It automates the deployment process, so containers are created, configured, and assigned to clients instantly upon purchase.
Clients can control their containers directly from the WHMCS client area, including start, stop, restart actions, viewing logs, accessing the console, and more.
You can also enable "App Templates" to let clients reinstall their stack using predefined configurations.

We will guide you step by step through the whole installation and configuration process.

The content of the package to upload should look like this.

The file is located in 'modules/addons/PortainerDockerContainers/license_RENAME.php'. Rename it from 'license_RENAME.php' to 'license.php'.

Enter your license key between quotation marks as presented on the following screen. You can find your license key in our client area → 'My Products'.

This folder is available at '/yourWHMCS/modules/addons/PortainerDockerContainers/'.
Note: It is needed for the Media Library to store uploaded images safely.

Log in to your WHMCS admin area. Go to 'System Settings' → 'Addon Modules'. Afterwards, find 'Portainer Docker Containers' and press the 'Activate' button.

To do so, click on the 'Configure' button, tick 'Full Administrator' and press 'Save Changes'.

You can access your module under 'Addons' → 'Portainer Docker Containers'.
Read the guide provided on the 'Dashboard' or continue with this documentation.

In the Server Details section:

• Set Module to 'Portainer Docker Containers'
• Enter your Portainer API key in the Password field (use an admin account token).
• Click Test Connection to ensure proper communication with the Portainer instance.
• Click the Configure button to select your desired environment (Portainer endpoint).
  Note: The environment defines all core settings, such as available resources (CPU, RAM, GPU) and what container or stack templates will be used.
  These are configured directly in Portainer. In the WHMCS module, you only choose from existing environments.
• After selecting the environment, the Access Hash will be filled in automatically.
• If your Portainer server uses SSL, ensure the Secure' checkbox is enabled.
  You can also enable the Override with Custom Port option and enter your custom Portainer API port.
• Finally, adjust SSO Access Control if needed, then click Save Changes.

Click on 'Create a New Group' .

To create a product click on 'Create a New Product' .

'Product Type' should be set to 'Shared Hosting'.

The module should automatically save and reload settings. If not, click on 'Save Changes' manually.

• Default Instance Name – Enter the default name to be used when creating a new stack or container. The name must contain only lowercase letters, digits, hyphens (-), or underscores (_).
  Available variables: {$domain}, {$client.id}, {$service.id}, {$order.id}, {$random}.
  If left empty, the domain name will be used.

• Default Username – Enter the default username to be used when creating a new user.
  Available variables: {$domain}, {$client.id}, {$service.id}, {$order.id}, {$random}.
  If left empty, the domain name will be used.

• Open Container Console in New Window – Enable this option to open the container console in a new window when the feature is available in the client area.

App Templates Configuration - To create instances based on stack or container applications, you must first configure the App Templates in the module's addon.
Once your applications and groups are set up there, you can select the desired application in the product's Module Settings tab to be used during instance creation.
Please refer to the App Templates section of the documentation for detailed setup instructions.

• Default Application Group - group of applications allowed for reinstalls, see the groups section.
• Default Application - default application to be installed on the VPS, see the applications section.

• Memory Reservation [MB] - Specify the amount of memory (in MB) reserved for the container. Set to 0 for no reservation.
• Memory Limit [MB] - Set the maximum amount of memory (in MB) the container can use. Use 0 for unlimited.
• CPU Limit [Cores] - Set the maximum number of CPU cores available to the container. Use 0 for unlimited.
  

Alternatively, you can use configurable options to allow clients to define these limits at checkout.

• Container Details – Show basic information about the container, such as status, IP address, and resource usage.
• Stack Details – Display information related to the assigned stack configuration.
• Start – Allow clients to start their container.
• Stop – Allow clients to stop their container.
• Restart – Allow clients to restart their container.
• App Templates – Enable access to predefined application templates for quick reinstall.
• Environment Variables – Allow clients to view or manage container environment variables.
• Published Ports – Show mapped ports between the host and the container.
• Container Logs – Provide access to real-time container logs.
• Console – Allow access to the container's interactive console.
• Graph – Show performance graphs such as CPU, memory, and network usage.
• Assigned Containers – Display a list of all containers assigned to the client.
• Action Logs – Provide a history of actions performed on the container (e.g. start, stop, reinstall).

