Liquid Web
Install HF Panel on a Liquid Web VPS or cloud server: the system, the ports to open, reverse DNS under Domains, outgoing port 25 and the install.
These steps take you from a new Liquid Web account to a running HF Panel. Providers change their menus and rules from time to time — if a step looks different, Liquid Web's own documentation or support has the current way. The general advice for any VPS is in Choose a VPS and prepare it.
1. Create the server
Order a VPS or Cloud server without a control panel, with:
- System: a plain Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (or Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12 or 13, Rocky Linux or AlmaLinux 9 or 10), x86-64, with no control panel or application preinstalled.
- Size: 2 GB of memory or more (1 GB works with the swap file the installer adds), 20 GB of disk or more.
- Access: your SSH key, or a root password.
Note its public IPv4 address.
2. Point your domain at it
Create the DNS records DNS setup lists — at least srv., cp. and mail. your domain,
pointing at the server's address. They can take a few minutes to work.
3. The firewall
Check the server's settings in the Liquid Web account for a firewall. If there is none, the server's own firewall (set up by the installer) is the only one. If you find one, allow the ports below.
| Port | Protocol | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| 22 (or your SSH port) | TCP | SSH and SFTP |
| 80, 443 | TCP | websites, Mail, Files, DB Studio, Let's Encrypt |
| 8443 | TCP | the panels (srv., cp., rs.) |
| 21, 40000–40100 | TCP | FTP with TLS |
| 25, 465, 587, 993, 995 | TCP | email (not with --no-mail) |
| 53 | TCP and UDP | the DNS server (not with --no-dns) |
4. Reverse DNS
Mail from the server is trusted more when its address points back to its name. Sign in to your Liquid Web account, click Domains in the left menu, then DNS, then Reverse DNS. Pick the server, click the three-dot menu next to its host name, choose Edit, enter the full host name and click Save.
5. Outgoing mail (port 25)
Run the pre-install check to see whether outgoing port 25 is open. If it is blocked, ask Liquid Web support to open it. Websites and the panels work either way; only sending email needs port 25. Where port 25 cannot be opened, set an outgoing mail relay (Server Admin › Email › Server mailboxes): a mail service you connect to on port 587 or 465.
6. Check, then install
Sign in to the server as root, check it, then install with the command from your licence page:
cd /home && curl -o latest -L https://cdn.hostfog.com/latest && bash latest --check
cd /home && curl -o latest -L https://cdn.hostfog.com/latest/licence/YOUR-KEY && bash latest
The check marks each item ✔, ! or ✘ and changes nothing; fix anything marked ✘ first. Then carry on with After installation.