How to Install DirectAdmin

DirectAdmin's installer turns a clean Linux server into a complete hosting stack: it installs the panel plus the web server, PHP, MariaDB/MySQL, Exim mail, Dovecot, DNS and FTP, then hands you an admin login on port 2222. It is a commercial panel, so a valid licence is needed before the script will finish.

Because it builds everything itself, DirectAdmin must go on a fresh operating system. Its documentation warns against installing on a live server or one that already has another control panel, because it does not convert existing data. Plan the install for a new VPS, then migrate sites in afterwards.

Set a fully qualified hostname that resolves to the server's IP, update the OS, and create swap so the server meets the 4 GB requirement. A hostname such as server.example.in needs an A record pointing at the server before you start.

# as root
hostnamectl set-hostname server.example.in
hostname -f

# update (Debian/Ubuntu)
apt update && apt -y upgrade
# update (AlmaLinux/Rocky)
dnf -y update

# 4 GB swap file
fallocate -l 4G /swapfile
chmod 600 /swapfile
mkswap /swapfile && swapon /swapfile
echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' >> /etc/fstab
free -h

Run the install inside tmux or screen, so a dropped SSH connection does not kill the installer halfway through building services.

When the installer finishes it prints the admin username, password and a direct login link; the panel itself is at http://SERVER-IP:2222. The same credentials are saved in /usr/local/directadmin/conf/setup.txt.

1. Open the login link, sign in as admin and change the password at once.
2. Set the admin email so licence, backup and security notices reach you.
3. Issue a Let's Encrypt certificate for the server hostname, so the panel opens over HTTPS without a warning.
4. If this server will host DNS, create ns1 and ns2 and register them as glue records at the registrar; creating private nameservers walks through it.
5. Delete or secure setup.txt once you have stored the password safely.

Most failed installs trace back to four causes: an unverified or wrong-IP licence, a hostname that does not resolve, a server that was not clean, or not enough memory.

• Licence rejected: the key must be active and tied to this server's IP; update the IP in the DirectAdmin client area, then restart with systemctl restart directadmin.
• Builds killed mid-way: memory ran out; confirm 4 GB RAM and 4 GB swap with free -h, then rerun.
• Port 80 already in use: another web server came with the image; reinstall the OS cleanly rather than removing packages by hand.
• Panel unreachable on 2222: the provider's firewall or security group is blocking it.
• Service status: systemctl status directadmin should show active (running); the installer log is printed to the terminal.