How to Disable Webservers for Users

By default, OpenPanel users can choose between Apache, Nginx, OpenResty and OpenLiteSpeed. If you don't want to support all of them, you can remove a webserver for new users, for existing users, or stop users from changing their webserver at all.

How OpenPanel lists webservers​

There is no hardcoded list of webservers. OpenPanel reads them from the services in each user's /home/<USERNAME>/docker-compose.yml file. A service counts as a webserver if it mounts the webserver_data volume and publishes ports. When a new user is created, that file is copied from the template at /etc/openpanel/docker/compose/1.0/docker-compose.yml.

The webservers in the template are offered on:

• OpenAdmin > Settings > User Defaults
• the OpenAdmin > Users > Add User form
• opencli user-add --webserver. A webserver that isn't in the template is ignored, and the template default is used.

The webservers in a user's own docker-compose.yml are offered on:

• OpenPanel > Web Server Config > Web Server Type, and the API endpoint behind it
• the webserver step of the onboarding wizard on the OpenPanel dashboard
• the webserver setting on the user's page in OpenAdmin

A webserver that isn't on the list is rejected, even if someone calls the API directly.

Option 1: Stop users from changing the webserver​

If you only want every user to stay on the webserver you assign, disable the Switch WebServer (change_ws) module from OpenAdmin > Settings > Modules. To disable it for some users only, remove it from the feature set of their plan.

Users then don't have access to the Web Server Type page, and the onboarding wizard skips the webserver step. You can still set the webserver when creating the user, or later from the user's page in OpenAdmin.

Option 2: Remove a webserver for new users​

Remove the webserver's service block from the template. You can edit it from OpenAdmin > Settings > User Defaults > Advanced, or in the file /etc/openpanel/docker/compose/1.0/docker-compose.yml. The block starts at the service name, for example openresty:, and ends right before the next service.

Or remove it with a script. Set WS to the webserver you want to remove:

WS=openresty
f=/etc/openpanel/docker/compose/1.0/docker-compose.yml
cp -p "$f" "$f.bak"
awk -v svc="$WS" '
  $0 ~ "^  " svc ":[ \t]*$" { skip=1; next }
  skip && (/^  [^ #]/ || /^[^ \t#]/) { skip=0 }
  !skip
' "$f" > "$f.tmp" && cat "$f.tmp" > "$f" && rm -f "$f.tmp"

Then make sure the default webserver isn't the one you removed. Check the Webserver option on the User Defaults page, or WEB_SERVER in /etc/openpanel/docker/compose/1.0/.env.

Option 3: Remove a webserver for existing users​

Existing users keep their own copy of docker-compose.yml, so the template change doesn't affect them.

1. Find users that use it​

WS=openresty
grep -l "^WEB_SERVER=\"\?$WS\"\?$" /home/*/.env | cut -d/ -f3

Leave the service in place for these users. Their websites stop working without it, and their webserver can only be changed after all their domains are removed.

2. Remove the service for everyone else​

This loops through all users, skips the ones that use the webserver, and checks that each file is still valid afterwards:

WS=openresty
for f in /home/*/docker-compose.yml; do
  u=$(basename "$(dirname "$f")")
  grep -q "^  $WS:" "$f" || continue
  if grep -q "^WEB_SERVER=\"\?$WS\"\?$" "/home/$u/.env"; then echo "$u: uses $WS, skipped"; continue; fi
  cp -p "$f" "$f.bak"
  awk -v svc="$WS" '
    $0 ~ "^  " svc ":[ \t]*$" { skip=1; next }
    skip && (/^  [^ #]/ || /^[^ \t#]/) { skip=0 }
    !skip
  ' "$f" > "$f.tmp" && cat "$f.tmp" > "$f" && rm -f "$f.tmp"
  (cd "/home/$u" && podman-compose config >/dev/null 2>&1) && echo "$u: OK" || { cp -p "$f.bak" "$f"; echo "$u: invalid config, restored backup"; }
done

Don't run opencli update --compose​

opencli update --compose replaces the whole docker-compose.yml template with the latest upstream version, which brings back every removed webserver. Existing users aren't affected. If you run it, compare the new template with the backup it saves at /etc/openpanel/docker/compose/1.0/docker-compose.yml.bak, and remove the webservers again.

To add a removed webserver back later, copy its service block from the upstream template.

Related​

• How to Remove Old PHP Versions
• How to set Apache, Nginx, OpenResty, OpenLiteSpeed or Varnish as the default webserver