🚀 Deploy Poweradmin to Manage PowerDNS on Ubuntu VPS

This article demonstrates how to deploy Poweradmin to manage PowerDNS on Ubuntu VPS server.

What is Poweradmin?

Poweradmin is a free, open-source web-based control panel for managing DNS zones and records on a PowerDNS server.
Key attributes:

• Works with PowerDNS’s SQL-backed setup (zones stored in a database) rather than purely text-zone files.
• Licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3 (GPLv3).
• Written in PHP and designed for administrators who want a GUI for DNS management rather than editing zone files manually.

Core features

Here are the main capabilities of Poweradmin:

• Support for different zone types: master, native, and slave zones.
• IPv6 support (not just IPv4).
• Multi-language interface (translations available).
• Ability to handle reverse DNS records (PTR) and DNSSEC operations.
• LDAP authentication support (so you can integrate with directory services).
• CRUD (create, read, update, delete) operations for zones and records via web browser rather than command line or raw zone‐file editing.

Typical use-cases

• A web hosting company or ISP using PowerDNS for authoritative DNS and wanting a simpler GUI for their staff or clients.
• An enterprise internal DNS setup where non‐DNS-expert staff need to add or update records without shell access.
• Environments where ease of administration and reducing errors (via a GUI) are more important than only command-line operation.

System requirements & architecture

Poweradmin requires:

• A PowerDNS server configured with a suitable backend (MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc.) since it interacts with DNS data stored in a database.
• A web server (Apache, Nginx) and PHP environment (for the PHP version).
• Database connection access to the PowerDNS backend (or appropriate API) so it can read/write zone/record data.
• Optionally, when used with the PowerDNS API (for advanced features like DNSSEC, etc) the API must be enabled on the PowerDNS side.

Limitations & things to check

• Since it’s a GUI, for very large / complex DNS infrastructures you’ll want to verify scalability and performance (especially large numbers of zones & records).
• Because it integrates with the DNS backend via SQL or API, security is important: ensure the web interface is secured (HTTPS, strong passwords, proper access controls).
• The project has been around a while; check activity and compatibility with the version of PowerDNS and backend databases you are using.
• It is independent of the core PowerDNS project — a disclaimer in the documentation says it “is not associated with PowerDNS.com … or any other external parties.”

Why use it

• Speeds up DNS administration tasks (adding zones/records) compared to editing zone files and re-loading the DNS server.
• Reduces risk of syntax errors that occur when manually editing zone files.
• Makes DNS management more accessible to non-DNS specialists via a friendly UI.
• Helps in environments with delegated administration: you can give certain users limited access to only certain zones.

🧭 How to Deploy Poweradmin to Manage PowerDNS on Ubuntu VPS

This guide is tailored for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy) on a VPS with root or sudo privileges.

It sets up PowerDNS (authoritative) with a MariaDB backend and Poweradmin web interface secured via HTTPS.

1. 🔧 System Preparation

   1. Update and install essentials

      sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y sudo apt install curl wget vim git unzip ufw -y

   2. Enable firewall

      Allow only SSH + HTTP/HTTPS for web access:

      sudo ufw allow OpenSSH sudo ufw allow 80/tcp sudo ufw allow 443/tcp sudo ufw enable

2. 🗃️ Install and Configure MariaDB

   sudo apt install mariadb-server -y
   sudo systemctl enable --now mariadb
   sudo mysql_secure_installation
   

   When prompted, set a strong root password and remove anonymous/test users.

