Every other guide in this library assumes you already have this picture in your head, so it's worth five minutes. A Falix app server is simpler than it looks: it's one small Linux computer that runs your code. Once you see how the pieces fit, every language guide is just details.
Your server is a computer in a box
When you create an app server, Falix gives you a Linux container — think of it as a small computer of your own, running in a data centre. It has its own files, its own memory, and its own internet connection. Nothing you do inside it can touch anyone else's server, and nobody else's can touch yours.
You never install an operating system or manage the machine itself — Falix does that. Your job is only the code that runs on it.
Everything lives in one folder
Your whole world is a single folder. In the File Manager it shows up as the root folder, and on the machine itself it's called /home/container. Every file your app needs — your code, its libraries, its data — lives in there. When a guide says "put index.js in your server folder", this is the folder it means.
You can edit files right in the browser with the File Manager, or upload them over SFTP. Either way, they land in the same one place.
The application decides what "Start" does
Here's the key idea. When you created the server you picked an application — Node.js, Python, Java, PHP, and so on. That choice isn't just a label; it decides exactly what happens when you press Start:
- Pick Node.js, and Start runs
node index.js. - Pick Python, and Start runs
python app.py. - Pick Java, and Start runs your
.jar.
The application also installs your dependencies for you on the way up — if it finds a package.json or a requirements.txt, it installs what's listed before your code runs. Each language guide spells out its own rules, but they all follow this shape: the application is the recipe, and Start cooks it.
⚠️ Heads up: Switching a server to a different application reinstalls it from scratch and wipes the files. The panel warns you first, so pick the right application when you create the server.
The console is where your app talks to you
Open the Console page and you get a live feed of everything your app prints, plus the Start, Stop and Restart buttons and a box to type commands. This is the single most important page on the panel. When something works, you'll see it here; when something breaks, the error is here too — and reading it from the top is usually all it takes to fix it. When your server won't start is entirely about reading this page.
One public door: SERVER_PORT
If your app is a website, an API, or anything the outside world connects to, it needs a port — a numbered door into your server. Falix gives every app server exactly one, and hands it to your code as an environment variable called SERVER_PORT. Your app must read that variable instead of hard-coding a number, and it must listen on 0.0.0.0 (all addresses) rather than localhost. Get those two things right and your app is reachable; get them wrong and it isn't. The public address to visit — an IP or hostname plus the port — is on the Network page.
🎯 Good to know: A pure Discord bot is the exception — it dials out to Discord and never needs a port at all.
Free timer vs premium 24/7
On the free plan your server has 2.5 GB of shared memory and runs on a session timer. When the timer runs out, the server stops. You top it up on the Timer page whenever you like. Premium removes the timer entirely — your server runs 24/7 — and gives you your plan's own memory and CPU. The applications themselves work exactly the same on both plans. Keeping your app online covers the timer honestly, including what does and doesn't keep a server up.
A map of the server menu
Every page in the server's side menu has one job:
| Page | What it does |
|---|---|
| Console | Start and stop your app, and watch its output. |
| File Manager | Browse and edit your files in the browser. |
| Settings | The application's variables (like which file to run) and the runtime version. Editable on every plan. |
| Packages | Add and update libraries without touching a command line; the easy way to manage dependencies. |
| Network | Your public address and port, free subdomains, and domains with HTTPS. |
| Git | Pull your code straight from GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket or any public repo. |
| Databases | Add a MySQL, PostgreSQL or MongoDB database. |
| Templates | Deploy ready-made starter files with one click. |
That's the short list — there are more pages (Backups, Schedules, Sub-Users, SFTP, and friends), and every one of them has its own tour in Your server's menu, mapped.
For dashboard-level how-tos (billing, account, node settings) that aren't about a single server, see the Knowledge Base: https://kb.falixnodes.net.
Next steps
- Create your first app server
- Deploy a one-click template
- Environment variables and secrets
- Then pick your language: Node.js, Python, or any other runtime.