he wants.. anime or strictly required services on his server.

Tejy

@TerensM said:
Hi there, I were wondering which are the top requested features to have in a server control panel? maybe I will start developing something.

What do you mean by "server control panel"?
-Web control panel (eg. Plesk, cPanel, Direct Admin, KeyHelp)
-VPS control panel (eg. Virtualizor, SolusIO/VM)

ferri

@Kassem said:
Hi @TerensM

Instead of starting from scratch, maybe you can help out in https://cipi.sh/home/ ?

It's based on Laravel like the other decoupled server control panels, you install it on a control server and then add as many servers you want to manage.

Cipi is free for any personal and commercial use and it's a perfect alternative to Runcloud, Ploi.io, Serverpilot, Forge, Moss.sh and similar software...

Instead of making it a paid product, he is making it available for free and MIT licensed!

Never heard bout it, but looking at their github repo, it looks promising.

Thanks for sharing

TerensM

@Tejy said:

@TerensM said:
Hi there, I were wondering which are the top requested features to have in a server control panel? maybe I will start developing something.

What do you mean by "server control panel"?
-Web control panel (eg. Plesk, cPanel, Direct Admin, KeyHelp)
-VPS control panel (eg. Virtualizor, SolusIO/VM)

Sorry, I should have specified this in first place,

I'm more referring to VPS control panel.

Tejy

@TerensM said:

@Tejy said:

@TerensM said:
Hi there, I were wondering which are the top requested features to have in a server control panel? maybe I will start developing something.

What do you mean by "server control panel"?
-Web control panel (eg. Plesk, cPanel, Direct Admin, KeyHelp)
-VPS control panel (eg. Virtualizor, SolusIO/VM)

Sorry, I should have specified this in first place,

I'm more referring to VPS control panel.

In this case:
-all @fleio features/panel without openstack dependencies
-built in billing system (prepaid/postpaid)
-built in support system (simple ticketing system)

kassle

@TerensM said:
Hi there, I were wondering which are the top requested features to have in a server control panel? maybe I will start developing something.

panic button ?

vero

@TerensM said:
Hi there, I were wondering which are the top requested features to have in a server control panel? maybe I will start developing something.

Simple, clear, convenient user interface.

Daniel15

• Two factor authentication
• Custom ISO upload, both from URL and from client upload
• Ability to set reverse DNS for both IPv4 and IPv6
• Locked down VNC access (only allow VNC access from the same IP address as the one accessing the control panel). This is a weakness I see with many providers - I have a complex password on my control panel account, with two factor auth, but their VNC is wide open to the whole world with a short, unchangeable password
• Security auditing (list of last logged in IP addresses, log of actions performed, emails when logins come from an unrecognised device)
• Ability to instantly resize VPS
• Firewall functionality
• Traffic and CPU usage graphs
• Reliable. No broken functionality. No need to manually refresh page to see VM's status after booting it. Start up and shut down should work consistently. Error messages are useful rather than just saying "something went wrong".

Haven't really seen anything that ticks all the boxes. BinaryLane's panel comes closest, and BuyVM's Stallion panel is good too.

A lot of it comes down to "self-serve ALL THE THINGS". Don't make me contact support to change reverse DNS or mount an ISO. Faster for me, and cheaper for the company (no support time wasted processing simple routine requests)

From a development perspective, proper privilege separation is very important. Don't ever run the entire panel frontend as root. I've seen PHP-based panels that ran PHP as root, which is very bad for security as it significantly increases your attack surface compared to just having small backend services as root when needed.