Quickstart: First Server & App

This guide walks you through connecting your first server and deploying a WordPress site. The whole process takes about 5-10 minutes.

Prerequisites

• A ServerPlane account (create one here)
• A VPS or dedicated server with:
  • Ubuntu 24.04 (fresh installation recommended)
  • Root SSH access (password or private key)
  • A public IP address
  • At least 1 GB RAM and 10 GB disk space
• A domain name pointed to your server's IP (for SSL and WordPress setup)

Step 1: Connect Your Server

1. From the dashboard, click Add Server (in Quick Actions) or navigate to Servers in the sidebar and click the add button.
2. Fill in the server details:
   • Server Name — a friendly label (e.g., "Production Web Server")
   • IP Address — your server's public IP
   • SSH Port — defaults to 22; change if your server uses a non-standard port
   • Authentication Method — choose Root Password or SSH Private Key
   • Enter the corresponding credential (password or paste your private key)
3. Click Test Connection to verify ServerPlane can reach the server. You should see a green "Connection successful!" message with the server's hostname.
4. Click Add Server to begin provisioning.

What Happens During Provisioning

ServerPlane connects to your server and automatically:

• Creates a dedicated management user
• Configures secure authentication (disables root password login)
• Installs and configures a firewall
• Enables server monitoring and health reporting
• Sets up base packages and security updates

A real-time progress display shows each step. Once provisioning completes, you are redirected to the server detail page.

Step 2: Deploy WordPress

1. Navigate to Apps in the sidebar and click to create a new app, which opens the Deploy Wizard.
2. The wizard has 5 steps:

Step 1 of 5 — Select Server

Pick the server you just connected. Each server card shows its name, IP, OS, CPU, RAM, and current app count.

Step 2 of 5 — Select App Type

Choose WordPress. You will see five options: WordPress, Node.js, Python, Docker, and Static Site.

Step 3 of 5 — Configure

Fill in the app settings:

• App Name — a label for this app (e.g., "My Blog")
• Domain — the domain pointing to your server (e.g., example.com)
• PHP Version — select from 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, or 8.4

Step 4 of 5 — Review

Verify all your settings. The review screen summarizes the server, app type, name, domain, and PHP version.

Step 5 of 5 — Deploy

Click Deploy to start the deployment. A real-time progress view shows each step:

• Installing required software stacks if not already present
• Configuring the web server and PHP
• Setting up the database and user
• Downloading and configuring WordPress
• Setting correct file permissions

Once complete, visit your domain in a browser to run the WordPress installation wizard.

Step 3: Set Up SSL (Optional but Recommended)

1. Open your app from the Apps list.
2. Go to the Domains & SSL tab.
3. Click to provision a Let's Encrypt certificate.
4. ServerPlane provisions the certificate and configures HTTPS with HTTP-to-HTTPS redirect, HSTS, and HTTP/2.

Your site is now live over HTTPS.

What's Next

• Environment Variables — manage .env files from the app's Environment tab
• PHP Configuration — switch PHP versions or tune php.ini settings from the PHP Config tab
• GitHub CI/CD — connect a Git repository for automatic deployments on push
• Backups — set up scheduled backups for your app and database
• File Manager — browse and edit files on your server from the browser
• Web Terminal — open a shell session to your server without a local SSH client

Each of these features is accessible from the app detail page or the sidebar navigation.