Installation

This guide walks you through installing BadgerPanel on a fresh server. The entire process is handled by a single command that takes care of everything automatically.

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System Requirements

Hardware

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
CPU	2 cores	4 cores
RAM	4 GB	8 GB
Disk	20 GB SSD	50 GB+ SSD
Network	100 Mbps	1 Gbps

Software

Requirement	Details
Operating System	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (or any modern Linux with systemd)
Domain Name	A valid domain with an A record pointing to your server
Ports	80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS) must be open and not in use

TIP

You do not need to install Docker yourself. The installer will detect if Docker and Docker Compose are missing and install them automatically.

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Run the Installer

Run the following command, replacing YOUR_LICENSE_KEY with the license key provided to you:

curl -fsSL https://activate.badgerpanel.com/setup | bash -s -- YOUR_LICENSE_KEY

This single command handles the entire installation from start to finish. You will be prompted for a few details during the process (see below).

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What the Installer Does

The installer runs through the following steps automatically:

Step	Description
1. Pre-flight checks	Detects your system, checks ports are available, and verifies minimum requirements
2. Docker installation	Installs Docker and Docker Compose if not already present on the system
3. Registry authentication	Uses your license key to authenticate and pull the BadgerPanel container images
4. Deployment files	Writes the Docker Compose configuration, Nginx config, and all supporting files
5. Domain & SSL	Prompts for your domain and sets up Let's Encrypt HTTPS certificates
6. Credential generation	Generates secure passwords for the database, Redis, MinIO, and JWT signing
7. Service startup	Pulls all images, starts the full stack, and waits for services to become healthy
8. Admin account	Prompts you to create your initial administrator account
9. License activation	Confirms your license activation with the BadgerPanel activation server

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Interactive Prompts

During installation you will be asked to provide:

• Domain name — the domain your panel will be accessible at (e.g. panel.example.com)
• Let's Encrypt email — for SSL certificate notifications (optional, can leave blank)
• Admin username — your initial administrator username
• Admin email — your administrator email address
• Admin password — your administrator password (entered securely, not displayed)

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Credentials File

After installation, your credentials and connection details are saved to ~/badgerpanel/.credentials. This file contains:

• Admin login details
• Database connection information
• Redis and MinIO credentials
• JWT secret
• Internal service keys

WARNING

Keep this file safe. You will need it if you ever migrate the panel to a new server. Do not share it publicly.

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Existing Installation Detection

If the installer detects an existing BadgerPanel installation in ~/badgerpanel, it will prompt you to choose:

• Update — pulls the latest images and restarts services while preserving your data, configuration, and credentials
• Fresh install — removes the existing installation and starts from scratch (all data will be lost)
• Cancel — exits without making any changes

If you are upgrading, choose the update option. Your servers, users, and settings will be preserved.

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Services Deployed

The installer sets up the following services via Docker Compose:

Service	Container	Purpose
Nginx	badger-nginx	Reverse proxy with SSL termination, WebSocket support
API	badger-api	Go backend API server with automatic database migrations
Web	badger-web	Next.js frontend application
MySQL	badger-mysql	Primary database (MySQL 8.0)
Redis	badger-redis	Session storage, caching, rate limiting
MinIO	badger-minio	S3-compatible object storage for backups and file uploads

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Next Steps

Once installation completes, open your panel domain in a browser and log in with the admin credentials you created. See Your First Server to set up your first game server.