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

leev · October 16

Good morning, will there be a new round of the giveaway today?

dustinc · October 16

@leev said:
Good morning, will there be a new round of the giveaway today?

I can be convinced - but the demand has to be there!

dustinc · October 16

@AchylsWu said:
Thanks a lot @dustinc, RackNerd and AdminBolt for this giveaway! I spent some time with AdminBolt today and wanted to share a few thoughts.

Getting started took almost no effort. The first-run wizard only asks one real question about how you plan to use the server, and then you land straight in the panel.

Everything is grouped logically in the sidebar, so I could find domains, files, databases and mail settings without digging around.

Having WordPress tools and an AI helper built right into the home page is handy, especially for people who don't want to touch the command line.

It already supports Chinese and a bunch of other languages, which is great for non-English users.

So far it feels like a solid, lightweight alternative to the older panels. I'll keep playing with it and report back if I find anything else. Cheers!

Hi @AchylsWu -- You're very welcome! Glad you were able to get comfortable with AdminBolt so quickly. Good to hear the language options stood out too -- we've got people from all over the world trying it here!

Enjoy exploring, and please do share anything else you discover along the way. Thank You for taking the time!

dustinc · October 16

@noob404 said:
The challenges are tougher too. Makes sense, since we have a lot more competition this time. Guess, this year's BF thread would be the most insane yet. Touch wood!

Hi @noob404 -- We'll definitely keep mixing it up! Different challenges give different people a chance to shine, and the goal is to keep things fair, fun, and engaging for everyone.

As for Black Friday -- if this is any indication, then this is going to definitely be our best Black Friday yet

dustinc · October 16

@navneetkk said:
The first 4-5 guys literally joined LET this week 😒

Always good to see the community grow! Benefits the entire community, in the grand scheme of things.

dustinc · October 16

@VGL said:
Will there be any RacknNerd account credits tonight? @dustinc People who have already claimed a VPS also want to try their luck and win again.

Possibly, possibly Build up the demand, and I'll consider it!

dustinc · October 16

@Dulliri said:
omg i think i won because 2 or 3 commenters were on youtube ads!!

Nice work! 👊

unny · October 16

ADMINBOLT - THE MODERN WEB HOSTING CONTROL PANEL!

dustinc · October 16

@jmslui2008 said:
@dustinc Thank you for this amazing giveaway marathon! Quick question: is the giveaway wrapping up now, or is there still a chance of a bonus round with more free VPS later? Either way, this thread has been so much fun!

There's definitely more giveaways planned. When is the question, that's up to you, and the demand you wish to help build up here within this thread

dustinc · October 16

@x1arch said:
Got one from @dustinc, thank you, so much, RackNerd!

I’ve tried AdminBolt, and it looks very good for people who doesn't like CLI. As for me, the interface looks well, it contains all what you need for hosting. Over kill for me.

Not critical, but Installation takes about 30 min, why it takes so much? I believe it could be delivered as image. Anyway great job!

Hi @x1arch -- Woot woot, nice work! Glad you gave AdminBolt a try, even if you normally prefer the CLI.

The install time can vary with package download speeds and how many installations are running at once. ctrl allows 30-60 minutes as a precaution, though it usually finishes much sooner.

We install from the official source each time rather than deploying a prebuilt image. That way, you're getting the latest available installer and packages instead of whatever versions were bundled when an image was created. With how quickly applications and security updates are evolving nowadays, we feel that's worth a little extra setup time

dustinc · October 16

@VGL said:

@jmslui2008 said:
@dustinc Thank you for this amazing giveaway marathon! Quick question: is the giveaway wrapping up now, or is there still a chance of a bonus round with more free VPS later? Either way, this thread has been so much fun!

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!

Hahaha, you're catching on! I do have a history of giving in, and giving back even more when this community gets the hype going 😂

dustinc · October 16

@VGL said:
Who still wants this party to CONTINUE? Let's HYPER IT UP together and convince @dustinc to keep hosting the RackNerd party!

