A powerful server management CLI for Laravel applications on Ubuntu

Cipi is a CLI-based server control panel designed exclusively for Laravel developers who need a secure, production-ready hosting environment on Ubuntu VPS. With Cipi, you can:

• ✨ Create isolated virtual hosts with individual users and PHP versions
• 🔒 Automatic SSL certificates with Let's Encrypt
• 🗄️ Manage MySQL databases
• 🌐 Configure domains and aliases
• 🐘 Install and manage multiple PHP versions (5.6 - 8.5)
• 🔄 Deploy Laravel applications with Git
• 📊 Monitor server status
• 🛡️ Built-in fail2ban + ClamAV antivirus protection
• 🔐 Secure password management (never stored in plain text)
• 📦 S3 backup integration for storage + databases

No web interface needed - everything is managed via SSH with the cipi command!

Cipi is specifically designed for Laravel applications and developers who:

• ✅ Want a secure, production-ready server without complex DevOps knowledge
• ✅ Need isolated environments for multiple Laravel projects on one VPS
• ✅ Prefer CLI management over web-based control panels
• ✅ Value security hardening with automatic updates and malware scanning
• ✅ Need per-project PHP versions (Laravel 8 on PHP 8.0, Laravel 11 on PHP 8.3, etc.)
• ✅ Want automated backups to S3 for storage and databases
• ✅ Are deploying on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS servers

Cipi implements production-ready security with multiple layers of protection:

System Security:

• 🛡️ Fail2ban - Automatic SSH brute-force protection
• 🔥 UFW Firewall - Only ports 22, 80, 443 exposed
• 🦠 ClamAV Antivirus - Daily malware scans of all applications
• 🔐 User Isolation - Each app runs as a separate system user with strict permissions (chmod 750/640)
• 🔑 Root-Only CLI - Cipi commands require sudo for administrative control

Application Security:

• 🔒 SSL Everywhere - Free Let's Encrypt certificates with auto-renewal
• 🚫 Nginx Hardening - Server tokens hidden, rate limiting, security headers
• 🗝️ SSH Keys - Auto-generated for each app to access private Git repos
• 🔐 Secure Passwords - Complex passwords never stored in plain text, shown only once
• 🔄 Automatic Updates - Weekly system security patches via cron

Laravel-Specific:

• 📂 Storage Permissions - Optimized for Laravel's storage and cache directories
• ⚙️ Supervisor Workers - Process management for queues
• 📅 Cron Scheduler - Pre-configured for php artisan schedule:run
• 💾 Database Backups - Automated MySQL/PostgreSQL/SQLite backups to S3

Monitoring & Response:

• 📊 System Status - Real-time monitoring of all services
• 📝 Comprehensive Logs - Nginx, PHP-FPM, application, and security logs
• 🚨 Antivirus Logs - Track malware scans and threats

What Cipi is NOT:

• ❌ Not for "enterprise" with compliance certifications (SOC2, PCI-DSS)
• ❌ Not a WAF (Web Application Firewall) like Cloudflare
• ❌ Not high-availability clustering or load balancing
• ❌ Not for non-PHP applications (only Laravel/PHP)

Verdict: Cipi provides production-grade security suitable for professional Laravel applications, side projects, and small-to-medium businesses. For highly regulated industries or applications requiring compliance certifications, additional security layers may be needed.

• Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (or higher)
• Fresh server installation recommended
• Minimum 512MB RAM, 1 CPU core
• Root access (sudo)
• Public IPv4 address

• ✅ DigitalOcean
• ✅ AWS EC2
• ✅ Vultr
• ✅ Linode
• ✅ Hetzner
• ✅ Google Cloud

wget -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/andreapollastri/cipi/refs/heads/latest/install.sh | bash

Installation takes approximately 10-15 minutes depending on your server's internet speed.

AWS disables root login by default. Use this method:

ssh ubuntu@<your-server-ip>
sudo -s
wget -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/andreapollastri/cipi/refs/heads/latest/install.sh | bash

Important:

• Open ports 22, 80, and 443 in your VPS firewall!
• Save the MySQL root password shown during installation!
• App and database passwords are never stored in config files for security. Save them when displayed!

