🎉 Free hostnames for every Jabali server — <your-ip>.jabalihosted.com with automatic DNS + TLS

[shukiv]

Setting up a new server used to have a chicken-and-egg problem: you need a domain name pointed at the box before the panel can get a valid TLS certificate, before you can log in over HTTPS without a browser warning… but you may not have bought a domain yet, or you just want to kick the tyres.

Not anymore. Every Jabali install can now claim a free, public hostname with automatic DNS and TLS — the same idea as cPanel's *.cprapid.com, built into Jabali. Pick it during install (or turn it on later from Server Settings) and your panel is reachable at something like 203-0-113-7.jabalihosted.com, with a real Let's Encrypt certificate, in about a minute.

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How it works — the 60-second walkthrough

1. Choose a free hostname (or bring your own). A new step in the installer lets you pick. "Enter my own domain" is the classic path — nothing changes there. "Free Jabali hostname" is the new one.

2. Verify your email. We email a one-time code to the address you give (it's stored only so we can reach you about the hostname — nothing else). No password, no account to create.

3. That's it. Enter the code and the installer claims a hostname derived from your server's public IP, wires up DNS + TLS, and drops you back on the normal configuration screen with everything pre-filled — hostname, admin email, nameservers, all pointing at your new free name.

From here you just finish the install as usual. Your panel, webmail (mail.<name>), and any preview URLs all come up on the free hostname with valid certificates — zero DNS configuration on your side.

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What you get

• A public, resolvable hostname derived from your server's IP (203-0-113-7.jabalihosted.com), served on fast anycast DNS.
• Automatic Let's Encrypt TLS — panel, mail, and a wildcard for previews, renewed unattended.
• Preview URLs that just work — every domain you host gets a <site>.<your-hostname> preview on the same certificate.
• No account, no cost, no domain purchase. One email verification and you're done.

Two ways to turn it on

• At install — the new "Panel hostname" step shown above.
• On a running panel — Server Settings → General → Free Jabali hostname. Same email → code → activate flow, and the panel switches itself over to the new hostname.

Already using your own domain? Nothing changes — this is purely additive. You can keep your domain, or switch to a free hostname and back whenever you like.

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A note on how it's built (for the curious)

• The label is derived from your server's public IP, server-side — never chosen by the client. A completed connection is the proof that you control that IP, which is what keeps the namespace safe from squatting.
• jabalihosted.com is a registered Public Suffix List domain (like cPanel's cprapid.com), so cookies are isolated between unrelated servers and each hostname gets its own certificate budget.
• Private / non-routable IPs are refused — a free hostname only makes sense for a publicly reachable box.

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Rolling out now. If you're on a fresh install you'll see the new step; on an existing panel it appears in Server Settings after your next update. Give it a spin and let us know how it goes in the comments. 🚀