#ADMINBOLT-ROCKS-LET-KNOWS-IT! #MODERN-HOSTING-LEGENDARY-GIVEAWAYS!
#RACKNERD-AND-ADMINBOLT-KEEP-THE-PARTY-GOING!

Love this

dustinc · October 16

@nacy said:
Thank you dustinc, RackNerd and AdminBolt for this giveaway!

I installed AdminBolt on the new VPS through the RackNerd control panel's One-Click Apps (AlmaLinux 9). The install finished in about 10 minutes and the setup wizard was straightforward — I chose "Host my own websites".

First impressions: the panel looks clean and modern, feels fast and light, and it's great not having per-account fees like the legacy panels. Looking forward to putting it to real use. Thanks again!

Hi @nacy -- Nice! Glad you went from a fresh VPS, to a working panel so easily. The flat per-server licensing is a big plus for sure -- room to add more sites without counting accounts along the way!

Enjoy putting it to work, and Thank You for sharing your experience!

dustinc · October 16

@leev said:
Got my free VPS! 🎉

I'm getting ready to install AdminBolt via the one-click option in the ctrl panel and start trying it out. This is also my first RackNerd VPS, so I'm really looking forward to the experience!

Many thanks to RackNerd, AdminBolt, and @dustinc for the giveaway! Really appreciate it! 🙏

Hi @leev -- Your first RackNerd VPS, welcome aboard! Glad this giveaway gave you a chance to try us out and explore AdminBolt along the way. Enjoy getting everything set up, and let us know how your first experience goes!

dustinc · October 16

@zc741 said:
Thanks @dustinc and the AdminBolt team for the giveaway! I installed AdminBolt v1.9.2 through RackNerd ctrl on the provided 4 GB VPS and have been trying the client panel.

A few initial impressions:

The dashboard groups domains, files, databases and email tools clearly, so the basic hosting tasks are easy to locate.

The included temporary domain is useful for trying a fresh server before pointing a personal domain at it. I used File Manager to create and edit a small text file, saved it, and verified that the content was served correctly over HTTPS.

The domain list shows the document root and PHP handler/version in one place. The SSL page also makes the certificate type and expiration date easy to find.

I looked through the Database Wizard and Backups pages too. On my fresh setup, Backups explicitly explained that no backup policy had been assigned yet, which is useful information. I have not tested database creation, mail delivery or backup restoration.

One suggestion: a compact first-run checklist with direct links for domain/SSL checks and backup-policy setup would help new VPS owners see what is ready and what still needs configuring.

These are initial hands-on impressions from a fresh installation; long-term reliability and performance remain untested. Thanks for the opportunity to try it!

Hi @zc741 -- Thank You for sharing what you've tested so far! Nice to hear you got a file created and serving over HTTPS without any fuss.

A first-run checklist sounds useful, especially for helping new users spot what still needs configuring. Enjoy exploring the rest of the panel!

dustinc · October 16

@LukExo said:
███████▒▒▒ 70% loading....

😂

dustinc · October 16

@gooliver said:
Tried both sides of AdminBolt today, but spent most of the time on the customer tasks I'd actually use a hosting panel for, rather than just looking through the menus.

I created a test subdomain under the temporary domain supplied with the server. It got its own document root and PHP 8.4 configuration, and the default welcome page loaded. SSL wasn't enabled at creation, so I went to SSL Certificates and requested the free certificate separately. That completed successfully with ZeroSSL, and the same site then opened over HTTPS. I'd prefer an "enable SSL" option in the domain creation form, but the separate process worked.

The DNS editor was straightforward too. I added a TXT record, found it again using the table search, and deleted it when I was done. The DNS Health page reported the main hosting domain as healthy. Having both the record editor and a health check in the client account is useful.

On the admin side, I liked that the health page separates a failed check from a failed service. Mine showed all six core services healthy, but kept the overall state at "Unknown" because it couldn't collect a mail IPv6 observation. It links to the execution logs instead of pretending everything is green. The downside is that this is another thing to investigate on a fresh install; I haven't traced the cause, so I wouldn't call it a mail delivery problem.