# Show server status
cipi status

# Show all available commands
cipi help

# Show Cipi version
cipi version

# Create a new virtual host (interactive)
cipi app create

# Create virtual host (non-interactive)
cipi app create \
  --user=myapp \
  --repository=https://github.com/laravel/laravel.git \
  --branch=main \
  --php=8.4

# List all virtual hosts
cipi app list

# Show virtual host details
cipi app show myapp

# Change PHP version for a virtual host
cipi app edit myapp --php=8.3

# Edit .env file
cipi app env myapp

# Edit crontab (for Laravel scheduler, backups, etc.)
cipi app crontab myapp

# Change virtual host password
cipi app password myapp

# Change virtual host password (custom)
cipi app password myapp --password=MySecurePass123!

# Delete virtual host
cipi app delete myapp

# Assign a domain (interactive)
cipi domain create

# Assign a domain (non-interactive)
cipi domain create \
  --domain=example.com \
  --aliases=www.example.com \
  --app=myapp

# List all domains
cipi domain list

# Delete a domain
cipi domain delete example.com

# Add alias to domain
cipi alias add example.com www.example.com

# Remove alias from domain
cipi alias remove example.com www.example.com

# Create a new database (interactive)
cipi database create

# Create database (non-interactive)
cipi database create --name=mydb

# List all databases
cipi database list

# Change database password
cipi database password mydb

# Change database password (custom)
cipi database password mydb --password=MyDbPass123!

# Delete a database
cipi database delete mydb

# List installed PHP versions
cipi php list

# Install a PHP version
cipi php install 8.3

# Switch CLI PHP version
cipi php switch 8.4

# Restart nginx
cipi service restart nginx

# Restart all PHP-FPM services
cipi service restart php

# Restart MySQL
cipi service restart mysql

# Restart Supervisor
cipi service restart supervisor

# Restart Redis
cipi service restart redis

# Update Cipi to the latest version
cipi update

When you create a virtual host, Cipi creates the following structure:

/home/<username>/
├── wwwroot/          # Your Laravel project (Git repository)
├── logs/             # Nginx access & error logs
├── backups/          # Local backup storage
├── .ssh/             # SSH keys for Git (private repositories)
├── deploy.sh         # Deployment script (editable)
├── ssl.sh            # SSL certificate management script
├── backup.sh         # S3 backup script (storage + database)
├── gitkey.pub        # SSH public key for GitHub/GitLab
└── WEBHOOK_SETUP.md  # Webhook setup documentation

Each virtual host comes with a pre-configured deploy.sh script optimized for Laravel:

cd /home/<username>
./deploy.sh

The script automatically:

• Pulls latest changes from Git
• Installs Composer dependencies
• Runs database migrations
• Clears and optimizes cache
• Builds assets with npm (if needed)
• Restarts queue workers

Enable SSL for your domain:

# As root
sudo -u <username> /home/<username>/ssl.sh

# Or wait for the automatic hourly cron job

Certificates are automatically renewed via cron job.

Each virtual host has its own SSH key pair for accessing private Git repositories:

# View the public key
cat /home/<username>/gitkey.pub

# Or show it with the app details
cipi app show <username>

Copy the public key and add it to your Git provider:

• GitHub: Settings → SSH and GPG keys → New SSH key
• GitLab: Settings → SSH Keys → Add new key
• Bitbucket: Personal settings → SSH keys → Add key

Each virtual host includes an S3 backup script for Laravel storage and database:

# Edit backup configuration
nano /home/<username>/backup.sh

# Configure:
# - S3_BUCKET (your S3 bucket name)
# - S3_REGION (e.g., us-east-1)
# - AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
# - AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

# Test the backup
sudo -u <username> /home/<username>/backup.sh

# Setup automatic nightly backups
sudo -u <username> crontab -e
# Add this line for 2 AM backups:
# 0 2 * * * /home/<username>/backup.sh >> /home/<username>/logs/backup.log 2>&1

The backup script automatically:

• Backs up Laravel storage/ directory
• Backs up database (MySQL, SQLite, or PostgreSQL)
• Creates compressed archive
• Uploads to S3 with retention policy
• Cleans up backups older than 30 days (both local and S3)

Note: AWS CLI is pre-installed with Cipi

Cipi supports automatic deployments using Git webhooks. Each virtual host includes a WEBHOOK_SETUP.md guide with detailed instructions for:

• GitHub webhook configuration
• GitLab webhook configuration
• Webhook endpoint setup
• Security best practices

