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Multiple servers and DNS cluster

How to install LimePanel on several servers and tie them together with the DNS cluster and WHMCS.

One panel per server

Each server runs its own LimePanel, installed with the same command and with its own license. There is no central server the others depend on: if one server goes down, the others keep working. What ties them together is the DNS cluster (each server's zones are also served by the others) and, if you use it, WHMCS (one WHMCS server entry per panel).

Installing on several servers

Run the install command on every server, each with its own license key (--license-key), its own --hostname (for example panel1.yourdomain.com, panel2.yourdomain.com) and the same name servers.

For a fleet of servers you can use a script like this:

# one key per server: the full command for each is in the customer area
declare -A KEY=(
  [panel1.yourdomain.com]=LP-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
  [panel2.yourdomain.com]=LP-YYYYY-YYYYY-YYYYY-YYYYY
)
for h in panel1.yourdomain.com panel2.yourdomain.com; do
  ssh root@"$h" "curl -fsSL https://get.limepanel.it/install.sh | sh -s -- \
    --license-key ${KEY[$h]} \
    --hostname $h --admin-email you@yourdomain.com \
    --nameservers ns1.yourdomain.com,ns2.yourdomain.com \
    --with webmail,mail-filter --non-interactive" | tee "install-$h.log"
done

Each server's administrator password is only in its own log: store it somewhere safe, then delete the log.

Each server needs its own key: a key covers one server only, and the free trial is one per email, per VAT number and per server. Licenses are bought one per server: see Licensing.

DNS cluster

With the DNS cluster, zones created on one server are also served by the others. That way ns1 and ns2 can live on different machines, and a domain keeps resolving even when one server is down.

Pairing servers

  1. On the primary server: Server → Server DNS → DNS cluster → Show the code. Copy the pairing code.
  2. On every other server: Server → Server DNS → DNS cluster → Receive zones from a primary, and paste the code.

From then on:

  • existing and new zones reach the secondaries on their own, within seconds;
  • every record change on the primary propagates with the same serial number;
  • zone transfers are authenticated with a shared key (TSIG): anyone without the key is refused, on the primary and on the secondaries alike.

Name servers and glue records

If your name servers use your own domain (for example ns1.yourdomain.com on the first server and ns2.yourdomain.com on the second), create glue records at your registrar pointing to each server's IP.

DNSSEC

The panel can sign zones with DNSSEC and compute the DS record to hand to the domain's registry.

WHMCS with several servers

Install the WHMCS module once, then in WHMCS add one server per panel, each with its own API token. The details are in Resellers and WHMCS.

Resellers across servers

Resellers are created on a specific server (Server → Resellers). A reseller's brand and name servers apply to the customers on that server.

Licensing and the cluster

Adding a server to a DNS cluster requires an active license. When a server's license ends, that server stops all its services, DNS included, until the license is valid again; the other servers in the cluster with a valid license keep working.