   • Create PowerDNS database and user

     sudo mysql -u root -p

     Then run:

     CREATE DATABASE powerdns; CREATE USER 'pdns'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPass123!'; GRANT ALL ON powerdns.* TO 'pdns'@'localhost'; FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;

3. 🌀 Install PowerDNS with MySQL Backend

   sudo apt install pdns-server pdns-backend-mysql -y
   

   • Configure PowerDNS to use MariaDB backend

     Create file:

     sudo nano /etc/powerdns/pdns.d/pdns.local.gmysql.conf

     Add:

     launch+=gmysql gmysql-host=127.0.0.1 gmysql-dbname=powerdns gmysql-user=pdns gmysql-password=StrongPass123! gmysql-dnssec=yes

   • Import schema

     sudo mysql -u root -p powerdns < /usr/share/pdns-backend-mysql/schema/schema.mysql.sql

     Restart and enable PowerDNS:

     sudo systemctl restart pdns sudo systemctl enable pdns sudo systemctl status pdns

4. 🧩 Enable PowerDNS API (for PowerAdmin)

   Edit main config:

   sudo nano /etc/powerdns/pdns.conf

   Add/ensure:

   api=yes api-key=SuperSecretAPIKey! webserver=yes webserver-address=127.0.0.1 webserver-port=8081

   Restart service:

   sudo systemctl restart pdns

5. 🌐 Install Apache + PHP

   Poweradmin is a PHP web app. Install:

   sudo apt install apache2 libapache2-mod-php php php-mysql php-gd php-intl php-xml php-curl php-gettext -y sudo systemctl enable --now apache2

6. 🧰 Install Poweradmin

   1. Download and extract

      cd /var/www/html sudo wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/poweradmin/files/poweradmin-2.1.9.tgz sudo tar xvf poweradmin-2.1.9.tgz sudo mv poweradmin-2.1.9 poweradmin sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/poweradmin

   2. Visit installer

      In your browser:

      http://YOUR_SERVER_IP/poweradmin/install/
      

      Fill the form:

      • Database type: MySQL
      • DB name: powerdns
      • DB user: pdns
      • Password: StrongPass123!
      • Host: localhost
      • PowerDNS host: localhost
      • API key: SuperSecretAPIKey!

      Finish installation → it will generate /var/www/html/poweradmin/inc/config.inc.php.

7. 🔒 Secure Poweradmin

   After installation:

   sudo rm -rf /var/www/html/poweradmin/install

   Then set permissions:

   sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/poweradmin sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/poweradmin

8. 🔐 Enable HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt

   Install Certbot:

   sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y

   Issue certificate:

   sudo certbot --apache -d yourdomain.com -m you@example.com --agree-tos --redirect

   Automatically renew:

   sudo systemctl enable certbot.timer

9. 🧱 Verify and Test

   Check services:

   sudo systemctl status pdns sudo systemctl status apache2 sudo ss -tulpn | grep ':53\|:80\|:443'

   From your browser, go to:

   https://yourdomain.com/poweradmin/

   Log in → Create your first DNS zone (e.g., example.com) → Add A, MX, CNAME, TXT records.

   Verify via:

   dig example.com @127.0.0.1

10. 🛡️ Firewall & Security Hardening

    sudo ufw allow 53/tcp sudo ufw allow 53/udp sudo ufw reload

    Optional: restrict PowerDNS API port:

    sudo ufw deny 8081 sudo ufw allow from 127.0.0.1 to any port 8081

🧩 Optional Enhancements

• Enable DNSSEC
  In /etc/powerdns/pdns.d/pdns.local.gmysql.conf ensure gmysql-dnssec=yes.
  Poweradmin supports enabling DNSSEC in zone settings.
• Remote Poweradmin
  If Poweradmin runs on a different VPS, adjust:

  gmysql-host=IP_OF_DB_SERVER webserver-address=0.0.0.0 webserver-allow-from=PowerAdmin_IP

  Then allow port 8081 in firewall.

• Backups

  mysqldump -u root -p powerdns > /root/pdns-backup.sql

✅ Final Result

You now have:

• PowerDNS authoritative nameserver using MariaDB backend
• Poweradmin web UI over HTTPS for zone management
• Secure firewall and API configuration

You can now easily manage domains, add/edit DNS records, and enable DNSSEC—all via browser.

Conclusion

You now know how to deploy Poweradmin to manage PowerDNS on Ubuntu VPS.