Install the VirtFusion control server: requirements and setup

The control server is the brain of a VirtFusion setup. It hosts the admin area, the customer panel, the database and the API, and it talks to every hypervisor. It should run on its own server or VPS, separate from the hypervisors that host customer machines.

Before you start

• A clean server: a fresh minimal install of an operating system supported by the current VirtFusion release. Check the list in the official VirtFusion documentation before ordering; supported systems change with releases.
• Resources: a small VPS is enough to start (for example 2 CPU cores, 2 to 4 GB RAM, 40 GB disk); grow it with the number of servers you manage.
• Hostname: an FQDN such as panel.example.com with an A record pointing to the server. Customers will use this address.
• Licence: a VirtFusion licence from your VirtFusion account.
• Root SSH access and nothing else installed (no web server, database or control panel).

Prepare the server

1. Set the hostname: hostnamectl set-hostname panel.example.com.
2. Update the system and reboot.
3. Open ports 80 and 443 to the world, and SSH only to your own IPs.

Install

1. Log in to your VirtFusion account and open the installation section of the documentation. It provides the one-line install command for the control server for your operating system.
2. Run that command as root inside a screen session so the install continues if SSH drops.
3. The installer sets up the web server, PHP, database, queue workers and the VirtFusion application, and requests an SSL certificate for the hostname.
4. At the end it prints the admin URL and initial login details. Save them securely.

First login

1. Open the admin URL in your browser and log in.
2. Change the initial password and enable two-factor authentication for your admin account.
3. Review the general settings: company name, panel URL, email (SMTP) settings for notifications and the default time zone.

Licence

Enter or confirm your licence in the admin area's licence section. The licence is tied to the control server; hypervisors are counted against it.

Secure the control server

• Keep SSH restricted to trusted IPs and use keys only.
• Configure off-server backups of the VirtFusion database and configuration.
• Use a working SMTP service so password resets and alerts reach users.
• Apply VirtFusion updates when released; see the update instructions in your account documentation.

Troubleshooting

• Installer stops early: the server was not clean or the OS is unsupported; reinstall a supported minimal OS.
• SSL not issued: the hostname does not yet resolve to the server; fix DNS and rerun the certificate step.
• Licence invalid: check that the licence matches the server IP or hostname registered in your VirtFusion account.

Next steps

• Add your first hypervisor
• What is VirtFusion?
• Install Fail2Ban