diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6db5382..2030fd5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,12 @@ All notable changes to MageBox will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [1.18.3] - 2026-07-14
+
+### Fixed
+
+- **Varnish VCL Crash with Multiple Projects** - The shared Varnish container generated one backend per registered project, but the template only ever referenced the default backend (`set req.backend_hint = {{.DefaultBackend}}`). Varnish 7.x treats a defined-but-unused backend as a fatal compile error (`Unused backend …`), so with two or more projects the `magebox-varnish` container failed to compile its VCL and crash-looped, returning 502. The health probe also used `HEAD /` expecting `301`, but Magento returns `302`, marking the backend `sick` (503). All generated backends were identical anyway, since Nginx already routes to the correct project by `Host` header. The VCL now emits a single `magento` backend and probes `GET /health_check.php` expecting `200`.
+
 ## [1.18.2] - 2026-06-23
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index b57fc72..b9fb27a 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.18.2
+1.18.3
diff --git a/internal/varnish/templates/default.vcl.tmpl b/internal/varnish/templates/default.vcl.tmpl
index a5e5cd0..98edb68 100644
--- a/internal/varnish/templates/default.vcl.tmpl
+++ b/internal/varnish/templates/default.vcl.tmpl
@@ -14,14 +14,14 @@ backend {{.Name}} {
     .between_bytes_timeout = 600s;
     .probe = {
         .request =
-            "HEAD / HTTP/1.1"
+            "GET {{if .ProbeURL}}{{.ProbeURL}}{{else}}/health_check.php{{end}} HTTP/1.1"
             "Host: localhost"
             "Connection: close";
         .timeout = 2s;
         .interval = {{if .ProbeInterval}}{{.ProbeInterval}}{{else}}5s{{end}};
         .window = 5;
         .threshold = 2;
-        .expected_response = 301;
+        .expected_response = 200;
     }
 }
 {{end}}
@@ -38,10 +38,7 @@ sub vcl_init {
 }
 
 sub vcl_recv {
-    # Set backend based on Host header
-    {{range .Backends}}
-    # Backend: {{.Name}}
-    {{end}}
+    # Single shared backend; Nginx routes to the right project by Host header.
     set req.backend_hint = {{.DefaultBackend}};
 
     # Normalize the host header
diff --git a/internal/varnish/vcl.go b/internal/varnish/vcl.go
index c7e8b09..b7106af 100644
--- a/internal/varnish/vcl.go
+++ b/internal/varnish/vcl.go
@@ -89,46 +89,28 @@ func (g *VCLGenerator) Generate(configs []*config.Config) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// buildVCLConfig builds the VCL configuration from project configs
-func (g *VCLGenerator) buildVCLConfig(configs []*config.Config) VCLConfig {
-	vclCfg := VCLConfig{
-		Backends:    make([]BackendConfig, 0),
-		GracePeriod: "300s",
-		PurgeACL:    []string{"localhost", "127.0.0.1", "::1", "host.docker.internal"},
+// buildVCLConfig builds the VCL configuration.
+//
+// All MageBox projects share one Varnish container and one Nginx backend on :8080; Nginx
+// already routes to the right project by Host header. Earlier this emitted one backend per
+// registered project, but every backend was identical and the template only ever references
+// DefaultBackend — so with 2+ projects Varnish 7.x aborted compilation on the first unused
+// backend ("Unused backend …") and crash-looped. We therefore emit a single backend.
+func (g *VCLGenerator) buildVCLConfig(_ []*config.Config) VCLConfig {
+	backend := BackendConfig{
+		Name:          "magento",
+		Host:          getHostIP(),
+		Port:          8080, // Nginx backend listens on 8080 (Varnish connects here)
+		ProbeURL:      "/health_check.php",
+		ProbeInterval: "5s",
+	}
+
+	return VCLConfig{
+		Backends:       []BackendConfig{backend},
+		DefaultBackend: backend.Name,
+		GracePeriod:    "300s",
+		PurgeACL:       []string{"localhost", "127.0.0.1", "::1", "host.docker.internal"},
 	}
-
-	// Backend host - detect host IP for Docker to reach nginx
-	backendHost := getHostIP()
-	backendPort := 8080 // Nginx backend listens on 8080 (Varnish connects here)
-
-	for _, cfg := range configs {
-		// Each project gets a backend pointing to Nginx
-		backend := BackendConfig{
-			Name:          sanitizeName(cfg.Name),
-			Host:          backendHost,
-			Port:          backendPort,
-			ProbeURL:      "/health_check.php",
-			ProbeInterval: "5s",
-		}
-		vclCfg.Backends = append(vclCfg.Backends, backend)
-
-		// First project is default backend
-		if vclCfg.DefaultBackend == "" {
-			vclCfg.DefaultBackend = backend.Name
-		}
-	}
-
-	// If no projects, create a default backend
-	if len(vclCfg.Backends) == 0 {
-		vclCfg.Backends = append(vclCfg.Backends, BackendConfig{
-			Name: "default",
-			Host: backendHost,
-			Port: backendPort,
-		})
-		vclCfg.DefaultBackend = "default"
-	}
-
-	return vclCfg
 }
 
