Running your own server

Connecting your own server changes the deal: TDesk manages the hosting services on it, but the machine itself is yours. This page is the honest division of labour.

What TDesk manages

• The services it deploys — web vhosts, mail, SSL certificates
• Configuration of those services via the agent
• The panel, DNS nameservers and control plane, as always

What you manage

• OS security updates and reboots — patch your box
• Disk space — a full disk stops mail and sites dead; watch it on the Monitoring page
• The hosting bill with your server provider
• Provider-level snapshots — if the machine dies, your provider's backups are what bring it back

Don't fight the agent

You have root, so you can do anything — but hand-editing configs TDesk manages, installing another control panel, or firewalling off the agent's connectivity will break the panel's management of the box. Changes made outside the panel to managed services may be overwritten by the next deploy. SSH in for your own software by all means; leave the managed services to the panel.

If you disconnect or are suspended

Removing the server from Nodes (or account suspension) stops the panel managing it — nothing on the machine is deleted, and your data stays yours, on your hardware. Services keep running as last configured; they just stop being managed.

When something breaks

If a panel action fails on your server, check the basics first: is the box up, is the disk full, is the agent able to reach out? Then email support@tdesk.uk — we can see the agent's side and will tell you straight whether it's ours or yours.