Installing Flytower

Flytower installs on a fresh Ubuntu 24.04+ or Debian 12+ server (amd64 or arm64). The installer sets up the panel only. Java and Minecraft are installed later, from the panel, when you create a server.

You need:

• A VPS with at least 4 GB of RAM (8 GB if you want more than one server running).
• A domain name you can add a DNS record to, for the panel itself (for example panel.example.com). Passkeys only work over HTTPS on a real name, and Flytower gets the certificate for you.

Option A: Hetzner Cloud, no SSH at all

1. Pick a setup token. Any long random string, for example from a password manager. You'll type it into the panel once.
2. In the Hetzner Cloud console, create a server:
   • Image: Ubuntu 24.04
   • Type: CPX21 or larger (CPX31 for a few servers)
   • Networking: keep a public IPv4
   • Cloud config: paste this, with your domain and token:

     #cloud-config
     runcmd:
       - curl -fsSL https://github.com/MattA-Official/mc-panel/releases/latest/download/install.sh | bash -s -- --domain panel.example.com --setup-token YOUR-SETUP-TOKEN
     

3. Once the server shows its IPv4 address, add a DNS A record for your panel domain pointing at it. If your DNS is on Cloudflare, leave it DNS only (grey cloud).
4. Wait two or three minutes, then open https://panel.example.com. If the certificate isn't ready yet, give it another minute: Caddy keeps retrying once DNS resolves.
5. Open the setup link the installer prints (or enter the setup token), create your passkey, and save your recovery codes.

Option B: an existing server over SSH

curl -fsSL https://github.com/MattA-Official/mc-panel/releases/latest/download/install.sh \
  | sudo bash -s -- --domain panel.example.com

The installer prints a setup link and a setup token at the end. Open the link to go straight to creating your passkey, or open the panel and type the token if the link won't open where you are (on another device, say). Either works once, within 24 hours. Lost them before finishing setup? Run the same command again for new ones. It keeps the version you have.

What the installer does

• Unpacks the release (which includes its own Bun runtime) into /opt/flytower/releases/<version> and points /opt/flytower/current at it.
• Creates a flytower system user for the panel. The panel never runs as root; a small root helper (flytower-agent) does the handful of things that need it.
• Installs Caddy for HTTPS, and opens 80, 443 and your SSH port with ufw. It asks sshd which port SSH uses (22 if it can't tell) and says which it opened. Minecraft ports are opened per server as you create them.
• Stores data in /var/lib/flytower, configuration in /etc/flytower, and servers in /srv/flytower/servers/<name>.

Running the installer again keeps your data, secret and servers. On a box that already has Flytower, it also keeps the installed version, whichever channel it came from, unless you pass --version, --beta, --native, --pr or --tarball. To update, use System → Updates in the panel (or --version latest for the newest stable release). If the version you pick is older than the one installed, the installer first saves a copy of the panel's database in /var/lib/flytower-agent/db-backups/.

The installer checks the release's signature before installing anything, and prints "Release signature checked" when it matches. Releases before 1.0 are marked as pre-releases on GitHub, so the latest links above skip them. To install one, use the versioned link from its release notes.

Options

Troubleshooting

• The page doesn't load: check DNS points at the server (dig +short panel.example.com), and that ports 80 and 443 are allowed in any provider firewall.
• Logs: journalctl -u flytower-panel -u flytower-agent -n 100, and journalctl -u flytower-mc@<name> for a server.

More in Troubleshooting. Next: your first server.