Requirements

Operating System

Minimum Hardware

Network

• A public IPv4 address
• Ports 80, 443, 22 open (UFW or iptables)
• A domain pointing to the server IP (for SSL to work)
• Outbound HTTPS to license.nexuscloud.run for license validation

Root access

The installer requires root or sudo access. It configures system services and modifies /etc.

Quick Start

Install NexusCloud on a fresh Ubuntu 24.04 server in one command.

1. Download and run install.sh

curl -fsSL https://license.nexuscloud.run/install.sh | sudo bash

2. What the installer does

1. Registers a 15-day free trial with the licensing server
2. Saves a signed JWT token to /etc/nexus/license.conf
3. Installs system dependencies (nginx, MySQL, PHP, .NET runtime)
4. Installs and configures ISPConfig as the hosting engine
5. Deploys Nexus API and Dashboard
6. Configures UFW firewall (ports 22, 80, 443)
7. Enables nexus-engine.service and nexus-api.service

3. Access the dashboard

Once installation completes (10–20 min), open your browser:

https://<your-server-ip>/

Default credentials are shown at the end of the install output.

4. Activate a paid license

After purchasing at nexuscloud.run/pricing, go to your customer dashboard and follow the activation steps.

Free Trial

Every new installation automatically starts a 15-day free trial. No credit card required.

What's included

• Full access to all dashboard features
• Unlimited sites (hardware permitting)
• All 7 runtimes enabled
• DNS, SSL, and mail management

Trial expiry

When the trial expires, NexusCloud enters read-only mode:

• All existing sites continue to serve traffic normally
• Creating or modifying sites, DNS zones, or mail domains is blocked
• The dashboard shows a red banner with upgrade options
• HTTP 402 Payment Required is returned for write operations via the API

License file location

cat /etc/nexus/license.conf

Plans & Pricing

Each plan covers one server. To manage multiple servers, purchase one license per machine.

Annual billing

All plans are billed monthly. Annual billing with a 20% discount is coming soon.

Activate a License

From the customer dashboard (recommended)

1. Go to nexuscloud.run/dashboard and log in
2. Find your license key under My Licenses
3. On your server, run:

nexus license activate YOUR-LICENSE-KEY

Manual activation via API

curl -X POST https://license.nexuscloud.run/license/activate \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "licenseKey": "YOUR-LICENSE-KEY",
    "installationId": "'$(cat /etc/nexus/installation_id)'",
    "fingerprint": "...",
    "hostname": "'$(hostname)'"
  }'

On success, the response contains a new JWT token which is automatically saved to /etc/nexus/license.conf.

Releasing a license

To move your license to a different server, release it first:

nexus license release

Grace Period

NexusCloud validates its license token every 24 hours by contacting license.nexuscloud.run. If the licensing server is temporarily unreachable, a 7-day grace period begins automatically.

Grace period behavior

• The dashboard shows an orange warning banner
• All features remain fully operational
• NexusCloud attempts reconnection every 24 hours
• If connectivity is restored within 7 days, the license is silently renewed
• If 7 days pass without reconnection, the panel enters read-only mode

License states

PHP

PHP is the primary runtime in NexusCloud, managed automatically by the hosting engine.

Supported versions

Creating a PHP site

1. In the dashboard, go to Sites → Add Site
2. Set runtime to PHP
3. Select your PHP version
4. Enter the domain and document root
5. Click Create — SSL is provisioned automatically

php.ini customization

Per-site php.ini overrides are supported via .user.ini in the document root:

upload_max_filesize = 64M
post_max_size = 64M
max_execution_time = 120
memory_limit = 256M

Node.js

Node.js sites run as persistent processes behind nginx reverse proxy, managed by pm2.

Supported versions

Creating a Node.js site

1. Select runtime Node.js when creating a site
2. Specify the entry file (e.g. server.js or dist/main.js)
3. Specify the port your app listens on internally
4. NexusCloud creates a pm2 process and an nginx upstream automatically

Environment variables

nexus site env set mysite.com NODE_ENV=production DB_URL=postgres://...

.NET

ASP.NET Core applications run as systemd services behind nginx, using Kestrel as the internal web server.

Supported versions

Deployment

1. Publish your app: dotnet publish -c Release -r linux-x64 --self-contained false
2. Upload the publish/ folder to the site's document root
3. NexusCloud creates a systemd unit and nginx proxy automatically

Python

Python sites run via Gunicorn (WSGI) or Uvicorn (ASGI for FastAPI/Starlette), with nginx in front.

