Domain Manager is a lightweight CLI tool written in Go to help you self-host multiple PHP-based websites — especially WordPress or Laravel — using per-domain php-fpm containers, backed by Docker or Podman. It's designed for a simplified setup where nginx and MySQL run directly on the host, and each site gets its own isolated PHP runtime. The tool automates all scaffolding: directory layout, container config, MySQL database creation, and nginx integration. Ideal for developers who want to self-host multiple sites with minimal overhead, full control, and no panel bloat.
Traditional hosting panels are heavy, opinionated, and often come with licensing costs, background services, and bundled features you may never use. domain-manager is built for developers and sysadmins who want:
- 🧱 Full control — No hidden automation or black-box behavior
- 🐧 Linux-native — Works seamlessly with your system's users, files, and firewalls
- 🐳 Container-based isolation — Each site runs its own PHP-FPM container for clean separation
- 🔍 Transparent configuration — Every file (nginx, Docker, MySQL) is visible and editable
- 📦 DevOps-friendly — Easily integrates with GitOps, systemd, and shell automation
domain-manager is ideal for minimal, scalable, modern PHP hosting — no control panel bloat required.
- 🔧 Per-domain
php-fpmcontainer generation (Doc 8715 ker/Podman) - 📂 Mount WordPress files from
/data/websites/{domain} - 🐧 Creates isolated Unix system user per domain
- 🐬 MySQL database provisioning with namespaced DBs (e.g.
example_com_main) - 🔑 Auto-generated secure MySQL passwords (displayed once)
- 🔌 nginx configuration with FastCGI routing
- ⚙️ Configurable via
config.yaml(powered byspf13/viper) - 📋 Domain and DB state tracking with
storm(BoltDB wrapper) - 🧪 Lifecycle commands:
add,list,info,delete - 🚀 Supports
--runtime,--force,--no-up,--no-reloadflags
- Go 1.20+
- Podman or Docker
- nginx installed and running on the host
- MySQL server running on the host
- Directory structure:
/data/websites/{domain}
To keep your setup lean, Domain Manager assumes that MySQL is running on the host, not in a container. For maximum compatibility and long-term support, we recommend using Percona Server for [MySQL 8.4 LTS][https://www.percona.com/software/mysql-database/percona-server-for-mysql], a drop-in replacement for MySQL with extended support and observability features.
Here's how to install it on RHEL-based systems (e.g. AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux):
dnf install https://repo.percona.com/yum/percona-release-latest.noarch.rpm
percona-release enable pdps-84-lts
dnf install percona-server-server percona-server-client
# Disable telemetry
systemctl stop percona-telemetry-agent
systemctl mask percona-telemetry-agent
systemctl enable --now mysqld
Make sure that you
CREATE USER 'root'@'127.0.0.1' IDENTIFIED BY ')AS8SDA(sgd89a98';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'root'@'127.0.0.1' WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
Add the SFTP config from system-config/sshd_config to /etc/sshd_config to ensure that users are jailed to jailhomes.
Either give users access to SFTP with a password using passwd <user> (not recommended) or set them up with an SSH key.
git clone https://github.com/timgws/domain-manager.git
cd domain-manager
go build -o domain-manager .# List all of the domains that we are managing
./domain-manager list
# Add, find info, and delete domains
./domain-manager add example.com
./domain-manager info example.com
./domain-manager delete example.com
# Manage MySQL databases
./domain-manager mysql create example.com example_db_name
./domain-manager mysql list example.com --stats--runtime docker|podman— override container runtime--force— recreate existing container (runs down before up)--no-up— skip container startup--no-reload— skip nginx reload
nginxserves static files and proxies.phprequests to host-mapped container portsPHP-FPMruns per-site in containers- MySQL is shared across all sites
/opt/domain-manager/docker/example.com/
├── Dockerfile (from template)
└── docker-compose.yaml
/etc/nginx/conf.d/example-com.conf
/data/websites/example.com/
MIT License — use it, modify it, fork it.