GIVEAWAY by AdminBolt & RackNerd! 100x FREE VPS FOR A YEAR + 20x LIFETIME LICENSES. LET'S TALK!

farmmaxxing

WE ❤️ ADMINBOLT!

VGL

YES, YES -- KEEP THE RACKNERD & ADMINBOLT PARTY GOING! WE'RE READY FOR MORE!

Kyleyang

YES, YES -- KEEP THE RACKNERD & ADMINBOLT PARTY GOING! WE'RE READY FOR MORE!

Kyleyang

WE ❤️ ADMINBOLT!

leev

YES, YES -- KEEP THE RACKNERD & ADMINBOLT PARTY GOING! WE'RE READY FOR MORE!

dustinc

How's everyone feeling?!

VGL

@dustinc said:
How's everyone feeling?!

I think it's good.

dustinc

@leev said:
By the way, RackNerd's brand new ctrl panel is really awesome! Considering the growing VPS management needs these days, do you guys have any plans to make a mobile-friendly ctrl panel app? @dustinc

Hi @leev -- Thank You! Glad you're enjoying ctrl. The feedback on it from our customers has been great, and I'm extremely proud of the team making it such a smooth transition! A mobile app isn't on our roadmap at the moment to be transparent, but it's certainly not off the table. If the ask for it is there, we'd be happy to explore it further. In the meantime, the interface is still fairly easy to work with, even via a mobile browser.

dustinc

@greyhataj said:
@dustinc hello to you ... I and other have read all the messages in this tread and traslated every sentences... may be there is a prize!!! hope not to errors )))))) my cat contunue to roof on the router )))
adesso sarebbe semplice se tutti capissero tutti i linguaggi....
so this is an evocation to # Everyone to write in own language I m crazy too )))

Hahaha, reading AND translating this whole thread is quite the undertaking 😂 Glad you're having fun with us regardless!

#AINT-NO-PARTY-LIKE-A-RACKNERD-PARTY!

MuntedBlub

AINT-NO-PARTY-LIKE-A-RACKNERD-PARTY!

dustinc

@cjwolff said:

@dustinc said:

@cjwolff said:
Thanks I have the 30 day trial active. It would be great if you guys offered a year subscription with a discount.

Hi @cjwolff -- I definitely wouldn't count something like that out for the future!

AdminBolt is moving quickly in a good way, and I'm excited to see where it is even a few months from now. IMO, it already covers the everyday hosting needs of many users, and with the feedback coming from this community, there's plenty of opportunity to make it even better.

Personally, it brings back some of what I liked about the earlier cPanel days pre-2018/2019 -- developers close to their users, enthusiasm for the product, and straightforward licensing. IMO, cPanel lost most of that connection as it became more corporate under WebPros. It's very refreshing to see that spirit again, with a modern foundation to build on

Thanks, i'm enjoying it so far. This is one of those projects where I need to hand it off to someone else that can't handle the command line. I look forward to seeing what this becomes.

That's a good use case for sure. The same applies if you resell hosting or manage sites for clients, giving end users their own place to handle files, email, databases, and domains can save everyone time. Glad AdminBolt is working out for your project 👊

dustinc

@omnisunce said:
where is the next times

Keep your eyes peeled, it may be sooner than you think

MuntedBlub

Hey @dustinc I've been using AdminBolt so far and really liking it but feels like I'm a bit constrained to test out the rest of its features because of the 4gb ram on the free vps...

Just running adminbolt alone already takes up 1-2gb of ram, so only 2gb of ram to work with is too little

somuzer

@dustinc said:
How's everyone feeling?!

Feeling great! Let's keep this party going! 🔥

dustinc

@ageminigod said:
Adminbolt is good but it needs to support more CMS quick downloads. its only wordpress which doesnt meet my needs. I use frappe builder and cms

Hi @ageminigod -- For this, AdminBolt also supports Softaculous, which you can install through the Modules section to access hundreds of additional applications! That's a familiar approach with cPanel/WHM and other panels too -- hosting providers/server admins often add Softaculous to give their end users a wider selection of one-click installers.

yuyuo

AINT-NO-PARTY-LIKE-A-RACKNERD-PARTY!

dustinc

@dimaraia said:
Haha, got in right at the top of that last round with the correct answer, only to realize my account was registered after October 1 - so close! Thanks for running such a fun giveaway, @dustinc. Is the giveaway still going? Any more rounds or prizes coming? Would love another shot!

More is coming, and we'll do our best to continue the diversity, and provide opportunities for all!

dustinc

@VGL said:
RackNerd's rule: As long as there's no clear announcement that it's over, the giveaway could continue at any time!!! And what we need to do is keep hyping up our party to convince @dustinc to keep hosting it!

🎉🎉🎉

dustinc

@bonbon26 said:
I just installed AdminBold, the panel looks clean and easy to use,
there're a few thing I'd like to ask:

1. Webserver: it says "No engine chosen yet - Apache assumed", I can't find anywhere to "choose" while installing the AdminBold Panel, how to do if I want to use nginx instead?
2. When I tried to issue free SSL, it failed with error:
   "Bolt Agent could not complete the requested server operation. Use correlation ID c763fe54-5516-41fd-b577-41e102909acc when contacting support."

