How to Install aaPanel (2025) - One-Click LAMP/LNMP Web Hosting Environment on a Linux VPS

Before installing, there is one important difference you must know:

• Baota Panel (Domestic version - bt.cn):

  • Pros: Fully Chinese interface, the richest plugin ecosystem, optimized for the domestic environment (mirror sources, etc.).
  • Cons: Mandatory binding of a Chinese mobile phone number. Even for the free version, you must verify a phone number on first login after installation, otherwise you cannot use it.
  • Who it suits: Users whose servers are located in mainland China, or who are used to a fully Chinese ecosystem and do not mind binding a phone number.

• aaPanel (International version - aapanel.com):

  • Pros: No phone number binding required, completely free, better privacy. The interface is in English (but the logic is exactly the same as Baota, so it is quick to pick up).
  • Cons: The interface defaults to English (it can be localized, but getting used to English is recommended), and some China-only plugins are missing.
  • Who it suits: Recommended! Users on overseas VPS providers (such as RackNerd, Vultr, Contabo) who do not want real-name verification.

This article recommends aaPanel as the first choice for overseas VPS users. The installation commands for both are provided below.

1. A clean VPS:
   • Recommended operating systems: CentOS 7.x / Stream 9, Ubuntu 20.04/22.04, or Debian 10/11/12.
   • Note: It must be a clean system with no Apache/Nginx/PHP/MySQL previously installed. If there is, reinstall the OS first.
2. An SSH connection tool:
   • Recommended for Windows users: FinalShell, Xshell, PuTTY.
   • Recommended for Mac users: the built-in Terminal, Termius.

After connecting to your VPS with an SSH tool, choose the command that matches your operating system and copy-paste it.

URL=https://www.aapanel.com/script/install_7.0_en.sh && if [ -f /usr/bin/curl ];then curl -ksSO "$URL" ;else wget --no-check-certificate -O install_7.0_en.sh "$URL";fi;bash install_7.0_en.sh aapanel

yum install -y wget && wget -O install.sh https://download.bt.cn/install/install_6.0.sh && sh install.sh ed8484bec

wget -O install.sh https://download.bt.cn/install/install-ubuntu_6.0.sh && sudo bash install.sh ed8484bec

wget -O install.sh https://download.bt.cn/install/install-ubuntu_6.0.sh && bash install.sh ed8484bec

The installation takes about 2-5 minutes. When it finishes, the terminal will display information similar to the following (very important, take a screenshot or copy and save it!):

==================================================================
Congratulations! Installed successfully!
==================================================================
aaPanel Internet Address: http://123.45.67.89:7800/a8b9c7d6
aaPanel Internal Address: http://192.168.1.5:7800/a8b9c7d6
username: aapanel_user
password: random_password
==================================================================

• Internet Address: the entry address of your panel backend. Note that it is not just the IP and port; there is also a string of security characters /a8b9c7d6 after it. This is added for security and must be included to access the panel.
• username: the login username.
• password: the login password.

1. Copy the Internet Address above into your browser to open it.

2. Enter the username and password to log in.

   • If it is the Baota Panel, a popup will ask you to bind a phone number; just register an account and bind it.
   • If it is aaPanel, you go straight to the home page.

3. One-click environment deployment: On first login, a "recommended installation suite" window pops up asking you to choose LNMP or LAMP.

   • LNMP (Recommended): Nginx + MySQL + PHP. Better performance, strong concurrency, low resource usage. Today 90% of websites choose this.
   • LAMP: Apache + MySQL + PHP. A veteran architecture with good stability, but concurrency performance is not as good as Nginx.

   Recommended version choices:

   • Nginx: 1.21 or 1.22
   • MySQL: 5.7 (memory < 2G) or 8.0 (memory >= 2G)
   • PHP: 7.4 (good compatibility) or 8.1/8.2 (good performance, recommended)
   • phpMyAdmin: the default version is fine

   After choosing, click "One-click Install" and go grab a coffee while the system compiles and installs in the background (usually 10-30 minutes).

Getting it installed is not enough; it must also be secure. Be sure to do the following:

1. Change the default port: The default port (Baota 8888 / aaPanel 7800) is easily scanned by hackers. Go to panel Settings and change Panel Port to a random number between 10000-65535, for example 35678. After changing it, remember to allow the new port in your cloud provider's firewall (security group).
2. Change the default username and password: The default random password is hard to guess but also hard to remember. Change it in Settings to a strong password you can remember.
3. Change the security entrance: This is the /xxxx at the end of the URL. Change Security Entrance in Settings to prevent malicious scanning of the panel entrance.

Q: The panel address won't open after installation? A: 99% of the time the cause is that the firewall has not allowed it.

1. Check the security group settings of your VPS provider (such as Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, AWS) and allow the panel port (default 8888 or 7800).
2. Check the system firewall over SSH: bt 14 (view the panel's default information) or uifw allow 7800/tcp (allow the port for aaPanel).

Q: How do I uninstall Baota/aaPanel? A: The panel is usually deeply integrated into the system. Although the official team provides an uninstall script, reinstalling the OS directly is strongly recommended, as it is the cleanest approach.

Choosing the right panel is half the battle for Linux web hosting. aaPanel combined with a cost-effective overseas VPS is the best starting point for building a WordPress blog, a self-hosted cloud drive, or deploying Docker applications.