# Install DirectAdmin on AlmaLinux 9/10 and Debian 13: 2026 Guide

Source: https://srvscripts.com/guides/install-directadmin-almalinux-debian-13/
Updated: 2026-10-06
Publisher: srvScripts (https://srvscripts.com/)

DirectAdmin 1.711 (released 2026-09-22) ships as a single Go-based binary with the Evolution skin, and the installer has been streamlined to match. On a supported operating system the whole process is one script, an optional browser session on port 2222 and a CustomBuild run that compiles the web stack. What still catches people out is the preparation: DirectAdmin wants a genuinely empty server, a resolvable hostname and enough memory to build PHP without swapping itself to death.

In short: Start from a minimal AlmaLinux 9/10 or Debian 13 image with at least 4 GB of RAM and 4 GB of swap, set a fully qualified hostname, update and reboot, then run bash <(curl -fsSL https://download.directadmin.com/setup.sh) as root.

**Short answer:** Start from a minimal AlmaLinux 9/10 or Debian 13 image with at least 4 GB of RAM and 4 GB of swap, set a fully qualified hostname, update and reboot, then run `bash <(curl -fsSL https://download.directadmin.com/setup.sh)` as root. With no arguments it opens a web installer on port 2222 where you enter the license key and pick the stack; passing the key as the first argument runs the same install non-interactively with CustomBuild defaults. Afterwards, set the update channel and TLS with `da config-set`, install CSF through CustomBuild, and verify with `da version` and a test domain.

## Supported platforms and sizing

Modern licenses install on AlmaLinux 9 and 10 (RHEL 10-family support arrived in 1.677), Debian 12 and 13, and Ubuntu 22.04, 24.04 and, since 1.703, 26.04. Both amd64 and arm64 images are supported. The vendor minimum is 4 GB of RAM plus 4 GB of swap; on a 2 GB VPS the PHP build will fail or take hours, so treat the minimum as real.

Two platform-specific points matter before you pick an OS. AlmaLinux 10 has no rspamd packages in CustomBuild yet, so a fresh install there defaults to SpamAssassin; if Rspamd is a requirement, choose AlmaLinux 9 or Debian 13. AlmaLinux 10 also had CSF compile problems in late 2025 that have since been worked around, but check the current CSF fork notes before relying on it. Debian 13 is fully supported for modern licenses and is a sensible default for new deployments.

## Prepare the server

Start from a minimal OS image with nothing else installed. Any pre-existing Apache, MariaDB, Exim, Postfix or Sendmail package will block the installer or leave a half-configured service behind. Set a fully qualified hostname that is not one of the domains you will host, and make sure it resolves in public DNS:

```
hostnamectl set-hostname srv1.example-host.net
dnf -y update && reboot        # AlmaLinux
apt update && apt -y full-upgrade && reboot   # Debian
```

On AlmaLinux, DirectAdmin runs with SELinux disabled; the installer handles this, but a reboot after it is required so that the kernel picks up the change. Confirm swap exists with `swapon --show`, and create a swapfile if the image did not provide one.

If the server sits behind NAT or a cloud provider that assigns a private address to the interface, note the public IP now. The installer detects the interface address and you may need to correct the server IP in **Admin Level → IP Management** afterwards.

## Web installer or command line

Both routes run the same `setup.sh` script. Fetch and launch it as root:

```
bash