These options define what information and controls admins will see within the WHMCS service management page:

• Service Actions – Perform start, stop, or restart actions directly from the admin area.
• Stack Details – View the full configuration and status of the assigned stack.
• Assigned Containers – Display all containers linked to the service.
• Container Details – Show detailed information about the container, such as IP address, image, and resource usage.
• Published Ports – View the port mappings for the container.
• Environment Variables – View environment variables set for the container.
• Container Logs – Access logs generated by the container.
• Graphs – Display real-time resource usage graphs (CPU, RAM, network, disk I/O).
• Action Logs – Review all actions performed on the container or stack from within WHMCS.

Configurable options allow clients to customize container parameters individually during the order process. If no configurable options are defined, the fixed values set in the product configuration will be used instead.

Available Configurable Options:

• app – Application
• memory_reservation – Memory Reservation
• memory_limit – Memory Limit
• max_cpu_usage – CPU Limit

In this short guide, you'll learn about the module's key features and how to configure them for both client and admin use.

Here, you can register products supported by the module, manage Docker templates, and access various utilities such as the media library, translation manager, and module logs.

Templates are divided into two types, available under separate tabs: Container Applications and Stack Applications.
Use the interface to import, edit, group, and assign application templates to products.

This section allows you to load available templates from your connected Portainer environment and manage them from within WHMCS.

Navigate to 'App Templates' → 'Groups' and click on the 'Create' button.

• Name
• Description
• Items to include

Admins can manually create and edit applications, define their runtime behavior, set default values, and customize input fields using setting details. See the examples below to understand the most important options.

1. Navigate to App Templates → Applications, then click Create to add a new template.

• Name – Display name for the application (e.g., Caddy, Redis).
• Description – Optional. Short info about what the application does.
• Status – Set to "Active" if the template should be available for use.
• Image – Docker image used to deploy this template (e.g., `caddy:latest`).

Click Submit to save.

After saving, go to the Setting Details panel to configure how the template behaves during deployment. Click Create or use the pencil icon to edit an existing setting.

When editing or adding a setting, you'll need to define:

• Name – Internal identifier (e.g., `template_id`, `terminal_command`, `labels`)
• Field Type – Defines how the field will appear (Text, Select, etc.)
• Default Value – Used as the base value passed to Portainer
• Validation – Optional. Laravel-style validation rules (e.g., `required`)
• Visibility – If enabled, clients will see and can edit this field in the client area

This is useful for automated setup of services or software in the container. Use Smarty variables (e.g., `{$service.domain}`, `{$password}`) for dynamic content. To make the script editable by clients, enable the Visibility toggle.

• Name - do not change this value, this is the setting identifier.
• Field Type - if the 'Visibility' setting is toggled on, this field decides the type of field, we recommend leaving it as is.
• Default Value - this is where you include your script. If 'Visibility' is toggled on, this will be the default value that clients can modify.
  Note: Use the merge field list on the right for reference.
• Validation - optionally, provide Laravel validation rules like 'required'.
• Visibility - this will allow the client to modify the script before installation.

If disabled, the script will still execute, but the client won't see or modify it.

Add the following labels as individual settings. You can use Smarty variables like {$hosting.id} or {$hosting.domain} for dynamic route generation:

traefik.enable=1
traefik.docker.network=bridge
traefik.http.routers.service-{$hosting.id}.entrypoints=web
traefik.http.routers.service-{$hosting.id}.rule=Host(`{$hosting.domain}`)
traefik.http.routers.service-{$hosting.id}.service=service-{$hosting.id}
traefik.http.services.service-{$hosting.id}.loadbalancer.server.port=80

The application will be deployed with these labels automatically. The placeholder variables will be parsed at runtime, ensuring correct values for each service.

