Installation & configuration

This page gets DNS Panel running: install dependencies, configure the environment, apply the database schema, and create the first admin user.

Requirements

• Node.js 20.9+ (required by Next.js 16)
• PostgreSQL — stores users, passkeys, passwords, zone permissions, and the audit log
• Technitium DNS Server with the web API enabled (default port 5380)
• A Technitium API token — create one under Administration → create API token

Install

Install dependencies from the project root:

npm install

Derive your environment file from the example, then fill in the values described below:

cp .env.example .env

Apply the database schema:

npm run db:migrate   # apply existing migrations
# or, for a quick local setup:
npm run db:push      # push the schema directly to the DB

Start the development server:

npm run dev

The panel is then available at http://localhost:3000.

Environment variables

* AUTH_SECRET is mandatory in production and whenever you run multiple replicas, otherwise cookies won't validate across instances. Generate a value with:

openssl rand -base64 48

RP_ID must equal the exact domain the panel is served on (no scheme, no port), and NEXTAUTH_URL must be the full origin of that domain. In production this origin must use https; http is only valid for localhost, because WebAuthn (passkeys) requires a secure context and will otherwise silently fail. For local development the defaults are RP_ID=localhost and NEXTAUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000.

Create the first admin

The panel has no seeded account. Create the first admin through the /setup route:

1. Open /setup in the browser.
2. Enter SETUP_SECRET, plus the admin email and name.
3. Log in, then under Settings register a passkey and/or set a password.

See Authentication & permissions for how passkeys, passwords, and roles work after this point.

npm scripts

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