In this tutorial you install CloudGround on a new server and create the administrator account. At the end you open the panel in your browser.

WarningUse a dedicated server

The installer takes over nginx, PHP, MariaDB and the SSH configuration. Install it only on a new server, or on one you can rebuild.

Run the installer

Sign in to the server as root:

bash

ssh root@<server-ip>

<server-ip> is the server's public address. Then run the installer:

bash

curl -fsSL https://get.cloudground.it | bash

NoteThe installer's address

The same script also answers at https://cloudground-it.github.io/cloudground/install.sh, the GitHub Pages address that get.cloudground.it is served from.

The script installs CloudGround v0.1.0. It downloads the release from GitHub, runs its cgctl only if it has the SHA-256 the script names, and cgctl installs nothing whose signed manifest does not verify. To check the script itself before you run it, see verify the installer.

It checks the machine first, then shows nine steps, each with its duration (below without the times, which depend on the server):

  ✓   1/9  Installing nginx, PHP, MariaDB, restic
  ✓   2/9  Creating users, directories and secrets
  ✓   3/9  Installing CloudGround binaries
  ✓   4/9  Tuning kernel and nginx workers
  ✓   5/9  Configuring nginx
  ✓   6/9  Tuning MariaDB
  ✓   7/9  Starting services
  ✓   8/9  Opening the firewall
  ✓   9/9  Log rotation and certificate renewal

If the machine check finds problems (system, architecture, memory, disk, ports in use), it lists them all together and stops without touching anything. Fix them and run the same command again.

Open the setup link

At the end the installer prints an address like this one:

  ✓  CloudGround is running

     Open   https://<server-ip>:8443/setup/<token>

     The link is valid for 24 hours and works once.
     Your browser will warn about the certificate — it is self-signed
     until you issue a real one. That is expected on first boot.

When the server's firewall (ufw) is off, two more lines follow: the installer does not turn it on, it prints the commands that would, with SSH, the sites and the panel open. Leave them for now; the firewall page explains them.

Open the link in your browser. The browser warns that the certificate is not valid: it is self-signed, which is expected on first boot. Accept the warning for this address.

Create the administrator account

The First sign-in page asks for an email and a password.

1. First name and Last name are optional.
2. Type your email.
3. Choose a password of at least 12 characters and repeat it in Confirm password.
4. Press Create account.

The panel creates the first administrator and signs you in. You see the dashboard, with no sites yet.

Check that it runs

On the server, check the panel's two services:

bash

systemctl is-active cloudground-agent cloudground-api

Both lines say active.

Next step

The panel is ready. Create your first site.