OVHcloud
Install HF Panel on a VPS at OVHcloud: the server to create, the firewall, reverse DNS, outgoing mail and the install.
These steps take you from a new OVHcloud account to a running HF Panel. Providers change their menus and rules from time to time — if a step looks different, OVHcloud'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
Create a VPS with:
- System: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (or Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12 or 13, Rocky Linux or AlmaLinux 9 or 10), x86-64.
- 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. The address and the root login are also in the VPS overview and in the email OVHcloud sends. Choose a plain image: if the VPS came with an application or a control panel, use its reinstall option to put a plain image on it.
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
OVHcloud's Edge Network Firewall protects a public IPv4 address and is off by default. In the Control Panel open Network › Public IP Addresses and check the Edge Firewall status of the server's address. If you switch it on, add rules that allow the ports below (rules are checked in order of priority). It is simplest to leave it off and rely on the server's own firewall, which the installer sets up.
| 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. In the OVHcloud Control Panel, open Network › Public IP Addresses, use Modify the reverse path on the server's IP and enter its full host name.
5. Outgoing mail (port 25)
Outgoing port 25 is usually open on OVHcloud VPSs. OVHcloud watches for spam and can block it for a server that sends spam. A closed port is usually a firewall rule, on the Edge Network Firewall or on the server. Websites and panels work either way; only sending email needs it.
If your domain's DNS is at OVHcloud
Open the domain's DNS zone in the Control Panel and add the records from DNS setup: A records with the server's IP for @ and mail, and CNAME records to your domain for cp, srv, rs, fm, dbs, cld, dep, api, smtp, imap and ftp (or import the Download DNS file from the installer's DNS step). To use your own nameservers, add ns1 and ns2 as glue records (host records) for the domain at OVHcloud, then change the domain's nameservers to them.
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.