Managing User Containers from the Terminal

In OpenPanel, each user has their own rootless Podman instance. If you are familiar with Docker or Podman, you can manage a user’s files and services directly from the terminal.

SSH access as the root user on the server is required to manage another user's containers.

Compose Setup​

Each user’s environment is based on:

• docker-compose.yml – defines services, networks, and volumes.
• .env – defines CPU/memory limits, image tags, and custom ports.

⚠️ Always edit these files via the OpenAdmin interface. The interface validates your changes. Editing directly from the terminal bypasses validation and can break services. Make a backup before any modifications.

• Volume Management in OpenPanel
• Network Isolation in OpenPanel

File Structure​

Each user’s home directory is located at:

/home/USERNAME/

It contains configuration files and user data. Example structure:

├── .env                 # Environment variables: versions, ports, CPU/memory limits
├── backup.env           # Backup configuration
├── crons.ini            # Cron jobs
├── custom.cnf           # MySQL configuration
├── default.vcl          # Varnish cache configuration
├── docker-compose.yml   # Service definitions
├── docker-data          # Podman storage (graphroot)
│   ├── libpod           # Podman state database
│   ├── networks         # Container networks
│   ├── overlay          # Overlay filesystem storage
│   ├── overlay-containers  # Individual container data
│   ├── overlay-images   # User's own images (shared images are reused from /var/lib/containers/shared-storage)
│   └── volumes          # Persistent data volumes
│       ├── <USERNAME>_html_data   # Website files (/var/www/html/)
│       └── <USERNAME>_mysql_data  # MySQL database files (/var/lib/mysql/)
├── .config/containers/  # Podman config for the user (storage.conf, containers.conf)
├── httpd.conf           # Apache configuration
├── my.cnf               # MySQL root credentials for service commands
├── nginx.conf           # NGINX configuration
├── openlitespeed.conf   # OpenLiteSpeed configuration
├── openresty.conf       # OpenResty configuration
├── php.ini/             # PHP configuration files
├── pma.php              # phpMyAdmin entry point
└── sockets              # Sockets (MySQL, Redis, PostgreSQL, etc.)

• Website files are stored in the volume USERNAME_html_data and physically located at:

/home/USERNAME/docker-data/volumes/USERNAME_html_data/_data/

• The folder is still called docker-data for compatibility with older installations - it holds the user's Podman storage.

• File ownership should match the OpenPanel user ID. Check with:

id -u USERNAME

• Podman runs in rootless mode, mapping the user UID to root inside containers. This avoids permission issues while giving the user root-level permissions in their services.

• Disk quotas are enforced using the quota tool. To check disk and inodes usage for user:

quota -u USERNAME

Managing Services​

Services are defined in /home/USERNAME/docker-compose.yml. You can extend this file with custom services, but to maintain compatibility with the OpenPanel UI, follow the guidelines.

As root, load the OpenPanel Podman helpers first - they run podman and podman-compose against the user's own rootless instance:

source /usr/local/opencli/lib/podman.sh

Examples:

• List running services:

podman_user USERNAME ps -a

• Stop a service:

podman_user USERNAME stop mysql

• Restart a service:

cd /home/USERNAME && \
podman_compose_user USERNAME down mysql && \
podman_compose_user USERNAME up -d mysql

• Open a shell in a service:

opencli docker USERNAME mysql

Run opencli docker USERNAME without a container name to pick one from a list. See opencli docker.

• View resource usage:

podman_user USERNAME stats --no-stream

• View a service's logs:

podman_user USERNAME logs --tail 100 mysql

Domains​

Domain configuration files are stored in:

• Caddy configuration:

/etc/openpanel/caddy/domains/<DOMAIN>.conf

Each domain has its own Caddyfile. Caddy handles SSL certificates and acts as a reverse proxy to the user’s web server. For more information, see: How Web Traffic Flows with User Containers

• BIND9 zone file:

/etc/bind/zones/<DOMAIN>.zone

Contains the DNS records for the domain.

Backups​

OpenPanel uses offen/docker-volume-backup for backups. Configuration is stored in /home/{CONTEXT}/backup.env.

• Administrators can schedule automatic backups for users.
• Users can also enable and manage their own backups if permitted.
• Only volumes are backed up, which include the actual user data (website files and databases).

For detailed instructions, see: Configuring OpenPanel Backups

Crons​

OpenPanel uses mcuadros/ofelia for cron jobs. Configuration is stored in /home/{CONTEXT}/crons.ini.

Ports​

Ports are defined in the user’s .env file:

root@stefan:/# grep _PORT /home/stefan/.env 
HTTP_PORT="127.0.0.1:32780:80"
HTTPS_PORT="127.0.0.1:32781:443"
PROXY_HTTP_PORT="127.0.0.1:32782:80" 
MYSQL_PORT="127.0.0.1:32777:3306"
PMA_PORT="32779:80"
POSTGRES_PORT="0:5432"
PGADMIN_PORT="0:80"

• Ports are generated during user creation but can be modified by the administrator. After changes, run podman_compose_user USERNAME down and podman_compose_user USERNAME up -d from /home/USERNAME for the changes to take effect.
• ⚠️ Rootless Podman prevents the use of ports under 1024.
• Services should not expose ports externally unless remote access is required (e.g., phpMyAdmin, remote MySQL, or pgAdmin).