HF PanelHF Server (desktop app)
HF Server is the free desktop app for building websites on your own computer, on Windows, macOS and Linux.
HF Server is a free desktop app that runs a complete local web server on your own computer: Apache or Nginx, PHP, MariaDB (MySQL), and optionally PostgreSQL, Redis and Node.js. You build and test websites locally, then share them with a public link through HF Tunnel.
It runs on Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit), macOS 11 or newer (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Linux (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora and others; x86-64 and ARM).
What it does
| Page | What it does |
|---|---|
| Control panel | start and stop Apache, Nginx, MySQL, PostgreSQL and Redis; see ports, memory and the activity log |
| Sites | every folder in htdocs is a site at name.localhost; WordPress, Laravel and JavaScript projects are recognised |
| New site | WordPress, Laravel, Symfony, React, Next.js, Vue and more in one click |
| Databases | create, back up, import and browse databases; daily backups |
| Tunnel | give a site a free public https:// link |
| catch every email your sites send; write test emails | |
| Logs | live server logs |
| PHP | common php.ini settings and extensions |
| Components | install, update and switch versions of every server |
| Ports | which programs use which ports |
| Settings | ports, HTTPS, start-up, backups, outgoing mail and updates |
There is also a terminal command, hostfog, for everything above: see Command line.
Note: HF Server is for building websites on your own computer. Everything listens only on this computer (127.0.0.1) unless you allow other devices on your network. For live websites, use an HF Panel server.
Get started
- Install HF Server.
- Open Components and click Install everything missing.
- Open Control panel and click Start all.
- Put your website in the
htdocsfolder, or click New site on the Sites page.