Quick Start

What you need

• Linux. Any distro that runs npm and Docker works.
• Node.js v18+
• npm v9+
• Docker (the daemon needs it)
• PostgreSQL, MySQL, or SQLite
• Git

The main repos live under airlinklabs on GitHub: panel, daemon, images, and addons.

Install

The fast path. Run as root. It handles dependencies, database setup, admin account creation, and systemd.

bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/airlinklabs/panel/refs/heads/main/installer.sh)

Follow the prompts. It asks for database credentials and admin account details.

Manual install

Full control over each step.

Panel

cd /var/www/
git clone https://github.com/AirlinkLabs/panel.git
cd panel
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/panel
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/panel
cp example.env .env

Edit .env — set PORT, URL, SESSION_SECRET, DATABASE_URL. Then:

npm install -g typescript
npm install --omit=dev
npm run build
npm run migrate:deploy
npm run start

Daemon

The daemon runs on each machine that hosts game servers. It needs Docker.

cd /etc/
git clone https://github.com/AirlinkLabs/daemon.git
cd daemon
cp example.env .env
npm install
cd /etc/daemon/libs
npm install
cd ..
npm run build
npm run start

Connecting a node

Once the daemon is running on a machine:

1. Log into the panel as an admin
2. Go to Admin > Nodes > Create Node
3. Enter the node IP and daemon port (default: 3002)
4. Click Configure to get the daemon key
5. Copy the command and paste it in the daemon's terminal
6. Restart the daemon

The node should show online within a few seconds.

Creating your first server

1. Go to Admin > Images > Store and install a game image
2. Go to Admin > Servers > Create Server
3. Pick a node, assign a user, choose the image, and set resource limits (RAM, disk, CPU)
4. The server appears on the user's dashboard right away

Architecture

• Panel: Express.js web app. HTML via EJS templates, JSON APIs. SQLite via Prisma.
• Daemon: Bun HTTP server on each node. Manages Docker containers, files, and SFTP.
• Communication: Panel signs every request with HMAC-SHA256. Daemon verifies the signature before executing.

The panel talks to daemons over HTTP. Every request includes a timestamp, a random nonce, and an HMAC-SHA256 signature. The daemon checks the IP allowlist, verifies Basic Auth, validates the HMAC, and rejects replays via a nonce set. No shared sessions or cookies -_-

HTTPS and reverse proxies

If you are behind Nginx, Caddy, or Cloudflare, set URL in .env to your public HTTPS address. The panel uses this for redirects and callback URLs.

For WebSocket connections (console, status), make sure your proxy passes the Upgrade and Connection headers:

# Nginx
proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
proxy_http_version 1.1;

Troubleshooting

Panel won't start

Check that DATABASE_URL in .env is correct and the database server is running. Run npm run migrate:deploy to apply schema changes.

Daemon won't connect

Make sure the daemon port (default 3002) is open and reachable from the panel server. Check that the daemon key matches what the panel shows under Admin > Nodes > Configure.

Container creation fails

Verify Docker is installed and the daemon user has permission to run Docker commands. Check docker info works from the daemon's user.

SFTP won't connect

The daemon creates an isolated atmoz/sftp container per session. Make sure Docker can pull atmoz/sftp and that the daemon has network access. ```