What CloudPilot is
CloudPilot is a control panel for servers you already own. You point it at a machine you can SSH into — a VPS, a dedicated box, something in your own rack — and from then on you can deploy to it, watch it, and fix it from a browser.
It is not a host. CloudPilot never takes ownership of your server, and nothing it does is hidden from you: the agent is a single binary, the files it writes live in ordinary directories, and you keep your root access throughout.
What you can do with it#
| Servers | Connect a machine, watch CPU/memory/disk, manage services and Docker containers, open a real shell in the browser. |
| Projects | Deploy Node, Express, Laravel, Docker or plain static sites; roll back to any earlier release. |
| Domains | Point a domain at a project and issue an SSL certificate for it. |
| Databases | Create databases and users on the server without memorising client syntax. |
| Access | Invite people, give them a role, and scope them to specific servers. |
| Staying up | Uptime checks, resource alerts, off-site backups, and a public status page. |
What it is not#
- Not a replacement for knowing your server. CloudPilot makes the common operations safe and repeatable. It does not stop you from breaking things that it does not manage.
- Not a lock-in. Remove the agent and the server keeps running exactly as it was. Your projects stay where they were deployed.
- Not a backup service by default. Off-site backups are something you configure, pointed at storage you control. See Off-site backups.
The pieces#
CloudPilot has three parts, and it helps to know which is which when something goes wrong:
- The panel — the web app at
cloudpilot.in. This is what you click. - The API — the service the panel talks to. It holds your accounts, projects, permissions and audit history.
- The agent — a small binary running on each of your servers. It reports metrics and carries out the instructions the API sends it. See How the agent works.
If the panel is unreachable, your servers and the sites on them keep serving traffic. The agent does not proxy your users' requests; it only manages the machine.
Next#
New here? In this order:
- Creating your account
- Core concepts — organisation, server, project, release, agent
- Quickstart — connect a server and deploy something
- Reading the dashboard
Already set up? Connecting a server covers the two methods in detail, and the glossary defines anything unfamiliar.
Raise a ticket and someone will pick it up. Sign in with the same account you use for the panel.
Raise a ticket