The backup screens were the part I paid most attention to. The regular Backups page told me clearly that no backup policy had been assigned, so no automatic backups were being made for this account. That's a setup detail, not a failed backup, and I appreciate it being stated plainly. The admin view confirmed there were no policies or destinations configured yet. Separately, I created a manual filesystem backup and it appeared in the list with its size and time. The warning that these backups exclude databases and server configuration is worth reading. I haven't tested a restore, so I can't comment on recovery yet.

My main gripe is that "Backups" and "Filesystem Backups" are two separate places, and a new user needs to understand the difference before assuming their whole site is protected. SSL also takes an extra trip after creating a subdomain. Neither stopped the basic tasks from working, but those are the two places where I'd like clearer guidance in the workflow.

For a first hands-on session, the client panel felt easy to find my way around. The domain, DNS, certificate and manual-backup tasks I tried worked. This is still a short test on a fresh VPS, and I haven't tested mail delivery or a backup restore.

Thanks to @dustinc, RackNerd and the AdminBolt team for the giveaway and for the chance to try this out

Hi @gooliver -- You mentioned enjoying testing new panels, and you've certainly dug into this one! Thank You for walking through actual hosting tasks and documenting the results.

Your point about the two backup sections makes sense -- users should be able to understand what each backup covers and what's configured. I'm certain that the team and @Chris_AdminBolt will be taking this feedback into consideration, along with the SSL workflow and health check observation. Appreciate the thorough follow-up and screenshots!

dustinc · October 16

@Dulliri said:
Thank you @dustinc - just got my vps from the giveaway, Adminbolt was truly one-click setup. Took less than 10 minutes, got my server login details, am i'm in. as some other users mentioned earlier, the initial login was without SSL. but that's easily settled in the next steps where adminbolt assisted with the hosting/server setup. A non-issue really.

Still figuring things out as I go, but i really like the cloudflare, dns and domain management provided in the client dashboard. Even more amazed that we can handle emails and mailing lists, will definitely fiddle around with that in the days to come!

Once again, thanks to the Racknerd and AdminBolt team for giving back to the community, my first experience on LET has been splendid so far, kudos to @dustinc for doing this, and i'm sure all of us are definitely looking forward to the upcoming Black Friday deals from Racknerd!

Hi @Dulliri -- Congrats again on the awesome win! Glad the install went smoothly and you've already found plenty to explore in AdminBolt.

Really happy to hear your first LET experience has been a good one too -- you've certainly helped keep this party going, especially on X 😂 Enjoy the VPS, keep us posted on your testing, and as for Black Friday... you know we like to keep things interesting around here

dustinc · October 16

@VGL said:
I've now had some time to try out AdminBolt on my new RackNerd VPS, and so far my first impression has been very positive.

Getting started was straightforward, and the interface feels clean and easy to navigate. I especially like that I didn't need to spend much time figuring out where everything was before I could start using the panel.

I'm still exploring the features, so this is only my initial impression rather than a full review, but so far the experience has been smooth and enjoyable. I'll continue playing around with it and see how it performs with longer-term use.

A sincere thank you to AdminBolt, RackNerd, and @dustinc for putting together this giveaway and giving us the opportunity to try everything out. This is also my first RackNerd VPS, so it has been a fun way to get started with both RackNerd and AdminBolt!

Thanks again! 🙏

Hi @VGL -- Glad your first RackNerd VPS has been a good introduction to both us and AdminBolt! You've been active here with feedback and helping get everyone excited, and we appreciate it.

Enjoy settling in with the VPS -- it'll be interesting to hear how your impressions develop with more use!

dustinc · October 16

@hunkx said:
Thanks @dustinc, RackNerd, and the AdminBolt team for this awesome giveaway!

I got the VPS activated and deployed AdminBolt on AlmaLinux 9 via the One-Click Apps in RackNerd ctrl. The provisioning went smoothly and was ready in around 10 minutes.

