PanelOps — Cloud Control Plane & Self-Hosted Node Architecture

Overview

PanelOps provides a unified server management platform with two flexible operational models:

PanelOps Cloud: A centralized control plane to manage multiple servers and applications across different cloud providers from a single dashboard.
Self-Hosted VPS Node: A lightweight, standalone deployment that runs directly on your server, giving you complete data sovereignty and local control.

1. High-Level Architecture

                                ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
                                │        PANELOPS CLOUD CONTROL          │
                                │                                        │
                                │  • Multi-Server Fleet Dashboard        │
                                │  • Centralized Access Management       │
                                │  • Global App Store Catalog            │
                                │  • Automated Backup Orchestration      │
                                │  • Unified Telemetry & Health Alerts   │
                                └───────────────────┬────────────────────┘
                                                    │
                                      HTTPS TLS     │  Automated Sync
                                      Encrypted     │  Real-Time Health
                                                    │
                    ┌───────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────┐
                    ▼                               ▼                               ▼
        ┌───────────────────────┐       ┌───────────────────────┐       ┌───────────────────────┐
        │   Customer VPS #1     │       │   Customer VPS #2     │       │   Customer VPS #3     │
        │                       │       │                       │       │                       │
        │ • Web Panel & API     │       │ • Web Panel & API     │       │ • Web Panel & API     │
        │ • Docker Engine       │       │ • Docker Engine       │       │ • Docker Engine       │
        │ • Git Deploy Engine   │       │ • Git Deploy Engine   │       │ • Git Deploy Engine   │
        │ • Databases & DbGate  │       │ • Databases & DbGate  │       │ • Databases & DbGate  │
        │ • App Store Stacks    │       │ • App Store Stacks    │       │ • App Store Stacks    │
        │ • Nginx Reverse Proxy │       │ • Nginx Reverse Proxy │       │ • Nginx Reverse Proxy │
        │ • Let's Encrypt SSL   │       │ • Let's Encrypt SSL   │       │ • Let's Encrypt SSL   │
        │ • File Manager        │       │ • File Manager        │       │ • File Manager        │
        │ • Monitoring Daemon   │       │ • Monitoring Daemon   │       │ • Monitoring Daemon   │
        └───────────────────────┘       └───────────────────────┘       └───────────────────────┘

2. Feature Comparison: Cloud vs. Self-Hosted

Both deployment models provide full access to PanelOps server automation capabilities:

Capability	PanelOps Cloud	Self-Hosted Node
Fleet Management (Multi-Server)	Included	Standalone Single-Server
Local Docker & Compose Stacks	Managed remotely	Native Local Runner
Git Push-to-Deploy & Framework Auto-Detection	Supported	Supported
Managed Databases (MySQL, Postgres, Mongo, Redis)	Supported	Supported
Web-Based DbGate Query Console	Supported	Supported
188+ App Store Stacks (WordPress, Nextcloud, etc.)	Cloud Catalog	Local Cached Catalog
Automated Let's Encrypt SSL & Reverse Proxy	Supported	Supported
Interactive In-Browser Web Terminal	Supported	Supported
File Manager & Live Container Logs	Supported	Supported
Multi-Channel Alerting (Telegram, Discord, Email)	Supported	Supported
Disaster Recovery Backups to Google Drive / Local	Supported	Supported

3. One-Click Universal VPS Installer

Deploy any fresh Linux server (Ubuntu 20/22/24, Debian 11/12, CentOS/AlmaLinux/Rocky 8/9, Fedora) with a single command:

curl -fsSL https://panelops.online/install.sh | sudo bash

Or connect it to your Cloud account with an enrollment token:

curl -fsSL https://panelops.online/install.sh | sudo bash -s -- --token YOUR_TOKEN --cloud https://panelops.online --port 8080

Installation Steps Executed by the Script:

System & Hardware Detection: Identifies OS distribution, CPU architecture (x86_64, arm64), RAM, and available disk space.
Dependency Automation: Ensures necessary system utilities (curl, git, tar, openssl, ufw/firewalld) are installed.
Docker Engine Deployment: Installs official upstream Docker CE and Compose plugin if not already present.
Local Runtime Setup: Prepares runtime environment and initializes the local panel service.
Port Allocation & Firewall: Opens required firewall ports (8080 for panel, 80 for HTTP, 443 for HTTPS).
Service Management: Enables the panelops.service systemd daemon to ensure PanelOps starts automatically on boot.
Connection Summary: Displays your login URL and initial administrator setup prompt.

4. Node CLI Management (`panelops`)

Customer VPS installations include the panelops CLI command-line utility for quick administrative control directly from your SSH terminal:

# Check service status
panelops status

# Update panel to the latest stable release
panelops update

# View live system logs
panelops logs

# Restart PanelOps services
panelops restart

# Reset administrator password
panelops reset-password [email] [new_password]

# Start / stop panel services
panelops start
panelops stop

# Safely uninstall PanelOps
panelops uninstall