Apps

The App installer puts a popular app on one of your websites in one click. It creates a database for each app that needs one, sets up the admin login you choose, and later updates the app with a backup first.

Where: Control Panel › Websites › Apps

Note: you need at least one domain first. Without one the screen shows Add a domain first and an Add domain button.

The catalogue

The apps are grouped by category. Each tile shows the app's name, the version that is installed, a short description and whether it Uses a database or needs No database.

Every download comes from the app's official release address, is pinned to an exact release and is checked against its SHA-256 before it is installed. An app whose download is not yet pinned to a checksum cannot be installed; its form says so. Your hosting company can hide apps from the catalogue (Apps catalogue).

Each app's page shows its Requirements (PHP version, Node.js version, database) and, under Install steps, what the installer does, in order — for example Download the release from its official address, Check its SHA-256 checksum, Create a new database, Unpack it into the chosen folder, Run the app's own installer with your admin login.

Install an app

1. Click the app's tile.
2. Fill in the form (see the table below).
3. Click Install app name, for example Install WordPress.
4. Watch the installation in the live window. When it is done, the message gives the site's address and the login.

The folder you install into must be empty. The HostFog placeholder page is removed for you.

Important: write down the admin password from the success message. It is not shown again.

How each kind of app is set up

Drupal and Laravel always go in a website's main folder: the project is created with Composer and its web/ (Drupal) or public/ (Laravel) folder becomes the website's root, so the rest of the project is never served. Leave Folder empty for them; the website's main folder must be empty.

PHP version

Each app needs a range of PHP versions. If the domain you chose uses a PHP version outside that range, the form says, for example, "Joomla 5.3.3 needs PHP 8.1–8.4; yourdomain.com uses PHP 7.4. Change it under PHP settings first." Change the version under PHP settings, then come back.

Installed apps

The Installed apps card lists every app you installed here:

Buttons on each row:

When you click an app's tile, the right-hand card Your app sites lists your installs of that app with their admin user and database.

Update an app

1. Click Check for updates to read the installed version of every app again. The message says "Checked: your apps are up to date." or how many updates are waiting.
2. On the app's row, click Dry run to see the plan. Nothing is changed.
3. Click Update and confirm.

A backup of the app's files and database is made first, and put back automatically if anything fails. The success message names the backup file in your backups folder.

Some updates are not done in one click. Hover over the version to see why:

Recent updates

The Recent updates card lists the last updates: the app, address, the versions (from → to), the Result (updated, failed — rolled back or failed), the Backup file and when.

Uninstall an app

1. On the app's row, click Uninstall.
2. Confirm.

A backup of the app's files and database is made first, in ~/backups/apps/ (for example joomla-yourdomain.com-cms-20261025-101500.tar.gz and .sql.gz); then the files and the database are deleted. The Recent updates card lists it as Uninstalled with the backup's name. If the backup can't be made, nothing is removed.

Tip: to stop listing an app but keep the site, use × (Remove) instead.

Note: Moodle keeps its data folder outside the website, in ~/moodledata/. Add a cron job for admin/cli/cron.php every minute on the Cron jobs page.

Related

• WordPress
• Staging
• PHP settings
• Domains