📝 Full Guide: How to Install Hestia Panel on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) – For Juniors

🛠️ What You’ll Learn

How to set up a GCP virtual machine
How to install and configure Hestia Control Panel
Basic tips on managing a server through Hestia

1. 🔧 Prerequisites

A Google Cloud account (free tier is okay)
Basic knowledge of SSH and terminal commands
Domain name (optional but helpful)

2. 🏗️ Create a Virtual Machine on GCP

Go to Google Cloud Console
Click on VM Instances → Create Instance
Choose:
- Name: hestia-vm
- Region: Your preferred region
- Machine type: e2-micro (free tier) or higher
- Boot Disk: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
- Check Allow HTTP and HTTPS traffic
Click Create

3. 🔌 Connect to Your VM

Use SSH from the GCP console or:

gcloud compute ssh hestia-vm

4. 🧰 Install Hestia Panel

Update the system:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Download the installer:

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hestiacp/hestiacp/main/install/hst-install.sh

Run the installer with force option to avoid "admin group exists" error:

sudo bash hst-install.sh --force

Follow the prompts:

Choose services (Web, DNS, Mail, DB)
Enter your admin email (e.g., yapweijun1996@gmail.com)
Enter a valid FQDN hostname, e.g., panel.yapweijun1996.com

Note: Do NOT use just yapweijun1996.com. It must be in the format subdomain.domain.tld.

5. 📡 Access the Hestia Panel

Once installed, you'll see login details:

URL: https://your-vm-ip:8083
Username and password (shown at end of installation)

6. 🌐 Point Your Domain (Optional)

Go to your domain registrar and:

Create an A record:
- Name: panel
- Type: A
- Value: your VM external IP

Result: panel.yapweijun1996.com ➔ 34.xxx.xxx.xxx

7. 🔒 Secure Your Panel

Install Let’s Encrypt SSL via the Hestia dashboard
Optionally change default ports
Verify firewall rules (enabled by default)

8. 🎉 Done! What’s Next?

Add domains
Create users
Set up databases and email

📂 Does Hestia Have a File Manager?

Yes, Hestia Control Panel comes with a built-in file manager. To use it:

Log in to your Hestia dashboard
Go to Users → Select your user (e.g., admin)
Click on Web → your domain
Click Open File Manager

You can upload, download, edit, and manage files directly from your browser without needing FTP.

📀 Check Hestia Status & Reboot

To check if Hestia is running:

sudo systemctl status hestia

To restart Hestia:

sudo systemctl restart hestia

To check if the installation completed successfully:

Look for the final message during installation
Access https://your-vm-ip:8083 and ensure the login page loads
Use the credentials displayed at the end of the setup

You can also confirm services like Nginx, PHP, and MySQL:

sudo systemctl status nginx
sudo systemctl status mysql

📌 Tips for Juniors

Keep your system updated:
```
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
```
Backup before changes
Learn Linux basics: cd, ls, nano, cp, etc.

💡 Want help setting up WordPress or email inside Hestia? Leave a comment!

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