ServerDock

ServerDock is a self-hosted server management panel for Ubuntu 24/25. It provides a web UI to inspect system metrics, manage packages, Nginx vhosts, PM2 processes, and databases, plus a browser-based terminal.

Warning: ServerDock is powerful and runs with elevated privileges. Only install it on servers you fully control and trust.

Features

• One-line installer for Ubuntu 24/25
• Secure token-based first login with JWT sessions
• System dashboard with CPU, RAM, disk, and load
• Package management (apt, npm, common runtimes, web servers, DBs, tools)
• Nginx virtual host management and test/reload controls
• PM2 process listing and control
• Database status and simple management (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis)
• Web terminal via WebSocket and node-pty

Quick install

SSH to your Ubuntu 24.04/25.04 server as root (or with sudo) and run:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xoxma1993/ServerDock/main/install.sh | bash

The installer will:

• Install Node.js 20 (via NodeSource) if needed
• Clone or update https://github.com/xoxma1993/ServerDock.git into /opt/serverdock
• Install npm dependencies
• Generate .env with a random SECRET_TOKEN and JWT_SECRET
• Start the panel with PM2 as serverdock

On success you will see a banner like:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  ServerDock is running!                                  ║
║  Open: http://<SERVER_IP>:2580/?token=<SECRET_TOKEN>     ║
║  (Token is embedded in the URL for first login)          ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Open the printed URL in your browser to auto-complete the first login.

Login & authentication

• The installer generates a shared setup token and stores it in /opt/serverdock/.env as SECRET_TOKEN.

• First-time access is done via a link with ?token=<SECRET_TOKEN>; the frontend reads this token and calls:

  • POST /api/auth/login with body { "token": "<SECRET_TOKEN>" }

• The backend verifies the token, then issues a JWT valid for 24 hours.

• The frontend stores the JWT in localStorage under serverdock_jwt and sends it as Authorization: Bearer <jwt> for all subsequent API calls.

You can regenerate the token manually by editing /opt/serverdock/.env and restarting:

cd /opt/serverdock
pm2 restart serverdock

Development setup

On a development machine (not the production server):

git clone https://github.com/xoxma1993/ServerDock.git
cd ServerDock
npm install
cd client && npm install && cd ..

Create .env in the project root:

PORT=2580
SECRET_TOKEN=devtoken1234567890
JWT_SECRET=devjwtsecret1234567890

Run both backend and frontend in dev mode:

npm run dev

• Backend: http://localhost:2580
• Frontend: http://localhost:5173 (proxied to backend for /api and /ws)

For production build:

cd client
npm run build
cd ..
npm start

This builds the React app into public/ and serves it via Express on PORT (default 2580).

APIs overview

All routes except /api/auth/login and /health require a valid JWT:

• Header: Authorization: Bearer <jwt>

Auth

• POST /api/auth/login — { token: "SECRET_TOKEN" } → { token: "<jwt>" }

System

• GET /api/system — returns OS, hostname, uptime, CPU, RAM, disk, IP, load averages.

Packages

• GET /api/packages/status — list of managed packages with install status and version.
• POST /api/packages/install — body { id }, streams install via SSE.
• POST /api/packages/remove — body { id }, streams removal via SSE.

Nginx

• GET /api/nginx/domains — list parsed vhost configs.
• POST /api/nginx/domains — create vhost.
• PUT /api/nginx/domains/:id — update vhost.
• DELETE /api/nginx/domains/:id — delete vhost and symlink.
• POST /api/nginx/domains/:id/enable / disable — manage symlink in sites-enabled.
• POST /api/nginx/domains/:id/ssl/letsencrypt — run certbot for the domain.
• POST /api/nginx/test — run nginx -t.
• POST /api/nginx/reload — run systemctl reload nginx.

PM2

• GET /api/pm2/processes — list PM2 processes.
• POST /api/pm2/processes — start new process.
• DELETE /api/pm2/processes/:name — delete process.
• POST /api/pm2/processes/:name/restart / stop / start — control processes.
• GET /api/pm2/processes/:name/logs?lines=100 — get latest logs.
• GET /api/pm2/processes/:name/logs/stream — SSE live log stream.

Database

• GET /api/database/status — status of PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis.
• POST /api/database/postgres/create — create DB & user.
• POST /api/database/postgres/drop — drop DB.
• GET /api/database/postgres/list — list Postgres DBs and users.
• POST /api/database/mysql/create — create MySQL DB & user.
• GET /api/database/mysql/list — list MySQL DBs.
• POST /api/database/redis/flush — flush Redis.

Terminal

• WebSocket endpoint: /ws/terminal?token=<jwt>
  • Uses node-pty to spawn /bin/bash.
  • Raw terminal data is sent in both directions.
  • Supports resize messages: { "type": "resize", "cols": 80, "rows": 24 }.

Frontend

The frontend is a React 18 + Vite app located in client/:

• Routing with React Router v6 (/, /packages, /domains, /processes, /database, /terminal, /settings, /login).
• Global dark theme matching a terminal aesthetic.
• JWT stored in localStorage and attached via Axios interceptor.
• Real-time SSE usage for package installs and PM2 logs.
• WebSocket terminal based on xterm.js.

Security notes

• All sensitive operations are behind JWT auth.
• The shared SECRET_TOKEN is only used for the very first login; treat it like a root password.
• Use strong firewall rules (e.g. ufw) and limit who can reach the panel port.
• Run ServerDock only on trusted servers; many actions rely on system tools (apt, systemctl, pm2, psql, mysql, redis-cli, nginx, certbot) executed with high privileges.

Updating ServerDock

On the server:

cd /opt/serverdock
git pull
npm install
pm2 restart serverdock

Uninstall

To stop the panel:

pm2 delete serverdock

To remove files:

rm -rf /opt/serverdock