Here are my initial impressions after exploring the AdminBolt admin panel:

Clean & Fast UI: The dashboard layout is modern and responsive (built on a snappy single-page architecture). Everything from domains, web server, databases, to health metrics is organized logically without the clutter of legacy panels.

Resource Footprint: Impressively lightweight! Idle RAM usage sits at around 350-400 MB, leaving plenty of memory on this 4 GB VPS for actual workloads.

Out-of-the-Box Setup: The automated temporary hostname and SSL setup worked seamlessly right after install. Having Fail2Ban and firewall rules easily accessible from the panel is also a big plus.

Flat Pricing Model: Not having per-account license tiers like cPanel makes this a very attractive alternative for multi-site hosting.

Looking forward to testing it further and hosting some projects on it. Appreciate the generosity from RackNerd & AdminBolt!

Hi @hunkx -- Thank You for taking AdminBolt for a spin and sharing your impressions!

We sincerely appreciate the initial feedback/impressions thus far.

dustinc · October 16

@leev said:
I've now installed AdminBolt on my RackNerd giveaway VPS and spent some time exploring the panel, so I wanted to share my first impressions.

The setup process was straightforward, and the panel was ready to use without too much manual work. The interface feels modern and well organized, and I was able to understand the main navigation fairly quickly, even though this was my first time using AdminBolt.

What I like most so far is that the panel brings the main hosting tools together in one place. Website, database, email, DNS, SSL, PHP, and server management all feel like parts of the same platform rather than a collection of unrelated tools.

I also appreciate the visibility provided for operations running in the background. Being able to see whether a task is waiting, running, or has failed is much better than clicking a button and wondering what happened.

I am still at the beginning of my testing, so I have not yet explored every advanced feature or tested the panel under a large production workload. Because of that, I would describe this as a positive first impression rather than a complete review.

For future improvements, I think a dashboard checklist for new users would be very helpful. It could walk users through securing the panel, confirming DNS and hostname settings, choosing PHP and web server options, creating the first website, and configuring backups.

More explanations beside advanced settings would also be welcome. Short descriptions and recommended defaults could make PHP, DNS, mail, SSL, and web server configuration less intimidating for new users.

Overall, my experience has been smooth so far. AdminBolt feels modern, capable, and easy to navigate, and I am looking forward to seeing how it develops as I continue using it.

Many thanks to the AdminBolt team, RackNerd, and @dustinc for the giveaway and for giving me the opportunity to try both AdminBolt and my first RackNerd VPS. I really appreciate it!

Hi @leev -- Thanks for the follow up Glad you're settling in comfortably with both AdminBolt and your first RackNerd VPS.

The checklist and explanations beside advanced settings sound useful, especially when you're learning a new panel. I believe @Chris_AdminBolt should be taking these suggestions into account for a potential future update. Thank You for following up with such a thoughtful write-up!

dustinc · October 16

@perry1121 said:
My AdminBolt trial is up and running, here's my honest first take.

Install: used the One-Click Apps in RackNerd's ctrl panel. Took roughly 15 minutes, landed on AlmaLinux 9, zero hiccups. Panel lives at port 8443.

Onboarding: 2-step wizard after first login — choose use case (self-hosting vs clients), then admin account setup. Then confirm email to activate the trial. Simple, no head-scratching.

The panel UI is clean and modern. Admin side covers Dashboard, Customers, Backups, Web Server, Email, SSL, Health, Cluster, Logs, Migration, Modules, Settings — sensibly grouped, easy to find things. The end-user panel has everything you'd expect: domains, file manager, MySQL, email accounts, WP installer, SSL, backups.

It auto-provisioned a temp website on the account (PHP 8.4.26 + Apache) that's already serving fine.

Early days, but the install-to-working-panel flow was one of the smoothest I've seen for a hosting panel. Thanks @dustinc, RackNerd and the AdminBolt team for making this giveaway happen!

