Features

Short History:

raq550BlueOnyx traces its legacy back to the original Cobalt Networks RaQ server appliances. After the buy-out by Sun Microsystems, the Sausalito GUI of the Cobalt RaQ550 and Qube3 was released as open source software. Since then this code base has seen extensive modernization to keep it viable on current Linux distributions and to expand its capabilities far beyond the original scope.

In 2007 we forked the Sausalito code maintained by BlueQuartz.org and released BlueOnyx 5106R on CentOS 5 in 2008. This was followed by BlueOnyx 52107R/52108R on EL6 in 2010. In 2012 we began a full modernization effort that resulted in the Chorizo architecture and a new generation of GUI and platform services.

From there the project continuously evolved: BlueOnyx 5207R/5208R on EL6, BlueOnyx 5209R on CentOS 7, BlueOnyx 5210R on RHEL8-clones, BlueOnyx 5211R on RHEL9-clones, and finally BlueOnyx 5212R on AlmaLinux 10/RHEL10-clones.

The latest version is BlueOnyx 5212R.

The overview below summarizes what BlueOnyx 52XXR offers today.

BlueOnyx 52XXR Features

At a Glance

💻Hosting Platform

Production-ready web hosting stack on RHEL10, RHEL9 and RHEL8 clones.

⚙Modern Admin GUI

Role-based administration for admins, resellers, siteAdmins and end users.

✉Email and DNS

Integrated mail, antispam workflows, DNS automation and daily operations tools.

🛡Security

2FA, brute-force mitigation, SSL/TLS management and hardened defaults.

🤖Automation

API v2, provisioning support, migration utilities and repeatable workflows.

⚡Flexible Runtime

Multiple PHP versions, PHP-FPM/suPHP options and per-site operational control.

Platform and Core Services

  • Enterprise Linux hosting platform for AlmaLinux/RockyLinux based 5212R, 5211R and 5210R.
  • Easy installation via official ISO images and mirror network.
  • Preconfigured Apache, ProFTPd, Postfix/Sendmail, Dovecot, MariaDB/MySQL, Mailman and related services.
  • IPv4, IPv6 and dual-stack support on current releases.
  • Reseller management and multi-tenant operation for virtual sites, users and mailing lists.

Web Hosting and Application Stack

  • Multiple PHP operation modes (including PHP-FPM) and support for multiple PHP versions per environment.
  • Optional Nginx SSL proxy for HTTP/2 and TLS enhancements where applicable.
  • Per-site SSL certificate management including intermediate certificates.
  • Automatic MySQL database/user provisioning for virtual sites.
  • Subdomain management, SSI/Perl support and optional JSP support.

Email and Collaboration

  • Choice of Postfix or Sendmail as MTA (switchable as needed).
  • Email autoconfiguration (Autoconfig/Autodiscover) for client onboarding.
  • Enhanced email authentication including alias-aware workflows on supported setups.
  • OpenDKIM integration and sender identity spoofing prevention features.
  • Optional SNI support for email services on current releases.
  • CalDav/CardDav integration through fully integrated Radicale.
  • Imapsync-based import/export for mailbox migrations.

Security and Access Control

  • Optional 2FA for SSH and GUI logins on current releases.
  • Brute-force login detection and prevention (pam_abl).
  • Optional Chrooted Jails with SFTP/SSH access controls.
  • GUI tools for SSH daemon settings, SSH key generation and certificate management.
  • GDPR/DSGVO helper tooling for compliance-related operations.

Operations, Monitoring and Localization

  • Detailed email statistics and built-in traffic analysis tooling.
  • Automated DNS record generation including SPF helper workflows.
  • Site Prefix capability for username namespace separation.
  • GUI localization in multiple languages (including EN, DE, FR, ES, IT, NL, PT, JA and others).
  • Update delivery through YUM/DNF and NewLinQ for add-ons.

Version Highlights

  • 5212R: Current generation on AlmaLinux 10 / RHEL10 clones.
  • 5211R: Stable branch on AlmaLinux 9 / RHEL9 clones.
  • 5210R: Mature supported branch on AlmaLinux 8 / RHEL8 clones.

Common Use Cases

  • Managed hosting providers: Multi-tenant hosting with role-based delegation and automation support.
  • SMB and project teams: Unified web, mail and DNS management from a single interface.
  • Self-hosters and enthusiasts: Full-stack server control without losing low-level access.
  • Migration projects: Transition from BlueQuartz/legacy setups using CMU and related migration workflows.

Migrating from BlueQuartz to BlueOnyx (and back) remains possible through CMU (Cobalt Migration Utility).

Related pages: API v2 Documentation, Downloads, Easy Migrate, FAQ.