Hi @bonbon26 -- AdminBolt currently offers Apache, OpenLiteSpeed, and LiteSpeed Enterprise for hosting websites. Nginx is used for the panel itself, but isn't currently an option for serving your sites.

For the SSL error, tagging @Chris_AdminBolt to help investigate -- thanks for including the correlation ID!

dustinc

@zhi said:
Thanks for the giveaway prize, @dustinc!

Compared to DirectAdmin, AdminBolt has a much better UI design! By the way, should we exclude dead PHP versions by default? If they need an EOL PHP version, they can install it manually.

Hi @zhi -- Thank You for giving AdminBolt a try and sharing your feedback! Building on a modern foundation from day one gives the team plenty to work with, and with all the UI/UX suggestions coming through this thread, I'm excited to see how the interface develops in future releases.

Heard on the EOL PHP versions too! I believe @Chris_AdminBolt commented on this suggestion before, but tagging him just in case.

leev

@dustinc said:

@leev said:
By the way, RackNerd's brand new ctrl panel is really awesome! Considering the growing VPS management needs these days, do you guys have any plans to make a mobile-friendly ctrl panel app? @dustinc

Hi @leev -- Thank You! Glad you're enjoying ctrl. The feedback on it from our customers has been great, and I'm extremely proud of the team making it such a smooth transition! A mobile app isn't on our roadmap at the moment to be transparent, but it's certainly not off the table. If the ask for it is there, we'd be happy to explore it further. In the meantime, the interface is still fairly easy to work with, even via a mobile browser.

Okay, I think the main thing is that we can indeed do some quicker actions and quickly check statuses on the mobile app. Also, is there any plan for our new ctrl panel to support more languages? Right now it should only support English.

dustinc

@g292888 said:
AdminBolt feedback from a giveaway winner — thank you @dustinc, RackNerd & AdminBolt!

Got my 4GB LA VPS activated within about an hour of replying, then installed AdminBolt from RackNerd ctrl > One Click Apps. The install took ~15 minutes and handed me the credentials right in the panel. Smooth.

What I liked:

• Setup wizard is only 2 steps, and the server was ready with an admin + hosting account created automatically.
• Clean, modern UI (light theme with orange accents, dark mode toggle, menu search). Pages load in 1–3 seconds even while it was still installing PHP versions in the background.
• Dashboard gives a good overview at a glance: CPU / RAM / disk, account and domain counts, Web/DB/Mail/DNS status, and a "needs attention" list.
• Lots of features out of the box: multiple PHP versions, Apache + ModSecurity, Fail2Ban/firewall, backups, migration, modules like ImunifyAV and CPGuard, and WHMCS/Blesta/Upmind integrations.
• The client panel feels familiar (cPanel-like): File Manager, Zone Editor, phpMyAdmin, Git, email, WordPress management, Redis, plus an AI assistant.

Small suggestions:

• The self-signed cert is issued for the myboltip.com hostname, so opening via raw IP shows a name-mismatch warning; maybe point the post-install link to the hostname.
• The setup wizard accepted a blank username.
• Clicking some sidebar parents (Customers, Settings) only expands them instead of opening a page.

Overall a very promising panel and a great RackNerd deal. Thanks again for the giveaway!

Hi @g292888 -- Glad we got you activated quickly and the ctrl installation went smoothly! Sounds like you've already explored a good portion of AdminBolt.

Thanks for noting the rough edges too. Tagging @Chris_AdminBolt for the blank username and sidebar feedback. On my side I'll talk with my team about the hostname-link suggestion for ctrl. Enjoy putting your new VPS to work!

dustinc

@oscillation said:
AdminBolt feedback from a giveaway winner — thank you @dustinc, RackNerd, and AdminBolt!
After spending a couple of days exploring and tinkering as a VPS and Linux beginner, here is my detailed usage review and feedback from an onboarding perspective:
What I liked:
* Clean and modern UI: The light theme accented with vibrant orange looks very fresh and modern. The navigation layout is well structured, and the multi-language / Chinese localization is solid, avoiding the dated and cluttered feel of legacy hosting panels.
* Informative dashboard: The main overview provides a clear real-time summary of CPU, RAM, disk load, core service statuses (Web, DB, Mail, DNS), and security notices. The lightweight resource monitoring is very beginner-friendly.
* Hassle-free hostname SSL out of the box: The platform automatically provides a dedicated myboltip.com sub-hostname and provisions a valid SSL certificate. Being able to see the secure padlock icon without manually buying a domain or configuring DNS records was a huge convenience.
* Separation of roles (Admin vs. Client panels): Splitting system-level server administration (Admin Panel) from individual website and file management (Client Panel) keeps permissions well organized. The tenant management flow feels intuitive like cPanel, keeping server administration secure while keeping routine site maintenance simple.
* Reliable built-in CLI toolkit: The bolt-cli command-line utility is extremely helpful. If a newcomer gets locked out or forgets credentials, running bolt-cli set-admin-password effortlessly resets access, and bolt-cli admin-sso-generate outputs a direct one-click token link, making recovery painless.
Beginner hurdles & minor suggestions:
* SSL mismatch warning on raw IP: Because the SSL certificate is issued specifically for the myboltip.com hostname, accessing the panel via the server's raw IP on port 8443 triggers an "unsafe" certificate mismatch warning. It might be helpful to encourage users to bookmark the full hostname URL directly upon setup.
* Distinction between Admin and Client logins: It is easy for first-time users to confuse the Client login interface with the Admin login portal. Adding clearer visual cues between the two login pages—or offering a helpful redirect hint when admin credentials are entered into the Client panel—would prevent confusion.
* Strict Fail2Ban rate limiting: The built-in Fail2Ban security policies are quite strict. If a user experiences network latency or mistypes passwords a few times on non-standard ports (like 8443), their local IP can get blocked quickly. Suggesting that users whitelist their local IP in the dashboard right after initial setup would help avoid unexpected lockouts.
* Underlying firewall rules: Since newer distributions utilize nftables rather than legacy iptables, adding a brief troubleshooting tip regarding nft rule reloading in the documentation would make port and firewall diagnosis much smoother.
Overall, it is a visually pleasing, feature-complete, and security-conscious panel that pairs wonderfully with RackNerd's high value. Thank you once again for the generous giveaway!