Sheeesh, nice! From one-click install to a working test site with zero hiccups -- great to hear! We put a lot of thought into making apps easy to get started with through RackNerd ctrl, so I appreciate you sharing how it went.

Enjoy exploring AdminBolt and making that VPS your own. Thank You for joining us!

dustinc · October 16

@Dulliri said:
ain't no party like a racknerd party!!!!!

🎉 You know it!

dustinc · October 16

@Chris_AdminBolt said:
WOW! ~130 pages and still going, love it. Thanks to everyone who installed the panel and shared what they found. A few answers:

@MrEd

Units: good catch. Disk space and bandwidth in the Hosting Packages list are in MB, but the list leaves the unit out. You only see it once you open the package form.

RAM: @hunkx reported 350–400 MB idle on the same 4 GB giveaway VPS, so I'm curious where your 1.2 GB came from (free -m, htop, the dashboard?). Would help us compare.

Docker and proxying subdomains to other machines (your Nginx Proxy Manager setup): neither is in the panel right now. Both are good asks.

A cheaper home lab tier: fair ask, and thanks for spelling out the home lab use case.

@Greyhound

IP:8443 without a valid cert: yep, the myboltip.com hostname you mentioned is the way to go there.

CPU/RAM limits per client: the "Resource Limits" tab in a package only shows up on CloudLinux, or on Apache with the LSAPI Engine module installed, where the limits apply to PHP running through LSAPI. Without one of those you can cap disk and inodes, but there are no CPU/RAM controls.

The disappearing logo: if you mean the "Login" button with the bolt icon in Accounts, it hides while an impersonation is still open, and closing the client tab doesn't end it. Click "Leave" in the impersonation banner, then refresh Accounts. The button also only shows for active accounts. If you meant a different logo, tell me where you saw it.

@x1arch
@nacy, @hunkx and @Dulliri all got there in about 10 minutes, so 30 is a lot longer than what they saw. Thanks for flagging it, and for the image idea.

@zc741 @leev you both asked for a first-run checklist, so that's two votes. And @leev, short explanations next to the advanced settings make sense too.

@gooliver

Subdomain SSL: the panel kicks off a certificate request in the background right after you create a domain or subdomain, and retries every hour for domains that still don't have one. Your post doesn't show why it didn't come through on its own in your case, but glad the manual request worked. An "enable SSL" option right in the create form is a fair suggestion.

Health "Unknown" on Mail IPv6: that check runs hourly, and "could not be collected" there means it hasn't saved a result yet. On a fresh install it may simply not have run. If it still says that after a couple of hours, the Execution Logs link is the place to look. And yes, it doesn't mean mail delivery is broken.

Backups vs Filesystem Backups: good summary. "Backups" is the scheduled kind. It needs a backup destination plus an active policy that covers your account on the admin side, and then it runs on the policy's schedule. "Filesystem Backups" are manual copies of one domain's files, no databases. The two pages don't mention each other, and "contact your provider" is the wrong message when you are the provider.

@Dulliri glad the setup steps sorted out the SSL on your first login.

@rogan @AchylsWu @nacy @VGL @hunkx thanks for the write-ups, and enjoy the VPS! If something breaks or doesn't make sense, tag me here.

Every one of these lands in our backlog, so keep them coming.

Thank You for chiming in @Chris_AdminBolt, and for being so receptive to the community's feedback! Taking the time to explain things, acknowledge the rough edges, and listen to how people actually use the panel is what will help AdminBolt earn lasting trust.

It reminds me of the earlier cPanel days when Nick Koston was at the helm -- that feeling of a product being driven by people with a real passion for hosting. I see that same enthusiasm in what you and Lukasz are doing with AdminBolt - and it's encouraging.

Appreciate the work you're putting in! More choice, active development, and a team willing to listen can only benefit this community and the hosting industry as a whole. 👊

dustinc · October 16

@Belikov said:
Got the Los Angeles VPS activated and took AdminBolt for a spin on AlmaLinux 9. Big thanks to @dustinc and the RackNerd crew for setting this up!

