NetServa 3.0 — now available

Your entire fleet,
one predictable system

Database-first infrastructure management for web, mail, and DNS hosting. One layout, one SSH connection, hundreds of servers — built on best-in-class open source.

admin@workstation — ~/.ns
# one command, fully provisioned vhost addvconf example.com ✓ 55 variables initialised · passwords generated ✓ nginx + php-fpm + mail + dns + ssl configured shvconf example.com ✓ /srv/example.com ready in 4.2s
55Config variables per vhost
6Hierarchy levels
100%SSH-native, agentless
1File per service config
Capabilities

Everything a hosting fleet needs

Complete infrastructure management with database-first configuration and centralized control from your workstation.

Database-First Configuration

Every vhost lives in a normalized vconfs table — 55 standard variables, no scattered config files, no drift between servers.

Domain-Based Layout

Each domain isolated under /srv/domain.com/ — web, mail, logs and user data in one predictable structure on every host.

Centralized Management

Run your whole fleet from a single ~/.ns/ workspace — web admin interface plus a comprehensive CLI for every operation.

SSH-Native Execution

No agents to install or babysit. Clean script-based remote execution with proper error handling and full logging over plain SSH.

Per-Domain User Isolation

Each domain gets its own system user with SSH chroot — complete separation for security, quotas and accountability.

Single-File Service Configs

One dovecot.conf, variable-driven nginx vhosts, shared PHP-FPM pools — radically simpler than 50-file conf.d sprawl.

Production Mail Stack

Postfix + Dovecot + Rspamd, wired together correctly: spam filtering, DKIM signing, sieve filtering and automated mailbox management.

PowerDNS Integration

Authoritative DNS with a SQL backend, API-driven record management, DNSSEC support and automated zone provisioning.

Automated SSL/TLS

Let's Encrypt via acme.sh — issuance, deployment and renewal handled end-to-end, including DNS-01 wildcards.

Architecture

The six-level hierarchy

Every piece of infrastructure has exactly one place — from the data centre down to the individual mailbox.

1vsiteLocation + provider — where it physically lives
2vcellCluster or logical group of servers
3vservHost server running VMs and containers
4vnodeThe VM, container or endpoint you SSH into
5vhostDomain or service hosted on that node
6vuserAccount or identity within that domain
~/.ns/syd1/c01/h1/web1/example.com/admin
Why NetServa

Database-first vs file sprawl

A modern, normalized approach against decades of scattered ad-hoc configuration.

Concern
Traditional Linux
NetServa 3.0
Configuration storage
Scattered across /etc
Database — one vconfs table
Web root
/var/www/html
/srv/domain.com/web/app/public
Mail storage
/var/vmail
/srv/domain.com/msg
Dovecot config
50+ files in conf.d/
One dovecot.conf
Fleet management
Per-server scripts
Centralized from ~/.ns/
User isolation
Shared www-data
SSH chroot per domain
Stack

Built on proven open source

Best-in-class components, assembled with conventions that make them behave as one system.

Debian Alpine Linux Nginx PHP-FPM 8.4 MariaDB SQLite Postfix Dovecot 2.4 Rspamd PowerDNS acme.sh Incus / LXD Proxmox VE OpenSSH
Quick start

Running in minutes

Clone, install, migrate — then manage your first vhost.

install — netserva 3.0
# clone the repository git clone https://github.com/markc/ns ~/.ns && cd ~/.ns # install dependencies and initialise composer install php artisan key:generate && php artisan migrate # start the admin interface php artisan serve

shvconf example.com

Show all 55 configuration variables for a vhost — shell, JSON or table output.

addvconf example.com

Provision a new vhost: 55 variables initialised with auto-generated credentials.

chvconf example.com V_PHP 8.4

Change any single configuration variable and propagate it to the live host.

Use cases

Who runs NetServa

From a single self-hosted box to fleets serving hundreds of customers.

Hosting Providers

Hundreds of vhosts with automated provisioning — built for shared hosting and reseller models.

Managed Service Providers

Consistent service across diverse client infrastructure with one unified management plane.

DevOps Teams

Identical environments from development to production, container-native on Incus or Proxmox.

Self-Hosters

Own your email, web and DNS on your own hardware — with conventions that scale down gracefully.