Frequently Asked Questions

goPanel is a native macOS and iOS app that lets you manage Linux servers over SSH. Unlike traditional control panels (cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin) that run on your server and consume its resources, goPanel runs entirely on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad and sends commands directly to your servers.

This means: no per-server fees, no software installed on your servers, and no extra resource consumption. If you cancel your subscription, your servers are completely unaffected — services keep running, sites stay online, and you can still update, configure, and maintain everything directly via SSH. Unlike traditional control panels where cancelling makes it nearly impossible to keep your server updated or make even simple configuration changes, goPanel leaves no dependency behind. You can manage multiple servers from a single app across Mac, iPad, and iPhone.

Setting up a server to host websites takes about 5 minutes:

• Add your server using credentials from your hosting provider (IP, port, username, key or password)
• Choose which services to install (Apache or Nginx, MySQL or MariaDB, PHP, SSL, etc.)
• Add domains, set up databases, install WordPress — all from the GUI

No terminal knowledge required. The app handles all commands behind the scenes.

goPanel does not install its own software or daemon on your servers. It connects via SSH, runs standard Linux commands, and disconnects. The services it installs (Apache, PHP, MySQL, etc.) are all official distribution packages from your distro's repositories.

A lightweight snapshot script and a small configuration file are saved on the server to speed up dashboard loading — no background processes, no resource usage.

If you stop using goPanel, your server continues running normally with the services you set up.

Web Server

• HTTP Server — Apache or Nginx
• Database — MySQL or MariaDB
• PHP — with PHP-FPM (multiple versions supported side-by-side)

Security

• Free SSL certificates via acme.sh (Let's Encrypt / ZeroSSL)
• Fail2Ban intrusion prevention
• IP Block Manager (iptables / firewalld)

Tools & Utilities

• WP-CLI + one-click WordPress installer
• Composer (PHP package manager)
• phpMyAdmin (database GUI)
• Redis (in-memory cache)
• Node.js

Management

• Domains & subdomains with per-domain PHP version selection
• MySQL databases, users, and granular permissions
• Cron job scheduler
• Server logs viewer
• Apache/Nginx/PHP/MySQL configuration editors

The AI Terminal is a built-in SSH terminal with an AI assistant powered by Claude. You can ask questions about your server in plain English, and the AI suggests commands, explains errors, and helps troubleshoot issues — all with full awareness of your server's distro, installed services, and configuration.

The AI never executes commands automatically. It suggests them in the terminal, and you decide whether to run them. It operates via a separate SSH session, so it doesn't interfere with the app's main connection.

AI credits are included with every plan (10 one-time for Free, 30/month for Pro, 100/month for Unlimited).

Yes. goPanel includes a full SSL Manager that uses acme.sh to issue free certificates from Let's Encrypt and ZeroSSL. You can:

• Issue certificates for domains and subdomains with one click
• Auto-renew all certificates via a server-side cron job
• Revoke certificates when no longer needed
• View expiry dates and certificate details

DNS must point to your server before issuing a certificate (HTTP validation is used).

Yes. goPanel installs PHP with PHP-FPM (not mod_php), which allows multiple versions to run side-by-side. You can:

• Install additional PHP versions from Configuration → PHP
• Switch any domain to a specific PHP version from the Domains view
• Each version gets its own FPM pool and socket

Supported versions depend on your distro and repository availability (typically PHP 7.4 through 8.4).

Amazon Linux 2023 does not support co-installing multiple PHP versions.

Yes. goPanel uses WP-CLI to install WordPress on any domain with one click. The installer creates the database, database user, downloads WordPress, and configures wp-config.php automatically. You can also set up automatic update cron jobs and install plugins during setup.

Fully Supported — tested with every release, all features available:

Best Effort — Legacy — functional but on older, end-of-life distros:

Compatibility Mode — unknown distros are auto-detected via os-release and mapped to the closest supported profile. Fedora, Oracle Linux, CloudLinux, and other RHEL/Debian derivatives typically work with an informational banner.

Yes. goPanel works with any cloud provider that gives you SSH access to a Linux server — including AWS EC2, DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, Hetzner, OVH, and any VPS or dedicated server.

Both x86_64 and ARM (aarch64 / Graviton) architectures are supported.

goPanel is designed to work best with fresh servers. When you connect to a server with pre-installed services, goPanel can detect and display them on the Dashboard — but full management is not guaranteed, as goPanel configures services using its own conventions and directory structure.

Domains are managed under /gopanel/sites/, so any existing vhosts outside this path won't appear in the app. Databases on an existing MySQL or MariaDB installation can be managed, but service configurations may conflict with what goPanel expects.

For a reliable experience, we recommend starting with a clean server and letting goPanel handle the full setup.

• Username and password
• PEM key file (RSA, OpenSSH, ECDSA) with or without passphrase
• Private key (id_rsa) with or without passphrase

Root access or a sudo user with NOPASSWD is required. Logging in as a normal user and using su is not supported.

In the macOS file picker, press Shift + Command + . (period) to reveal hidden files and folders. Then navigate to ~/.ssh/ and select your key.

On iOS, your key must be accessible via the Files app (e.g., saved to iCloud Drive or On My iPhone).

Yes. Set the MySQL bind address to 0.0.0.0 (Configuration → MySQL) and ensure the user account allows external connections (host set to %). You may also need to open port 3306 in your firewall.

For firewalld (RHEL/Alma/Rocky):

firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=3306/tcp
firewall-cmd --reload

For iptables (legacy):

iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 3306 -j ACCEPT
service iptables save

goPanel offers three tiers:

• Free 1 server, 10 AI credits (one-time), all features included
• Pro Up to 3 servers, 30 AI credits/month, iCloud sync
• Unlimited Unlimited servers, 100 AI credits/month, iCloud sync

Subscriptions are managed through the App Store and can be cancelled anytime.

AI credits power the AI Terminal assistant. Each interaction (question + response) costs 1–3 credits depending on complexity. Free users get 10 credits once. Paid plans receive monthly credits that refresh on each billing cycle.

Credits are tracked server-side. Your balance is visible in the Account section of the app.

Yes. goPanel is a universal app that runs natively on macOS, iPad, and iPhone. The interface adapts to each device:

• Mac — full sidebar + detail layout, all features
• iPad — split view with draggable AI Terminal panel
• iPhone — optimized navigation with bottom-sheet AI Terminal

All three platforms share the same SSH engine, the same AI Terminal, and the same server management capabilities.

The app interface is English only. Your Linux server's locale should be set to en_US (the app parses English command output). If a non-English locale is detected, the app automatically sets LANGUAGE=en for its SSH session.

No. goPanel runs entirely on your Mac/iPhone/iPad. It connects via SSH, runs commands, and disconnects. There is no background process or daemon on your server. A lightweight snapshot script runs via cron every 3 minutes to cache server status — it takes less than 0.5 seconds and uses negligible resources.

goPanel installs PHP exclusively with PHP-FPM (FastCGI Process Manager) on all distros. This is the modern, recommended architecture:

• Apache runs with mpm_event + proxy_fcgi (not mod_php)
• Each PHP version gets its own FPM pool and Unix socket
• FPM pools are tuned for ondemand process management
• mod_php is explicitly removed during installation

This architecture allows multiple PHP versions, better memory usage, and proper process isolation.

Use the Help & Support option in the app sidebar (or the More menu on iPhone) to submit questions, bug reports, or feature requests. Your server details and app version are included automatically for faster resolution.

You can also visit the User Guide for detailed documentation.