Mini Bucket — Universal Web Panel for NAS & Server Infrastructure
Mini Bucket (Mini-B) is a full-featured web control panel that turns any Linux host into a manageable network-attached storage (NAS) and server platform. All administration is done through the browser — no command line knowledge required.
🔄 Key advantage — built-in support for distributed infrastructure. You can switch between multiple servers directly from one browser tab, without re-entering passwords on each node. Perfect for managing server farms, clusters, or just several home machines.
Main Functional Modules
1. Live Dashboard
- CPU (total + per-core), RAM, Load Average graphs
- CPU temperature (if available)
- Real-time network traffic and disk I/O
- SMART status: temperature, errors, failure prediction
- RAID and LVM status, all mount points
2. Dual-Panel File Manager
- Two independent panels for copy/move operations
- Background operations with progress indicator and cancel option
- Archive creation
- Permission management: chmod + extended ACLs
- Download entire folders as .tar without prior archiving
3. Disk, RAID & LVM Management
- Disk initialization (GPT/MBR), partition creation/deletion
- RAID management: levels 0,1,5,6,10, LINEAR, hot-spare disks, scrub operation
- LVM: PV/VG/LV creation, extend, reduce, snapshots
- Flexible mounting: local partitions, RAID arrays, LVM volumes, SMB/CIFS, NFS
4. System Monitor & Diagnostics
- One-click diagnostic tools: ping, traceroute, netstat, port scanner, DNS lookup, Speedtest
- Process and systemd service management
- System logs with filtering, search, and export
5. Web Console (SSH via Browser)
- Full shell access directly from the web interface
- Convenient for quick edits, script execution, debugging
6. Cron Scheduler
- CRUD operations with tasks
- Flexible scheduling
- Quick presets (every hour, daily, on boot, etc.)
- Next run preview
- Logging and manual execution
7. User Manager
- Panel users
- Linux system users
- OS group management
- Password generator with strength indicator
8. Sharing Services (enable/disable & configure)
- FTP (vsftpd) — directories, SSL/TLS, speed/connection limits
- NFS — exports, clients, statistics
- SMB/CIFS (Samba) — users, shared folders, active sessions
- Rsync — daemon, modules, users, access lists
9. Firewall (UFW)
- Enable/disable, view status and rules
- CRUD operations + search & filter
- Preset rules: SSH, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, MySQL, PostgreSQL
- IP blocking, colored UFW logs
10. System Manager
- Service management: NFS, SMB, Rsync, FTP, SSH, Apache2, UFW, NTP
- Power Management: reboot, shutdown
- Date/Time: timezone, NTP servers
- Network: hostname, DHCP/static IP, DNS
11. System Checker (“Check All / Fix All”)
- Automatic diagnostics by categories: packages, services, permissions, config files, firewall, network
- “Fix All” button for common issues
12. Key Rotation System (for Distributed Systems)
- Dynamic API keys — automatic rotation with zero downtime
- Cascading rotation — new key automatically propagates to all connected servers
- Unlimited nesting — master/slave hierarchies of any depth
- Graceful rotation — old key stays active until new key is confirmed
- Fault tolerance — exponential backoff retries
Technical Requirements & Compatibility
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Target OS | Debian 9 (stretch) |
| Required PHP version | 7.0 |
| Other OS support | Works on other Debian/Ubuntu versions, but in-depth testing not performed |
| Web server | Apache2 / Nginx (any with PHP support) |
| Resources | Minimum: 128 MB RAM, 1 GB disk. Comfortable: from 512 MB RAM |
| Hardware access | Direct disk access (not via virtualization) required for RAID/SMART functions |
⚠️ Important: The panel may work on newer Debian/Ubuntu versions and PHP 7.1+, but Debian 9 / PHP 7.0 is recommended for guaranteed stability.
Typical Use Cases
- Home file server + cloud — install on a desktop PC or Raspberry Pi. Access from anywhere (with VPN/port forwarding).
- Office NAS for 5–20 employees — shared folders via Samba with access control. Daily LVM snapshots + Rsync.
- Server cluster management — one Mini Bucket master and multiple slaves. Single entry point for monitoring, key rotation, remote diagnostics.
- Homelab / production emulation — test backups, RAID builds, LVM migrations via web interface without risk.
- Backup server — configure rsync daemon with authentication. Automatic backup rotation via cron.
How to Get Started
https://mini-bucket.ru/wiki/knowledge-base/installation/installation
License & Support
- Status: Actively developing project
- Documentation: https://mini-bucket.ru/wiki/
- Support channels: https://mini-bucket.ru/community/
- Bug reports: https://mini-bucket.ru/community/
- License: https://mini-bucket.ru/license/
Post date: 01.06.2026