 // renderVCL renders the VCL template
@@ -162,20 +144,6 @@ func (g *VCLGenerator) VCLFilePath() string {
 	return filepath.Join(g.vclDir, "default.vcl")
 }
 
-// sanitizeName converts a project name to a valid VCL identifier
-func sanitizeName(name string) string {
-	// Replace non-alphanumeric characters with underscores
-	result := make([]byte, 0, len(name))
-	for _, c := range []byte(name) {
-		if (c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') || (c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z') || (c >= '0' && c <= '9') {
-			result = append(result, c)
-		} else {
-			result = append(result, '_')
-		}
-	}
-	return string(result)
-}
-
 // Controller manages Varnish service
 type Controller struct {
 	platform *platform.Platform
diff --git a/internal/varnish/vcl_test.go b/internal/varnish/vcl_test.go
index 7961913..a887a32 100644
--- a/internal/varnish/vcl_test.go
+++ b/internal/varnish/vcl_test.go
@@ -80,16 +80,20 @@ func TestVCLGenerator_Generate(t *testing.T) {
 
 	contentStr := string(content)
 
-	// Verify essential VCL elements
+	// Verify essential VCL elements. The backend is always the single shared "magento"
+	// backend regardless of project name (Nginx routes per project by Host).
 	checks := []string{
 		"vcl 4.1",
-		"backend mystore",
+		"backend magento",
 		"acl purge",
 		"sub vcl_recv",
 		"sub vcl_hash",
 		"sub vcl_backend_response",
 		"sub vcl_deliver",
 		"X-Magento-Tags",
+		// Health probe must hit /health_check.php and expect 200 (Magento returns 302 on HEAD /).
+		"GET /health_check.php HTTP/1.1",
+		".expected_response = 200",
 	}
 
 	for _, check := range checks {
@@ -131,12 +135,20 @@ func TestVCLGenerator_GenerateMultipleProjects(t *testing.T) {
 
 	contentStr := string(content)
 
-	// Both backends should be present
-	if !strings.Contains(contentStr, "backend store1") {
-		t.Error("VCL should contain backend store1")
+	// Regression: with 2+ projects we must emit exactly ONE backend, not one per project.
+	// Varnish 7.x treats a defined-but-unused backend as a fatal compile error, so the
+	// previous per-project backends crash-looped the shared container.
+	if n := strings.Count(contentStr, "\nbackend "); n != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("expected exactly 1 backend definition, got %d", n)
 	}
-	if !strings.Contains(contentStr, "backend store2") {
-		t.Error("VCL should contain backend store2")
+	if !strings.Contains(contentStr, "backend magento") {
+		t.Error("VCL should contain the single shared backend magento")
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(contentStr, "backend store1") || strings.Contains(contentStr, "backend store2") {
+		t.Error("VCL must not contain per-project backends (would be unused -> Varnish compile error)")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(contentStr, "set req.backend_hint = magento") {
+		t.Error("backend_hint should reference the single magento backend")
 	}
 }
 
