How to Install and Secure Pterodactyl Panel on Ubuntu Bare Metal

Before starting the installation, ensure your bare-metal server meets the following criteria:

• Operating System: Clean install of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS or 22.04 LTS (64-bit).

• Access Level: Direct root SSH access or a user account with full sudo privileges.

• Hardware Specs: Minimum 2 GB RAM (4 GB+ recommended when running Panel and Wings on the same host).

• Domain & DNS: A Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), such as panel.yourdomain.com, with an A record pointing to your server's public IPv4 address.

• Virtualization: KVM or Bare Metal (OpenVZ, LXC, and Virtuozzo are not supported by Docker without custom kernel flags).

1. Update the local system repositories and upgrade existing packages to ensure a clean base environment:

   Bash Copy

   
   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
   sudo apt install -y software-properties-common curl ca-certificates gnupg tar unzip git lsb-release
                                           

2. Add the official Ondřej Surý PHP repository to access the latest PHP packages and extensions:

   Bash Copy

   
   sudo LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 add-apt-repository -y ppa:ondrej/php
   sudo apt update
                                           

3. Install Nginx, MariaDB, Redis, and PHP 8.3 with all required extensions for Pterodactyl:

   Bash Copy

   
   sudo apt install -y nginx mariadb-server redis-server \
     php8.3 php8.3-{cli,common,gd,mysql,mbstring,bcmath,xml,fpm,curl,zip,intl,tokenizer}
                                           

4. Verify that all essential services are enabled and active:

   Bash Copy

   
   sudo systemctl enable --now nginx mariadb redis-server php8.3-fpm
                                           

5. Install Composer, the PHP dependency manager:

   Bash Copy

   
   curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | sudo php -- --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer
   composer --version
                                           

1. Run the security script for MariaDB to set a root password, remove anonymous users, and disable remote root logins:

   Bash Copy

   
   sudo mysql_secure_installation
                                           

2. Log in to the MariaDB shell:

   Bash Copy

   
   sudo mariadb -u root -p
                                           

3. Create the Pterodactyl database and a dedicated user restricted to local connections:

   SQL Copy

   
   CREATE DATABASE panel;
   CREATE USER 'pterodactyl'@'127.0.0.1' IDENTIFIED BY 'SelectAStrongPasswordHere';
   GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON panel.* TO 'pterodactyl'@'127.0.0.1';
   FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
   EXIT;
                                           

4. Verify that Redis caching is working by running a ping test:

   Bash Copy

   
   redis-cli ping
   # Expected output: PONG
                                           

1. Create the web root directory for the Panel and navigate into it:

   Bash Copy

   
   sudo mkdir -p /var/www/pterodactyl
   cd /var/www/pterodactyl
                                           

2. Download and extract the latest release archive from GitHub:

   Bash Copy

   
   sudo curl -Lo panel.tar.gz https://github.com/pterodactyl/panel/releases/latest/download/panel.tar.gz
   sudo tar -xzvf panel.tar.gz
   sudo chmod -R 755 storage bootstrap/cache
                                           

3. Copy the example environment configuration file and install PHP dependencies:

   Bash Copy

   
   sudo cp .env.example .env
   sudo COMPOSER_ALLOW_SUPERUSER=1 composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
   sudo php artisan key:generate --force
                                           

   Crucial Backup Step: Save your generated APP_KEY from /var/www/pterodactyl/.env in a secure location off-site. Losing this key makes encrypted data unrecoverable.

4. Run Pterodactyl's interactive configuration wizards:

   Bash Copy

   
   sudo php artisan p:environment:setup
   sudo php artisan p:environment:database
   sudo php artisan p:environment:mail
                                           

5. Run database migrations to initialize tables and default data, then create your administrative account:

   Bash Copy

   
   sudo php artisan migrate --seed --force
   sudo php artisan p:user:make
                                           

6. Grant ownership of the files to the web server user:

   Bash Copy

   
   sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/pterodactyl/*
                                           

1. Create a new Nginx site configuration file:

   Bash Copy

   
   sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/pterodactyl.conf
                                           

2. Paste the following configuration block, replacing panel.yourdomain.com with your domain:

   Nginx Copy

   
   server {
       listen 80;
       server_name panel.yourdomain.com;
       root /var/www/pterodactyl/public;
       index index.php;
   
       client_max_body_size 100m;
       client_body_timeout 120s;
   
       sendfile off;
   
       location / {
           try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
       }
   
       location ~ \.php$ {
           fastcgi_split_path_info ^(.+\.php)(/.+)$;
           fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
           fastcgi_index index.php;
           include fastcgi_params;
           fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
           fastcgi_param HTTP_PROXY "";
           fastcgi_intercept_errors off;
           fastcgi_buffer_size 16k;
           fastcgi_buffers 4 16k;
           fastcgi_connect_timeout 300;
       }
   }
                                           

Can I use virtualization like OpenVZ for Pterodactyl?

OpenVZ, LXC, and Virtuozzo are not supported by Docker without custom kernel flags. KVM or Bare Metal is required.

Do I need a domain name to install Pterodactyl?

Yes, a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) like panel.yourdomain.com with an A record pointing to your server is required for SSL termination and secure communication.

What are the minimum hardware requirements for Pterodactyl?

A minimum of 2 GB RAM is required, but 4 GB or more is highly recommended when running both the management Panel and the Wings daemon on the same host.