Is installing 3CX via Debian repository officially supported? (VPS without custom ISO boot)

[xfolder]

Hello everyone,
I have a question regarding the officially supported installation methods for 3CX in cloud/VPS environments.
I’m working with a VPS provider that does not allow booting from custom ISO images and does not provide KVM/ISO mounting. Because of this limitation, installing 3CX via the official ISO is not possible.
I know that:
3CX provides a Debian-based ISO for bare metal / hypervisors
There is also a 3cxpbx package available via the 3CX Debian repository, which can be installed using apt on a supported Debian OS

My questions are:
Is installing 3CX via the official Debian repository (apt install 3cxpbx) considered an officially supported installation method by 3CX?
If yes, are there any functional or support limitations compared to an ISO-based installation?
If not, what is the recommended and supported approach for installing 3CX on VPS providers that do not allow custom ISO boot?

I would like to follow a fully supported setup, especially for production use, and avoid unsupported or risky workarounds.

Thank you in advance for any clarification.

Best regards

 

[fxbastler]

Is installing 3CX via the official Debian repository (apt install 3cxpbx) considered an officially supported installation method by 3CX?

no

If not, what is the recommended and supported approach for installing 3CX on VPS providers that do not allow custom ISO boot?

First I would ask the provider to provide the official 3CX ISO for installation. Otherwise one would have to get creative (e.g., installing 3CX elsewhere and then transferring it to the VPS provider or something else), or even switch the VPS provider. If the provider doesn't offer support for such fundamentally necessary options it will likely be problematic elsewhere as well:

I would like to follow a fully supported setup, especially for production use, and avoid unsupported or risky workarounds.

 

[xfolder]

So this is not valid? https://www.3cx.com/docs/configure-pbx-automatically/

 

[KyriacosS_3CX]

That is primarily a guide for configuring automatically an installed PBX, but yes following that guide you can do a PBX only install on an existing Debian 12 system.

Still as this is not a 3CX ISO install you may have issues with support tickets, since the installation will not be the 3CX default one and other packages might have been installed too. Talking with a local partner in your area might be best, they should be able to provide you with some level of support themselves, and perhaps have knowledge of the VPS you need to use.

 

[xfolder]

I plan to install the PBX on a clean VPS with Debian 12. Therefore, since the guide is available on the official 3CX website, will I have full support?

 

[KyriacosS_3CX]

Hello,

Customer care team can provide fuller details (https://www.3cx.com/contact/) on supported install methods.

In general as long as no 3rd party software is installed alongside a supported install, you should be able to purchase and open a ticket if needed. If the support team notices any non-standard software on the server they may reject it or ask you to remove it before looking at the case.

Full details of support procedures are found at https://www.3cx.com/ordering/

[Edited for clarity]

 

[fxbastler]

@KyriacosS_3CX
Was there or is there an officially confirmed change in direction with 3CX support?
Until now, we only knew that a Debian 3CX must be installed using the official 3CX Debian ISO in order to receive qualified support from 3CX.

If you look at the installation script process on the original 3CX ISO (there are several phases and multiple scripts that are downloaded live from 3CX at the time of installation) you can also spot the differences compared to the script under the deploy method. These small differences in the installation are also noticeable later on, they remain.

 

[KyriacosS_3CX]

@KyriacosS_3CX
Was there or is there an officially confirmed change in direction with 3CX support?
Until now, we only knew that a Debian 3CX must be installed using the official 3CX Debian ISO in order to receive qualified support from 3CX.

If you look at the installation script process on the original 3CX ISO (there are several phases and multiple scripts that are downloaded live from 3CX at the time of installation) you can also spot the differences compared to the script under the deploy method. These small differences in the installation are also noticeable later on, they remain.

Hello,

Perhaps I was not clear enough that they should consult Customer Care to check exactly when technical support eligibility exists, in conjunction with my earlier reply that this method is for configuring existing installs - I will amend my post above to reflect this but not your comment so the history is clear.

 

[KyriacosS_3CX]

@xfolder ,

You can also consider a Windows install if your VPS provides a windows image.

There are also earlier posts in the forum that mention ways of using the 3CX Debian ISO on a VPS that does not support ISO installs, but whether that works for you and yields a proper installation is not something I can tell. Google can provide that link with the right search.

 

[Alphabetic]

In the past i've tried multiple VPS providers who do not provide ISO mounting and let me tell you...trying (sometimes with success) to get 3CX on is a PITA.

So my advice is stop with this VPS provider, sounds cheap, probably crap too.

https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/how-to-install-3cx-iso-on-ovhs-vps.124149/ is how i'm installing my 3CX's on VPS but this is with KVM access.

If I were you.. id stop right away and find a better VPS provider. For example.. Hetzner is fairly decent and supports 3CX ISO.

You can start here https://www.3cx.com/docs/manual/install/ to see 3CX's supported methods of installs.

Save yourself the headache... and us when you come back in a months time because something didnt install correctly and now X doesnt work properly.

 

[bitn2]

In the past i've tried multiple VPS providers who do not provide ISO mounting and let me tell you...trying (sometimes with success) to get 3CX on is a PITA.

So my advice is stop with this VPS provider, sounds cheap, probably crap too.

https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/how-to-install-3cx-iso-on-ovhs-vps.124149/ is how i'm installing my 3CX's on VPS but this is with KVM access.

If I were you.. id stop right away and find a better VPS provider. For example.. Hetzner is fairly decent and supports 3CX ISO.

You can start here https://www.3cx.com/docs/manual/install/ to see 3CX's supported methods of installs.

Save yourself the headache... and us when you come back in a months time because something didnt install correctly and now X doesnt work properly.

There's nothing more to say.

 

[xfolder]

In the past i've tried multiple VPS providers who do not provide ISO mounting and let me tell you...trying (sometimes with success) to get 3CX on is a PITA.

So my advice is stop with this VPS provider, sounds cheap, probably crap too.

https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/how-to-install-3cx-iso-on-ovhs-vps.124149/ is how i'm installing my 3CX's on VPS but this is with KVM access.

If I were you.. id stop right away and find a better VPS provider. For example.. Hetzner is fairly decent and supports 3CX ISO.

You can start here https://www.3cx.com/docs/manual/install/ to see 3CX's supported methods of installs.

Save yourself the headache... and us when you come back in a months time because something didnt install correctly and now X doesnt work properly.

Is IONOS really that bad?
Any experience with Contabo?

 

[Alphabetic]

Is IONOS really that bad?
Any experience with Contabo?

brother LOL

I have experience with contabo and i will say RUN oh my god dont get me started

Stop being cheap, factor the cost in to your 3CX offering.

I just send you a link to the installer I use for OVH, OVH is cheap enough and then i'd say Hetzner.

 

[fxbastler]

Is IONOS really that bad?

yes
No way to use it with 3CX, no way, not only because the ISO.

Hetzner or maybe Netcup.