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CentOS/RHEL Installation

This guide will help you install Poweradmin on RHEL-based distributions like Rocky Linux 9 or AlmaLinux 9. CentOS Stream 9 is also supported provided PHP 8.2 or newer is enabled.

Prerequisites

Install PowerDNS

Poweradmin is a frontend for an existing PowerDNS authoritative server - it does not install or run PowerDNS itself. If you do not already have PowerDNS running, install it first and configure a database backend (MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL, or SQLite). See the PowerDNS installation guide for packaging, and Backends for configuring one.

Enable a PHP 8.2+ Stream

Rocky Linux 9, AlmaLinux 9, and RHEL 9 ship PHP 8.0 by default, which does not meet Poweradmin's PHP 8.2 minimum. Switch to a newer stream before installing PHP packages:

dnf module reset php -y
dnf module enable php:8.2 -y   # or php:8.3

Alternatively, install PHP from the Remi repository if you need an even newer release.

Install PHP and Extensions

dnf install -y php php-cli php-intl php-gettext php-mbstring php-xml php-pdo php-fpm

Database Support

Install the appropriate PHP database driver based on your preferred database:

# For MySQL/MariaDB
dnf install -y php-mysqlnd

# For PostgreSQL
dnf install -y php-pgsql

Note: SQLite support is built into php-pdo on RHEL-family distributions - there is no separate php-sqlite3 package in the default AppStream repositories. If you plan to use SQLite, php-pdo alone is sufficient.

Web Server Configuration

Apache

1. Install Apache if not already installed:

dnf install -y httpd

2. Enable and start the Apache service:

systemctl enable httpd
systemctl start httpd

3. Configure SELinux if it's enabled:

# Allow Apache to connect to the database
setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect_db 1

# If using a non-standard directory, set the correct context
semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_content_t "/path/to/poweradmin(/.*)?"
restorecon -Rv /path/to/poweradmin

4. Configure your firewall:

firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https  # If using HTTPS
firewall-cmd --reload

5. Ensure AllowOverride All is set in your Apache configuration to allow the .htaccess file to function properly. The .htaccess file handles URL routing, API support, and security rules automatically.

Nginx Configuration

If you prefer Nginx, use the configuration example provided in the Poweradmin repository. The configuration includes API routing, CORS support, security rules, and clean URL handling.

1. Install Nginx:

dnf install -y nginx

2. Download the appropriate configuration file:

Version-specific configuration files:

3. Save the configuration to /etc/nginx/conf.d/poweradmin.conf and adjust:

  • server_name - Set to your domain name
  • root - Set to your Poweradmin installation path
  • fastcgi_pass - Use unix:/var/run/php-fpm/www.sock for RHEL/CentOS

4. Enable and start Nginx and PHP-FPM:

systemctl enable nginx php-fpm
systemctl start nginx php-fpm

5. Configure SELinux and firewall as with Apache.

Caddy Configuration

For Caddy servers, use the configuration example from the repository:

Installing Poweradmin

Obtain Poweradmin Source Code

Download the latest release from the stable line (currently the 4.3.x series). Always check the releases page for the most recent version - the example below uses v4.3.5:

VERSION=4.3.5
curl -Lo v${VERSION}.zip https://github.com/poweradmin/poweradmin/archive/refs/tags/v${VERSION}.zip
unzip v${VERSION}.zip

If you don't have curl or unzip installed:

dnf install -y curl unzip

Deploy to Web Server

Move the Poweradmin files to your web server's document root:

# For Apache (default directory)
cp -r poweradmin-${VERSION}/* /var/www/html/
chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/

# For Nginx (if using a different directory)
cp -r poweradmin-${VERSION}/* /usr/share/nginx/html/
chown -R nginx:nginx /usr/share/nginx/html/

Complete the Installation

  1. Visit http://your-server/install/ in your browser
  2. Follow the installation steps
  3. Once installation is complete, remove the install directory for security
  4. Log in with the admin username and password created during installation

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues:

  • Check PHP error logs: /var/log/php-fpm/www-error.log
  • Check web server logs: /var/log/httpd/error_log or /var/log/nginx/error.log
  • Ensure SELinux permissions are properly set if SELinux is enabled
  • Verify all required PHP extensions are installed and enabled
  • Check that file permissions are correct for your web server user
  • For API issues, ensure CORS headers and Authorization header forwarding are configured (see the example configs)