Supported versions

WSGI (Django, Flask)

web: gunicorn myapp.wsgi:application --bind 0.0.0.0:$PORT

ASGI (FastAPI, Starlette)

web: uvicorn main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port $PORT

Java

Spring Boot and other executable JAR applications run as systemd services behind nginx.

Supported versions

Deployment

1. Build your JAR: mvn package -DskipTests or ./gradlew bootJar
2. Upload the JAR to the site directory
3. NexusCloud wraps it in a systemd service and proxies via nginx

server.port=${PORT:8080}

Ruby

Ruby (Rails, Sinatra) apps run via Puma behind nginx.

Supported versions

Gemfile requirement

gem 'puma'

NexusCloud detects Gemfile.lock and runs bundle install automatically on deploy.

Docker

Any language or framework containerized with Docker. NexusCloud manages the container lifecycle and nginx proxy.

Requirements

• A Dockerfile in the project root, or a pre-built image on Docker Hub / GHCR
• The container must expose a TCP port

Supported deployment methods

Managing Sites

Create a site

1. Navigate to Sites → Add Site
2. Enter the domain name (e.g. myapp.com)
3. Select the runtime and version
4. Configure document root and entry point
5. Click Create

NexusCloud automatically provisions a Let's Encrypt SSL certificate and creates the nginx vhost.

Site status indicators

DNS Zones

NexusCloud includes a full DNS server managed automatically. You can host DNS for any domain directly on your server.

Adding a DNS zone

1. Go to DNS → Add Zone
2. Enter the domain and SOA settings
3. Add A, CNAME, MX, and TXT records

Pointing your domain

Update your domain registrar's nameservers to your server's hostname:

NS1: ns1.yourserver.com  →  your-server-ip
NS2: ns2.yourserver.com  →  your-server-ip

SSL Certificates

NexusCloud automatically provisions and renews Let's Encrypt certificates for all sites.

Automatic SSL

When you create a site with a domain that resolves to your server, NexusCloud:

1. Runs an ACME HTTP-01 challenge via nginx
2. Installs the certificate to /etc/letsencrypt/live/
3. Configures nginx to redirect HTTP → HTTPS
4. Sets up automatic renewal via certbot's systemd timer

Custom certificates

You can upload your own certificate (e.g. a wildcard cert) via Sites → SSL → Upload Certificate.

Mail Domains

NexusCloud manages email hosting via its built-in mail stack.

Add a mail domain

1. Go to Mail → Add Domain
2. Enter the domain (e.g. mycompany.com)
3. Add mailboxes and aliases
4. NexusCloud generates SPF and DKIM DNS records for you automatically

Webmail

Roundcube webmail is available at https://mail.yourserver.com/webmail after setup.

Licensing API

Base URL: https://license.nexuscloud.run

Trial

Registers a new installation and starts a 15-day trial. Called automatically by install.sh.

{
  "installationId": "uuid-v4",
  "fingerprint":    "sha256-hex",
  "hostname":       "myserver.com",
  "ipAddress":      "1.2.3.4"
}

License activation

{
  "licenseKey":     "XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX",
  "installationId": "uuid-v4",
  "fingerprint":    "sha256-hex",
  "hostname":       "myserver.com"
}

License validation

Called every 24h by LicenseValidationService. Returns a refreshed JWT token.

License release

Deactivates a license from an installation so it can be moved to another server.

Customer endpoints

install.sh Reference

The installer is a Bash script hosted at https://license.nexuscloud.run/install.sh.

Steps performed

Environment variables

FAQ

Troubleshooting

License not validated after payment

Allow up to 5 minutes for the Stripe webhook to process. If it still doesn't appear, check your customer dashboard. You can also manually trigger validation:

nexus license validate --force

SSL certificate not provisioning

• Ensure the domain's A record points to your server IP
• Ensure port 80 is open (needed for ACME HTTP-01 challenge)
• Check certbot logs: journalctl -u certbot --no-pager

Service won't start after install

# Check API service
journalctl -u nexus-api -n 50 --no-pager

# Check engine service
journalctl -u nexus-engine -n 50 --no-pager

# Check nginx
nginx -t && systemctl status nginx

Dashboard shows "License: Restricted" after valid payment

The JWT token on disk may be stale. Re-run validation:

nexus license validate --force
systemctl restart nexus-api

Getting help

For support, email support@nexuscloud.run or open a ticket from your customer dashboard.