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Version 1.681 ​

Released: 2025-08-11

Web-based installer for DirectAdmin new ​

The DirectAdmin install script has a new option to enable the experimental web-based installer. The web installer mode can be enabled by setting the DA_WEB_INSTALL=yes environment variable before starting the DirectAdmin install script.

In the web installer mode the install script prints a URL to continue installation using a web browser. The web interface allows:

  • Entering the licence key for DirectAdmin.
  • Changing the default administrator account username and email.
  • Changing server host name.
  • Setting different default nameserver addresses.
  • Checking the auto-generated administrator account password.
  • After the initial install is finished, automatic log-in to the main DirectAdmin web interface is performed.

Step 1

Installer - Step 1

Step 2

Installer - Step 2

Step 3

Installer - Step 3

The web installer is a standalone tool that can be started even after DirectAdmin is already installed. Command da web-install will start it.

New Plugins page in Evolution skin evolutionupdate ​

The plugins in the Evolution skin used to have two different modes:

  • Plugin contents are shown inside the Evolution page.
  • Plugin contents are shown in a new window like a separate application.

With this release, plugin pages inside Evolution use a minimal layout (similar to the File Manager page). This allows plugin contents to span the whole browser screen.

Key benefits of the new layout:

  • Plugins can use much more horizontal and vertical space. The Evolution skin renders only a small top header with action buttons to return back or to change an active domain.
  • The Plugin window will look the same in all Evolution layouts (Classic, Icons Grid, Sidebar, and Refreshed). It makes it much easier for plugin developers to make sure their plugin page will look good in all layouts. There is no need to test all the different layouts.
  • Plugins that used to be opened in a new tab or window can be reconfigured to use the same Evolution window without having to change the style or layout of the plugin page. Opening in the same window allows users to easily navigate back and provides an integrated domain selector. There is no need to create the domain selector inside the plugin page.
  • The new plugin page layout no longer needs a workaround for dynamically computing page height. This means the contents of a plugin can change the page height without breaking the vertical scroll bar.

Example of the new plugin layout:

Evolution plugin page

Notes for plugin developers:

  • Make sure plugin URLs (in menu hook files and in pluggable menus) always use relative URLs that start with /CMD_PLUGINS, /CMD_PLUGINS_RESELLER, or /CMD_PLUGINS_ADMIN. The URL should NOT start with /evo/....
  • If your plugin menu hooks have target=_blank attribute (it forces the plugin menu item to be opened in a new window), consider removing it and testing how the plugin contents would look with the new plugin layout.
  • If your custom pluggable menu JSON uses a newTab: true attributes, consider removing it to open plugin links in the same window.

Links to open external web applications (like phpMyAdmin, RoundCube, or SquirrelMail) will be only available on the User access level menu. Duplicate entries in the Admin level and Reseller level menus are removed.

This change makes a cleaner separation between actions available on different access levels.

Login customizations page works similarly to the logo customizations page evolutionupdate ​

Within login customizations page (found under Admin Level -> Admin Tools -> Customize Evolution Skin -> Login Page), the image upload process has been updated to work the same way as it does in logo customizations page.

Menu customizations page now supports direct icon uploads evolutionupdate ​

Previously, to use a custom icon for a menu entry, it had to be uploaded via the icons upload page (located in reseller or admin tools -> Customize Evolution Skin -> Icons).
The id associated with the icon would then have to be copy & pasted into the "icon" input field when creating or editing a menu entry. Now, you can upload icons directly when creating or editing a menu entry.

Important to note:

  • Menu customizations are now limited to 2 MiB in size. If there are many complex icons, the limit may be exceeded and a warning shown. To continue customizing the menu, replace or remove larger icons to stay within the limit.
  • The icons upload page is scheduled for removal in one of the upcoming releases.

Sender address spoofing protection update ​

The sender address spoofing protection in Exim is improved. Key changes:

  • Authenticating with UNIX user credentials will no longer allow impersonating domains that user does not own. SMTP sessions with UNIX user authentication will be allowed to send only from:
    • Any mailbox from any domain that is owned by the UNIX user.
    • Default UNIX account on the server host name.
  • Sending with an empty (NULL sender) address will be allowed for all authenticated users. The empty sender can be used by email client software (MUA) to send out notifications that the email was read (Message Disposition Notification RFC8098).

Software version changes custombuildupdate ​

  • litespeed updated from 6.3.3-2 to 6.3.4-1
  • MariaDB 10.11 updated from 10.11.13 to 10.11.14
  • MariaDB 10.6 updated from 10.6.22 to 10.6.23
  • MariaDB 11.4 updated from 11.4.7 to 11.4.8
  • mcrypt (PHP extension) updated from 1.0.7 to 1.0.9
  • modsecurity_owasp_rules updated from 4.16.0 to 4.17.1
  • modsecurity updated from 2.9.11 to 2.9.12
  • MySQL 8.0 updated from 8.0.42 to 8.0.43
  • MySQL 8.4 updated from 8.4.5 to 8.4.6
  • openlitespeed updated from 1.8.3.1 to 1.8.4
  • PHP 8.3 updated from 8.3.23 to 8.3.24
  • PHP 8.4 updated from 8.4.10 to 8.4.11
  • redis updated from 8.0.3 to 8.2.0
  • yaml (PHP extension) updated from 2.2.4 to 2.2.5

Reseller saw admin menu customizations as its own evolutionfix ​

Within reseller's menu customizations page (located in reseller level -> Reseller Tools -> Customize Evolution Skin -> Menu), the customizations of the admin user who created the reseller are no longer visible. Note that admin's customizations are still applied to reseller's menu structure if the reseller has no customizations of its own.

External/internal menu customization selection was not respected evolutionfix ​

When creating a menu entry (located in Customize Evolution Skin -> Menu page), it was possible that entries which were created as "External" (means link should be opened in a new tab) would be treated as "Internal" ones (means link should be opened in the same tab) and vice versa.

Excessive callouts on multiple recipient failure fix ​

After processing more than three failed recipients in a single SMTP transaction, the Exim server used to enable an additional recipient validation step with a callout to a remote servers before rejecting to process the email. This extra check could cause unexpected resource usage if the local mail server receives an attack.

The surplus recipient check is removed. If a single transaction has more than three failed recipients, it will be terminated immediately.

Removed ability to use icons not uploaded through the icon upload page evolutionremoval ​

Menu entries that were customized to use icons which were not uploaded via the icon upload page
(reseller or admin level -> Admin or Reseller Tools -> Customize Evolution Skin -> Icons)
will now revert to their default icons.

This has the following consequences:

  1. If a pre-existing menu entry (e.g., "Domain Setup") was customized to use an icon from the default Evolution set
    (icons bundled with Evolution, e.g., "subdomain-management"), it will now display the icon associated by default with the entry
  2. If a custom menu entry used an icon ID that wasn’t uploaded via the icon upload page, it will now have no icon.

If a menu entry previously used an icon from an external URL and you want to keep it, the URL can still be found in: /usr/local/directadmin/data/users/${exampleuser}/skin_customizations/evolution/files/menu-v3.json. To reapply it, use the newly added feature for editing icons within menu customizations page.

Removed route customization for default menu entries evolutionremoval ​

It is no longer possible to alter the path to which one of the default menu entries point to.