Note

This is the first article in the "Mix Space + Yohaku Deployment Series," focusing on the installation of the backend (Core). For deploying the frontend theme Yohaku, please proceed to the second article.

Mix Space is a modern, frontend-backend separated personal blog system. The backend Core provides a full suite of services including RESTful APIs, scheduled tasks, backups, and serverless functions, acting as the quietly beating heart of the entire system; the frontend themes are separate and can be freely paired.

This article will guide you through using the 1Panel panel to run the Mix Space backend on your own server—no need for much hassle, just follow step by step.

Step 1 · Installing the 1Panel Panel

1Panel is a modern, open-source Linux server operations panel with a clean interface and intuitive operation. With it, subsequent container management, file uploads, and reverse proxying will become exceptionally straightforward.

A Quick Pre-installation Check

One Command to Complete Installation

SSH into your server and execute:

Follow the command-line prompts and wait patiently for the installation to complete. Upon success, the console will print access information similar to this:

Forgot the security entrance? SSH back into the server and execute the following command; the value of the entrance field is the entrance path:

If Docker installation fails, first run this command separately to fix it:

Step 2 · Installing Mix Space via 1Panel

2.1 Download the Application Package

Download the mxspace.zip file from the repository below for later use:

2.2 Upload the Application Package

Log into the 1Panel panel, navigate to Host → Files in the left menu, and go to the path:

Click Upload, and select the mxspace.zip file you just downloaded.

2.3 Extract, Pay Attention to the Path!

After the upload is complete, click on mxspace.zip and select Extract.

2.4 Sync Local Applications

Go to the 1Panel App Store, click the Sync Local Applications button in the top right corner, wait a moment, then type mxspace in the search box, and you should see the application you just added.

Click Install to enter the configuration page.

2.5 Fill in the Installation Configuration Items

The installation page has three read-only notes and five configuration items. Fill them in from top to bottom:

Note

At the top of the page, there are three gray "📌" note texts explaining JWT secret requirements, domain format, and encryption function considerations, for reference only, no need to modify, you can skip them.

🔑 JWT Secret

This is the core security credential for the backend service. The length requirement is at least 16 characters and no more than 32 characters. It is recommended to use a randomly generated strong password. You can execute in the terminal:

Enter the generated result here and keep it safe—it's like the key to this blog system. Losing it will require a reset and cause some trouble.

🌐 Allowed Origins

Fill in the frontend domain(s) allowed to access the backend API. Separate multiple domains with English commas. Format example:

When deploying the Yohaku frontend, this is where you fill in the domain where Yohaku is located. If you are not sure yet, you can fill in localhost:* first and modify it later in the configuration page of the installed application.

🔒 Enable Encryption

Select from the dropdown, default is Off (Recommended).

🗝️ Encryption Key

Only required if the previous item is set to "On." The key must be 64 lowercase letters and digits. It can be generated with the following command:

If encryption is off, leave this field empty.

🔢 HTTP Port

Default is 2333, usually no need to change. If there is a port conflict, you can change it to another available port.

Note

It is not recommended to directly check "External Access" for the port. Instead, expose the service through the reverse proxy in the next step, which is more secure and standard.

2.6 Start Installation 🎉

Confirm the configuration is correct and click Start Installation.

1Panel will automatically pull the innei/mx-server, mongo:7, and redis:alpine images and orchestrate their startup. The first installation requires pulling images, so wait patiently for a few minutes.

When the status shows Running, the Mix Space backend is quietly running 🌿

Step 3 · Configuring Reverse Proxy and HTTPS

Exposing the port directly is neither secure nor elegant. It is recommended to bind the service to your domain via an Nginx reverse proxy and add HTTPS to complete the setup.

Here is a complete Nginx configuration. It does something interesting—it routes both the frontend (Yohaku, port 2323) and the backend (Mix Space Core, port 2333) within the same server block, serving them under the same domain. Visitors access your blog, with the frontend pages and backend API working silently behind the scenes, presenting only a clean domain to the outside.

In 1Panel's Website → OpenResty → Configuration File, or by directly editing the Nginx configuration on the server, enter the following content:

After saving the configuration, execute nginx -t to check the syntax, then nginx -s reload to reload and make it effective.

After configuration is complete, your backend-related addresses are as follows (will be used when deploying Yohaku later):

Please note down these addresses.

Step 4 · Initializing the Admin Panel

After the reverse proxy configuration is complete, access the admin panel in your browser:

The first visit will guide you through initialization, including creating an administrator account, filling in basic site information, etc. Follow the prompts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: After installation, the container keeps restarting and cannot start normally?

Most likely, MongoDB or Redis health checks haven't passed yet—they need a little time to fully become ready, and the Core container will automatically retry. Wait about 1 minute, and it usually recovers on its own. If the issue persists, check the specific error messages in the container logs within 1Panel.

Q: What if I forgot to save the JWT secret?

In the 1Panel App Store's installed list, click Edit or Configure for mxspace to view the current environment variable values.

Q: How do I modify the allowed domains?

Modify the ALLOWED_ORIGINS environment variable in the configuration page of the installed application, save, and restart the container for it to take effect.

Q: Where is the data stored?

All data is persistently stored in the /opt/1panel/apps/local/mxspace/mxspace/data/ directory, containing MongoDB data, Redis data, and mx-space runtime files. Regularly back up this directory, or back it up along with 1Panel snapshots.

References

• 1Panel Online Installation Documentation
• Mix Space Official Documentation
• mx-server GitHub Repository
• Self-Creating 1Panel Applications · FIT2CLOUD Community Forum

The backend has landed steadily 🌱
Next, head to the second article to dress it up in the beautiful garment that is Yohaku.