Saw the discussion above about RAM usage. For what it is worth, on my clean install free -m shows around 380 MB used at idle with Apache and the panel running. That lines up with what @hunkx saw earlier, definitely nowhere near 1.2 GB on a fresh setup. Having over 3.6 GB free on a 4 GB box is great, leaves actual room to run things.

A few quick notes from testing it out today:

Install via RackNerd ctrl was painless. Took about 12 minutes, zero errors, landed right on port 8443 with the initial setup wizard.

The UI is genuinely fast. Moving between domains, databases, and the file manager is instant without page reloads. Much cleaner than digging through cPanel's maze of menus.

Client impersonation works well and does not mess up your active admin session in the browser.

One big feature request for @Chris_AdminBolt:
Huge +1 to what was mentioned earlier about reverse proxying. A lot of my workloads are standalone Go or Node binaries listening on local ports (like :8080). Having a built-in option in the panel to point a domain/subdomain directly to a local port with automatic SSL would make this 10x more useful for developers, saving the hassle of dropping to the terminal to manually tweak web server configs.

Overall it is a very promising, clean panel. Really cool to see Chris actively in the thread taking notes and fixing things in real time. Looking forward to running a few projects on it!

Hi @Belikov -- Thank You for taking it for a spin and including how you measured the RAM usage! That gives the team another data point to compare with the other reports.

The domain-to-local-port setup you described sounds handy for your Go and Node projects -- appreciate you explaining the use case. Glad the install and panel experience have been smooth so far. Enjoy putting those projects online!

dustinc · October 16

@abuat said:
Huge thanks to @dustinc for the GIVEAWAY by AdminBolt & RackNerd! I just deployed AdminBolt via the "One Click Apps" section in the RackNerd control panel, and the installation process was completely seamless.

After spending some time clicking around and testing the features, I have to say I'm genuinely impressed. Here are a few standout points from my initial experience:

Clean & Modern UI: Coming from traditional panels like cPanel or DirectAdmin, AdminBolt's interface feels like a breath of fresh air. It's super responsive, uncluttered, and everything (Databases, Emails, Metrics, Security) is logically categorized and easy to find.

Built-in AI Assistant: This is a game-changer. Having an AI assistant right on the dashboard that can directly help with managing domains, switching PHP versions, setting up MariaDB databases, checking Let's Encrypt SSL status, and even diagnosing error logs makes server management so much faster. It's not just a gimmick; it actually saves a lot of clicking around.

Practical Out-of-the-Box Features: I really appreciate that Redis is right there in the Databases section alongside phpMyAdmin and Remote MySQL. Also, seeing native AI Bot Blocking under the Security tab (along with IP Blockers and Hotlink Protection) shows that the devs really understand what modern webmasters need right now.

Overall, it's lightweight, fast, and packs all the essential tools without the bloat. Definitely looking forward to using this for a full year on my server!

Hi @abuat -- You're very welcome! Glad the install through ctrl went smoothly and you've already found some useful tools. Especially good to hear the AI assistant is saving you time as you work through everyday tasks.

Thank You for sharing your experience -- enjoy the year with your VPS, and let us know what you end up hosting!

dustinc · October 16

@VGL said:
Good morning, @dustinc

Morning morning

dustinc · October 16

@VGL said:
Will there be another round of the lottery today, haha

Perhaps! Do you think we can build up the demand to do so?

jsmith · October 16

ADMINBOLT-ROCKS-LET-KNOWS-IT!

MODERN-HOSTING-LEGENDARY-GIVEAWAYS!

RACKNERD-AND-ADMINBOLT-KEEP-THE-PARTY-GOING!

Frobsy · October 16

Can I install the panel on one of my already owned racknerd VPSs? I'm short on time and wasnt lucky enough to catch a giveaway one

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ADMINBOLT - THE MODERN WEB HOSTING CONTROL PANEL!

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

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ADMINBOLT - THE MODERN WEB HOSTING CONTROL PANEL!