Your container is an isolated Linux environment running nginx and PHP-FPM. It starts the moment your payment is confirmed — there is nothing to install.
The first three steps
1. Point your domain here
Open the Domains tab, add your domain, then set its A record at your DNS provider to the IP address shown on that page. DNS changes usually take a few minutes.
2. Upload your site
Your files belong in public_html. Use the Files tab in the panel, or connect over SFTP with the details on the container overview.
3. HTTPS turns itself on
Once DNS points at your container, a free certificate is issued automatically the first time someone visits over https. There is nothing to buy, upload or renew.
What is on each tab
- Overview — status, resource use, plan allowance, renewal date and your SFTP details.
- Files — browse, upload, edit, rename, compress and extract.
- Databases — create MySQL databases, each with its own user and password.
- Domains — add domains and check DNS and HTTPS at a glance.
- Git deploy — deploy from GitHub or GitLab with a button or on every push.
- PHP — switch version, change settings, enable extensions.
- Cron — scheduled commands.
- Terminal — a command line in your browser, as your site user, for WP-CLI, Composer, git or PHP scripts. It asks for your account password or 2FA code first.
- Logs — nginx access and error logs, and PHP errors.
- Backups — nightly automatic backups, plus restore and download.
- Usage — live CPU, memory, disk and bandwidth.
What Container Hosting is not
There is no SSH login to a shell; use the Terminal tab for commands. File transfer is over SFTP, with your SFTP password or an SSH key you add under Key login on the overview (keys work for SFTP only). For WordPress, use the WordPress card on the overview: it installs WordPress into an empty site in about a minute. Other applications are not installed for you. Container Hosting does not include mailboxes. Your site can still send email through an SMTP provider: see Sending Email from Your Website.