Documentation / Server Administration

Server Administration

Luminal CMS includes enterprise-grade server management tools for domains, SSL, backups, automated updates, and multi-site deployment.

Domains Manager

Manage Apache virtual hosts and SSL certificates from the admin panel.

Adding a Domain

  1. Open Domains Manager from the Server Tools section.
  2. Click Add Domain.
  3. Enter the domain name.
  4. The system creates the Apache virtual host configuration, log directories, and site document root.

SSL Certificates

  1. Click SSL on the domain row.
  2. The SSL modal shows available subdomains with DNS status.
  3. Select which subdomains to include (subdomains without DNS are auto-excluded).
  4. Click Install SSL to run Let's Encrypt certbot.

Tip: The smart subdomain probing checks DNS for each subdomain before including it in the certbot command, preventing failures when www or other subdomains are not configured.

Backup System

Luminal has two backup layers:

Per-Site Backups (ServerBackupsManager)

  • Create backups of individual sites (app, data, and/or media).
  • Download backups from the admin panel.
  • Restore from backup snapshots.
  • Stored in /var/www/backups/{domain}/.

System Backups (CronManager)

  • Automated daily backups of all sites using Grandfather-Father-Son rotation.
  • Three tiers: DAILY (3 retained), WEEKLY (2 retained), MONTHLY (2 retained).
  • Managed via the CronManager module.
  • Stored in /var/www/backups/{DAILY,WEEKLY,MONTHLY}/.
  • Media excluded from automated cron runs — only app and data are backed up automatically. Media backups are manual-only via the backup modal.
  • App deduplication — sites whose app code matches the canonical build (routineinstall.com) receive lightweight .stub files instead of full tars, dramatically reducing storage.
  • Pre-flight disk check — before running, the cron estimates required space, auto-clears previous DAILY if needed, and writes a warning file (.backup-warnings.json) if space is still tight.

Rollback Snapshots

Before each deployment push, a rollback snapshot is created in /var/www/DEPLOY/ROLLBACK/{domain}/{timestamp}/. Up to 3 snapshots are retained per site. Rollback from the Deployment Manager UI.

Cron Manager

Manage automated schedules for updates and backups:

  • Update Cron — Configure when each site checks for CMS updates.
  • Backup Cron — Configure daily system backup schedule.
  • Stagger sites by configurable minutes to avoid load spikes.
  • Schedules: hourly, 6h, 12h, daily (default, staggered around 3 AM).
  • Backup scoreboard — tier cards (DAILY/WEEKLY/MONTHLY/TOTAL) show file counts, sizes, and domain breakdown. Click a tier to drill down to per-domain backup file listings.
  • Per-site storage cards — each site shows backup count, total size, and D/W/M tier badges in the header.
  • Backup warning widget — the admin rail shows a red pulsing indicator if disk space is low or the last backup run failed.

Update Manager

Each Luminal CMS site has a built-in update system:

  • Checks for new versions on the configured deploy server.
  • Pulls updates automatically when a newer version is available.
  • Configurable: enable/disable, check interval, auto-update toggle.
  • Configuration in admin/data/update-config.json.
  • Version tracking in admin/data/cms-version.json.

Farmout Manager

The hub-and-spoke deployment system for managing multiple sites (server-only module on the primary server):

How It Works

  1. Code changes are made on the dev server (routineinstall.com).
  2. Changes are rsynced to /var/www/DEPLOY/SRC/ (the canonical source).
  3. safe-deploy.sh pushes the source to all local sites via rsync.
  4. Remote sites auto-pull updates via their Update Manager cron.

Key Features

  • Push to all sites or individual sites.
  • Dry-run preview before deployment.
  • Automatic version stamping on all deployed sites.
  • Rollback capability (3 snapshots per site).
  • Site registry with enable/disable flags.

Important: Deployments only ADD and UPDATE files. They never delete. When removing a module, you must manually rm -rf the directory on all sites.

Vstats Analytics

Built-in analytics tracking without third-party dependencies:

  • Tracks visitors, pageviews, and downloads.
  • Dashboard widget with multiple display styles.
  • Central API on the primary server aggregates data from all sites.
  • Embed on public pages:
    Site Stats
    0Visitors (7d)
    0Page Views (7d)
    Updated Just now
    .

All analytics data stays on your server — no data sent to external services.

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