• 🛡️ Fail2ban - Automatic IP banning after failed SSH attempts
• 🔥 UFW Firewall - Only ports 22, 80, 443 are open
• 👤 Isolated Users - Each virtual host runs under its own system user
• 🔐 Secure Permissions - Proper file and directory permissions
• 🚫 No FTP - Only secure SFTP access
• 🔑 SSL Everywhere - Free Let's Encrypt certificates

You can install any PHP version from 5.6 to 8.5 (beta):

cipi php install 8.3
cipi php install 8.2
cipi php install 7.4

Cipi automatically checks for updates via cron job (daily at 5:00 AM). You can also manually update:

cipi update

Updates are pulled from GitHub releases and applied automatically.

cipi status

Output:

 ██████ ██ ██████  ██
██      ██ ██   ██ ██
██      ██ ██████  ██
██      ██ ██      ██
 ██████ ██ ██      ██

SERVER STATUS
─────────────────────────────────────
IP:       123.456.789.0
HOSTNAME: my-server
CPU:      25%
RAM:      45%
HDD:      30%

SERVICES
─────────────────────────────────────
nginx:      ● running
mysql:      ● running
php8.4-fpm: ● running
supervisor: ● running
redis:      ● running

To uninstall Cipi from your server while keeping all virtual hosts, databases, and websites running:

# Stop and remove Cipi system cron jobs
sudo crontab -l | grep -v "cipi\|certbot\|freshclam\|apt-get" | sudo crontab -

# Remove Cipi executable and scripts
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/cipi
sudo rm -rf /opt/cipi

# Optional: Remove Cipi configuration data
# WARNING: This removes all domain/app metadata but keeps actual files
sudo rm -rf /etc/cipi

# Optional: Remove Cipi log directory
sudo rm -rf /var/log/cipi

✅ Cipi CLI tool (/usr/local/bin/cipi)
✅ Cipi library scripts (/opt/cipi/)
✅ Cipi configuration data (/etc/cipi/)
✅ Cipi cron jobs (SSL renewal, updates, scans)
✅ Cipi logs (/var/log/cipi/)

✅ All virtual host users (e.g., /home/myapp/)
✅ All websites and Laravel applications
✅ All databases and MySQL users
✅ Nginx configurations (/etc/nginx/sites-available/)
✅ PHP-FPM pools (/etc/php/*/fpm/pool.d/)
✅ SSL certificates (/etc/letsencrypt/)
✅ All system packages (Nginx, MySQL, PHP, Redis, etc.)
✅ Supervisor workers
✅ Fail2ban and UFW configurations

Your websites will continue to work normally. You'll need to manage:

• SSL Renewal: Setup your own certbot cron job

  sudo crontab -e
  # Add: 10 4 * * 7 certbot renew --nginx --non-interactive

• System Updates: Setup your own update schedule

  sudo crontab -e
  # Add: 20 4 * * 7 apt-get -y update
  # Add: 40 4 * * 7 DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get -q -y dist-upgrade

• Antivirus Scans: Setup your own ClamAV scan schedule

  sudo crontab -e
  # Add: 0 3 * * * /usr/local/bin/cipi-scan

• Manual Management: Use standard Linux tools

  sudo nginx -t                          # Test Nginx
  sudo systemctl reload nginx            # Reload Nginx
  sudo systemctl restart php8.4-fpm      # Restart PHP-FPM
  mysql -u root -p                       # Manage databases

You can reinstall Cipi at any time without affecting existing sites:

wget -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/andreapollastri/cipi/refs/heads/latest/install.sh | bash

Cipi will detect existing virtual hosts and continue managing them.

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Cipi is open-source software licensed under the MIT license.

• Installation Guide - Complete installation instructions
• Quick Start Guide - Get up and running in 10 minutes
• Features - Complete feature list
• Security Guidelines - Password management and security best practices
• Upgrade Guide - How to update Cipi
• Contributing - How to contribute
• Changelog - Version history

• 🐛 Bug Reports: GitHub Issues
• 💡 Feature Requests: GitHub Issues
• 📧 Email: [email protected]
• 🌐 Website: cipi.sh

If you find Cipi useful, please consider giving it a star on GitHub!

• Built with ❤️ by Andrea Pollastri
• Inspired by server management tools like Forge, RunCloud, and Ploi
• Thanks to all contributors!

Made with ❤️ for the Laravel community