Hi @oscillation -- Thank You for spending a couple of days with it and sharing your perspective.

Glad you've enjoyed exploring both the panel and its tools. Tagging @Chris_AdminBolt for your onboarding and troubleshooting suggestions -- appreciate you taking the time to explain them by the way!

dustinc

@clanboy said:
I won one of the 4GB KVM VPS from the RackNerd × AdminBolt giveaway (thanks again @dustinc and the AdminBolt team!), and I've been running AdminBolt on it for the last few days. Figured I'd share my honest first impressions.
Installation: The install wizard was genuinely painless. From a fresh OS to a working panel login took just a few minutes, no dependency hunting or weird errors. Everything I needed was already there after the setup finished.
First impressions of the panel: The dashboard feels modern and, more importantly, fast. Pages load instantly and nothing feels bloated. Coming from cPanel, the layout took me maybe ten minutes to get used to, but everything is where you'd expect it to be — domains, email, databases, file manager, SSL.
What I tried:
- Added a domain and deployed a test WordPress site — up and running in minutes
- Let's Encrypt SSL issued in one click, auto-renew looks properly set up
- Created email accounts and a couple of MySQL databases without any hiccups
- Checked resource usage: the panel itself is noticeably lighter than cPanel. On a 4GB VPS that actually matters, most of the RAM is left for the sites themselves
Minor nitpicks: A couple of advanced settings are tucked away deeper in the menus than I'd like, and I'd love to see a one-click cPanel migration tool become more prominent, since that's how most people will arrive here. Nothing that got in my way, though.
Overall: I went in a bit skeptical about "modern cPanel alternative" claims, but so far AdminBolt actually delivers on it — clean, quick, and it doesn't eat the server. I'll keep running my test sites on it for the rest of the trial and update this thread if anything changes.
Thanks again for the giveaway — this was a great way to try it out. 🙂

Hi @clanboy -- Love to hear this, and I'm glad you found your way around comfortably coming from cPanel.

Thank You for giving it a fair try and coming back after a few days with your experience. @Chris_AdminBolt should be able to comment on your suggestions about the advanced settings and making migration easier to find. Thanks again!

dustinc

@syahrefi said:
Hey goodluck for the giveaway @dustinc !
Been using RackNerd since 2020 and love the service. Are there any ongoing promotions available ahead of Black Friday? Cheers!

Sheeesh, since 2020! Thanks for sticking with us all these years, great to hear you've been enjoying the service!

Check out our new specials page for the latest offers: https://racknerd.com/specials

Glad you're here joining the party too - let's go!!

dustinc

@ikunlala said:
Cheers! @dustinc

💕

dustinc

@EvanDi said:
Did not win, but still thanks for the giveaway!

Don't count yourself out yet, we've still got more to give away!

vvvv

WE ❤️ ADMINBOLT!

dustinc

@Arirang said:
Since I haven't used many admin panels before, it's hard for me to compare it directly to others. However, my overall impression of the UI is that it is very clean, intuitive, and well-designed. (It makes managing things feel effortless and provides a smooth user experience right out of the box.).

The only major concern I have is regarding the root password. I'm not entirely sure whether the weak root password was generated by Adminbolt or RackNerd during setup, but it is far too short and easy to guess.

Administrators who rely on panels like this might not always be experts in VPS management or server security, making a password of this length an easy target for brute-force attacks.

Recommended Improvements:

• Generate much stronger, longer default root passwords.
• Disable direct root login by default and encourage or enforce using a custom username for SSH/administrative access to enhance security.

Thanks @Arirang -- Glad you've found the panel approachable. We'll work on most of this feedback from the RackNerd side of things, but of course the root password can be changed at any time by using the "passwd" command in SSH/terminal (or further hardening, e.g. custom SSH ports, or even as far as disabling root login entirely, and so on).

vvvv