Important: Make sure that both the Traefik container and the newly created service are attached to the same Docker network (e.g., bridge) to ensure routing works as expected.

Below is an example that exposes a WordPress stack through Traefik:

version: '2'

services:
   db:
     image: mysql:5.7
     volumes:
       - db_data:/var/lib/mysql
     restart: always
     network_mode: bridge
     environment:
       {literal}MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: strongpassword{/literal}
       MYSQL_DATABASE: wordpress
       MYSQL_USER: wordpress
       MYSQL_PASSWORD: wordpress
     ports:
       - "3306:3306"

   wordpress:
     image: wordpress:latest
     network_mode: bridge
     ports:
       - "8{$hosting.id}:80"
     restart: always
     environment:
       WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: 10.10.10.8:3306
       WORDPRESS_DB_USER: wordpress
       WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: wordpress
     labels:
       traefik.enable: "true"
       traefik.docker.network: "bridge"
       traefik.http.routers.service-{$hosting.id}.entrypoints: "web"
       traefik.http.routers.service-{$hosting.id}.rule: "Host(`{$hosting.domain}`)"
       traefik.http.routers.service-{$hosting.id}.service: "service-{$hosting.id}"
       traefik.http.services.service-{$hosting.id}.loadbalancer.server.port: "80"

volumes:
    db_data:

To upload a new picture, click on the 'Upload Image' button.

To delete all images at once, use the additional action button.

Prepare translations for the original English files with this handy built-in tool. For specific instructions on how to use this tool please refer to its dedicated article, you will find it here.

You can filter the module logs by type with the 'Show' buttons:

• Info
• Notice
• Error
• Critical
• Total
  

All information on Logs can be found in the dedicated Logs article.

At the top, you will find a condensed setup guide, presenting the same information as this documentation.

They can view service information, monitor performance, execute key actions, and deploy applications, all without needing direct access to Portainer.
Available features depend on the options enabled in the product configuration.
Below, you can see what the product might look like for the client "Stack" type with assigned Containers

Clients can quickly start, stop, or restart their containers/stacks?? using dedicated control buttons.

Clicking a container entry opens a detailed view with technical and performance data.

This history helps clients verify activity and troubleshoot potential issues.

The App Templates section allows clients to reinstall their container or stack using a predefined application template.
This provides a fast and simple way to deploy fully configured environments such as databases, web servers, or development tools.
Important: Reinstalling an application will permanently remove any existing container data.

The view is divided into multiple sections for clarity and easier access to specific information.

Use the same action buttons — Start, Stop, and Restart — directly within the container view for instant control.

General Information

• Status – Shows whether the container is running or stopped
• Image – Docker image used (e.g., `timescale/timescaledb-ha:pg14-latest`)
• Network Mode – The Docker network connected to the container

Resource Usage

• CPU Usage – Real-time CPU load
• Memory Usage – Live memory consumption in MB
• Network Usage – Inbound/outbound traffic
• IO Usage – Disk read/write metrics

Networking

• IP Address – Internal container IP address
• MAC Address – Virtual MAC assigned to the container (if available)

Published Ports – Mappings between private and public ports, including protocol types

All environment variables currently assigned to the container are displayed, including sensitive configuration data and service paths.

If enabled in the product settings, clients will also have access to additional tools:

Ensure successful completion of the module update by carefully following each step, thereby preventing data loss or any unforeseen issues.
Additionally, you will find a current list of supplementary actions necessary for a smooth update process there.

Opt for the Open Source version of your Server Monitoring For WHMCS module to unlock these benefits.
Simply click on either the Get Source Code or Upgrade To Lifetime button found on the product's page in our client area to complete the one-step upgrade process, with a dedicated discount already applied.

Follow a comprehensive guide covering the transition process, the advantages it brings, and step-by-step instructions on what to do next after the order has been successfully finalized.