Tired of Managing Your Server via Command Line?
You've set up your VPS, you can SSH into it, but managing websites, databases, and SSL certificates through the command line is tedious and error-prone. One wrong command can take down your entire site. There has to be a better way.
There is. Baota Panel (宝塔面板) is a free, powerful server management panel that gives you a beautiful web interface for everything — creating websites, managing databases, installing SSL certificates, setting up cron jobs, and monitoring server health. It's like having cPanel, but free and designed for modern cloud servers.
In this guide, we'll walk through the complete installation and initial setup of Baota Panel on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.
Prerequisites
Before installing Baota Panel, make sure you have:
- A fresh Ubuntu 22.04 LTS server (20.04 also works)
- Root or sudo access
- At least 1GB RAM (2GB recommended)
- At least 20GB disk space
- Port 8888 (or your chosen panel port) open in your firewall
Step 1: Update Your System
Always start with a fresh system update:
Step 2: Install Baota Panel
Run the official installation script:
During installation, the script will ask you to confirm. Press y and hit Enter. The installation takes about 3-5 minutes depending on your server's network speed.
When the installation completes, you'll see output that looks like this:
Congratulations! Installed successfully!
==================================================================
Bt-Panel: http://YOUR_IP:8888/abcdef
username: admin
password: 12345678
==================================================================
IMPORTANT: Save the panel URL, username, and password immediately. You will need these to log in.
Step 3: Open the Panel Port
If you're using UFW firewall:
If you're using a cloud provider (Tencent Cloud, AWS, etc.), you also need to open port 8888 in the security group settings in the cloud console. This is separate from the OS-level firewall.
Step 4: Initial Panel Setup
- Open the panel URL in your browser
- Log in with the provided username and password
- Bind your Baota account (free registration at bt.cn — this is required)
- When prompted, install the LNMP stack:
- Nginx (latest version)
- MySQL 5.7 (or skip if you don't need a database)
- PHP 8.1 (or skip if you're running Node.js/Python)
The LNMP installation runs in the background and takes 5-15 minutes. You can start using the panel immediately while it installs.
Step 5: Security Hardening (Critical!)
The default Baota installation is NOT secure. Do these immediately:
- Change the panel port: Settings → Panel Settings → Panel Port → Change from 8888 to a custom port (e.g., 18888)
- Change the username and password: Settings → Panel Settings → Change both to strong, unique values
- Enable BasicAuth: Settings → Security → Enable HTTP Basic Authentication for an extra login layer
- Set up IP whitelist: If you have a static IP, only allow your IP to access the panel
- Disable unused PHP versions: If you're not using PHP, remove all PHP versions to reduce attack surface
Common Issues & Fixes
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| Can't access panel URL | Check port is open in both UFW and cloud security group. Try: bt status |
| Forgot panel URL/credentials | SSH into server, run: bt default |
| Installation failed | Make sure you're on Ubuntu (not CentOS). Check disk space: df -h |
| Panel is slow | Check RAM: free -h. If under 1GB, add swap. Consider disabling unused services. |
Alternative: 1Panel
If you prefer an open-source alternative with a more modern UI, 1Panel is worth considering. Install with:
1Panel is fully open-source, has a cleaner interface, and supports Docker-based application deployment. However, Baota has a larger community and more plugins available.
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