Lynx

Self-hosted VPS & container manager.
Containers · Firewall · VPN — from one dashboard, across any number of servers.

Install · Architecture · vs Alternatives · Security

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The cPanel/Plesk/Coolify alternative built for people who care about security.
One binary per VPS. All traffic encrypted over WireGuard. No SaaS. No cloud lock-in. No Docker daemon.

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✨ Features

📦 Containers — Podman rootless, per-organization isolation, survive VPS reboots without Lynx running
🔥 Firewall — Full nftables control from the dashboard, three-layer hierarchy, atomic apply, auto-restore on any tampering
🔒 Networking — All dashboard → agent traffic over WireGuard + mTLS. Cross-VPS scaling via direct agent tunnels — no relay through dashboard
🔑 Encryption — PostgreSQL AES-256 at rest (pg_tde) + per-user envelope encryption (KEK/DEK)
📁 Single binary — No runtime dependencies on the server. No Node.js, no Bun, no Docker Engine. Install one binary, uninstall one binary
🔄 Auto-update — Hourly GitHub Releases check, Ed25519 signature verification before any swap, automatic rollback if the new binary fails to start

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🏗 Architecture

Dashboard VPS
├── Frontend ── Next.js (compiled binary, no runtime)
├── Backend  ── Rust
│    ├── WireGuard ──► Agent (local, same VPS)
│    ├── WireGuard ──► Agent (remote VPS #1)
│    └── WireGuard ──► Agent (remote VPS #2)
│
└── Each agent: Podman + nftables + WireGuard

Each agent connects to the dashboard over a 1:1 WireGuard tunnel with its own PSK. Agents never talk to each other through the dashboard — cross-VPS scaling uses direct agent-to-agent tunnels.

Firewall hierarchy (nftables)

table inet lynx-agent {
    chain lynx-base    ← Lynx invariants. Never editable. Auto-restored instantly on any change.
    chain lynx-global  ← Rules pushed to ALL agents simultaneously
    chain lynx-local   ← Per-VPS rules for this agent only
}

• lynx-base — default deny, WireGuard allowlist, inter-org isolation, anti-spoofing
• lynx-global — IP blocklists, protocol restrictions — propagated to all agents in parallel; agents offline receive pending rules on reconnect
• lynx-local — per-VPS port rules, IP allowlists

Horizontal scaling — cross-VPS

Internet → 80/443
    ↓
lynx-nginx (Agent-1, entry point)
    ├── replica:1  (Agent-1, local Podman network)
    └── WireGuard ──► Agent-2
                          ├── replica:2
                          └── replica:3

Agent-2 never exposes public ports for the project. All traffic enters through Agent-1 via WireGuard.

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⚡ Install

Dashboard

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Glyndor/panel/main/install.sh | sudo bash

The installer handles everything:

1. Detects and removes incompatible software (Docker, firewalld, ufw, iptables)
2. Installs Podman, WireGuard, nftables
3. Generates all secrets — never written to disk in plaintext
4. Starts PostgreSQL → Redis → Backend → Frontend
5. Prints a one-time setup URL:

   https://YOUR-IP:19443/register?setup_token=<token>
   

Agent (additional VPS)

1. Dashboard → Connect new VPS → copy the displayed keypair + PSK
2. On the new VPS, run the same installer and paste the dashboard data when prompted
3. Done — the tunnel is up and the agent appears online in the dashboard

Requirements

OS	Ubuntu 22.04+, Debian 12+, Fedora 39+, CentOS/RHEL 9+, Rocky/AlmaLinux 9+
SSH port	Auto-detected — any port works
Fixed ports	19443/TCP (dashboard) · 51820/UDP (WireGuard) — opened automatically. Must be free and allowed by your VPS provider's external firewall if applicable.
Root access	Required for install

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🆚 vs Alternatives

	Lynx	Coolify	Dokploy	cPanel / Plesk
Container runtime	Podman (rootless)	Docker	Docker	varies
Firewall management	✅ Full nftables	❌	❌	Partial
VPN between servers	✅ WireGuard	❌	❌	❌
Encryption at rest	✅ AES-256 (pg_tde)	❌	❌	❌
Per-user encryption	✅ KEK/DEK	❌	❌	❌
Signed binary updates	✅ Ed25519	❌	❌	❌
Runtime dependencies	None	Docker Engine	Docker Engine	Heavy
Pricing	Free / self-hosted	Free tier + paid	Free / self-hosted	Paid license
SaaS / cloud	Never	Optional	Optional	Optional

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🔐 Security

Transport & cryptography

• WireGuard + mTLS — double-layer encryption on all dashboard ↔ agent traffic
• TLS 1.3 minimum — no TLS 1.0/1.1/1.2 accepted anywhere
• Ed25519 — JWT signing, agent command signing, and binary update verification
• Per-agent PSK — each tunnel has its own unique preshared key, rotated automatically

Signed commands & immutable audit log

Every command the dashboard sends to an agent is Ed25519-signed. The agent verifies signature, nonce (replay prevention), and timestamp (< 30s window) before executing anything.

All executed and rejected commands are stored in a hash-chained append-only audit log on the agent, synced to dashboard PostgreSQL in real time. Tampering with any entry is mathematically detectable.

Reporting a vulnerability

See the security policy and the security architecture for threat modeling.

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🛠 Development

Contribution model, branch flow and code style live in the organization contributing guide. Repo-specific setup:

Dashboard backend (Rust):

cd lynx
SQLX_OFFLINE=true cargo build -p lynx-dashboard-server
SQLX_OFFLINE=true cargo test -p lynx-dashboard-server

sqlx compile-time checks use the committed .sqlx cache. To run against a real database, see lynx/dashboard/server/.env and start PostgreSQL locally.

Dashboard frontend (Next.js):

cd lynx/dashboard/ui
bun install
bun dev

Shell lint: bash scripts/lint.sh (shellcheck on all .sh files).

The agent and the compose translator live in panel-agent and podup.

VM test matrix

Some features cannot be tested in CI (nftables, WireGuard, Podman, systemd). Changes in these areas require local VMs — note in your PR which scenarios you ran:

Area	Environment
nftables rules, divergence detection	VM local
WireGuard tunnel setup, PSK rotation	VM local (CAP_NET_ADMIN)
Podman containers, org isolation	VM local
Auto-update binary swap	VM local
Installation + incompatible software	VM local
Dashboard ↔ agent connectivity	2 VMs
Migration (dashboard or agent)	2–3 VMs

Out of scope — do not contribute

• Docker support — incompatible by design (nftables/network isolation conflict)
• Rollback / downgrade mechanisms — hotfix + auto-update is the model
• Metrics persistence — metrics are real-time WebSocket only
• SMTP integration — not planned
• Changes that break backwards compatibility of migrations (additive-only)

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📄 License

Apache-2.0 — © 2026 Glyndor

_{Made with ❤️ by Jaroc}