Install in one command.

✅What you need

• A VPS or server with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS or Debian 13, 2GB RAM minimum, 20GB disk. Ubuntu 22.04 is refused for fresh installs; anything else is refused with an explanation, not a mystery failure.
• Root SSH access and ports 22, 80, 443 and 8090 reachable.
• A domain you can point at the server (or its IP for a test box — the panel works over IP until DNS arrives).
• An SSH key is recommended but optional. Pass your .pub and password logins get disabled automatically.

⌨️The command

1. 1Point DNS first — at your registrar create an A record panel.yourdomain.com → your server IP. Free HTTPS works straight away; use the server IP instead for a test box.
2. 2Run the installer as root on the fresh box — paste these two lines:
3. 3Save the one-time admin password it prints at the end, then change it + enable 2FA on first login.

wget https://karnakpanel.com/downloads/karnakpanel-install.sh

sudo bash karnakpanel-install.sh panel.example.com admin@example.com

That is the whole install. It downloads the signed release, verifies the checksum, and runs the installer. Re-running it later is safe — it repairs instead of destroying.

⚙️What the fifteen minutes do

• System update, then OpenLiteSpeed, PHP 8.3/8.4/8.5 with per-user pools, MariaDB (split users), Exim + Dovecot + spam filtering, BIND, TLS-forced FTP, Fail2ban, upstream Roundcube and phpMyAdmin, the panel on port 8090, and the cron table. On Debian, PHP comes from the Debian PHP repository with the signing key pinned in the installer.
• Your panel domain gets its zone and vhost automatically — with free HTTPS immediately if DNS already points here, or exact registrar steps if it does not.
• It ends by printing a one-time admin password (shown once, also saved root-only on the box), the SSH key fingerprint, and a short checklist: reverse DNS, nameserver glue, firewall review, first backup.

🏠The first hour

• Log in, change the admin password, and turn on two-factor authentication — the dashboard nags until you do.
• Create a daily-use account and stop browsing as admin.
• Add your domain, point its DNS, issue SSL from the Domains page (one button per domain).
• Set the alert email on Services so downtime and system mail reach you.
• Confirm the nightly backup ran on the Backups page.

❓Fair questions

• Can I install over an existing setup? No — fresh Ubuntu 24.04 LTS / Debian 13 only. Migrate with the transfer tools instead.
• What if it fails halfway? Read the tail of /var/log/karnakpanel-install.log — usually a dpkg lock or mirror hiccup. Fix it and re-run; finished steps are skipped.
• How do updates work? Manually, from the panel: fetch the release, install it, automatic rollback on failure. The panel never updates itself behind your back.
• How do I leave? Per-account exports plus standard configs — no lock-in by design.