@@ -156,32 +168,9 @@ func TestVCLGenerator_GenerateEmptyConfigs(t *testing.T) {
 
 	contentStr := string(content)
 
-	// Should have default backend
-	if !strings.Contains(contentStr, "backend default") {
-		t.Error("VCL should contain default backend when no configs provided")
-	}
-}
-
-func TestSanitizeName(t *testing.T) {
-	tests := []struct {
-		input    string
-		expected string
-	}{
-		{"mystore", "mystore"},
-		{"my-store", "my_store"},
-		{"my_store", "my_store"},
-		{"my.store", "my_store"},
-		{"MyStore123", "MyStore123"},
-		{"store@123", "store_123"},
-		{"store with spaces", "store_with_spaces"},
-	}
-
-	for _, tt := range tests {
-		t.Run(tt.input, func(t *testing.T) {
-			if got := sanitizeName(tt.input); got != tt.expected {
-				t.Errorf("sanitizeName(%v) = %v, want %v", tt.input, got, tt.expected)
-			}
-		})
+	// Should have the single shared backend even with no projects.
+	if !strings.Contains(contentStr, "backend magento") {
+		t.Error("VCL should contain the magento backend when no configs provided")
 	}
 }
 
@@ -195,14 +184,18 @@ func TestVCLGenerator_buildVCLConfig(t *testing.T) {
 
 	vclCfg := g.buildVCLConfig(configs)
 
-	// Should have 2 backends
-	if len(vclCfg.Backends) != 2 {
-		t.Errorf("Expected 2 backends, got %d", len(vclCfg.Backends))
+	// Always exactly one shared backend, regardless of how many projects exist.
+	if len(vclCfg.Backends) != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("Expected 1 backend, got %d", len(vclCfg.Backends))
 	}
-
-	// First backend should be default
-	if vclCfg.DefaultBackend != "store1" {
-		t.Errorf("DefaultBackend = %v, want store1", vclCfg.DefaultBackend)
+	if vclCfg.DefaultBackend != "magento" {
+		t.Errorf("DefaultBackend = %v, want magento", vclCfg.DefaultBackend)
+	}
+	if vclCfg.Backends[0].Name != "magento" {
+		t.Errorf("backend name = %v, want magento", vclCfg.Backends[0].Name)
+	}
+	if vclCfg.Backends[0].ProbeURL != "/health_check.php" {
+		t.Errorf("ProbeURL = %v, want /health_check.php", vclCfg.Backends[0].ProbeURL)
 	}
 
 	// Should have purge ACL
diff --git a/lib/templates/varnish/default.vcl.tmpl b/lib/templates/varnish/default.vcl.tmpl
index a5e5cd0..98edb68 100644
--- a/lib/templates/varnish/default.vcl.tmpl
+++ b/lib/templates/varnish/default.vcl.tmpl
@@ -14,14 +14,14 @@ backend {{.Name}} {
     .between_bytes_timeout = 600s;
     .probe = {
         .request =
-            "HEAD / HTTP/1.1"
+            "GET {{if .ProbeURL}}{{.ProbeURL}}{{else}}/health_check.php{{end}} HTTP/1.1"
             "Host: localhost"
             "Connection: close";
         .timeout = 2s;
         .interval = {{if .ProbeInterval}}{{.ProbeInterval}}{{else}}5s{{end}};
         .window = 5;
         .threshold = 2;
-        .expected_response = 301;
+        .expected_response = 200;
     }
 }
 {{end}}
@@ -38,10 +38,7 @@ sub vcl_init {
 }
 
 sub vcl_recv {
-    # Set backend based on Host header
-    {{range .Backends}}
-    # Backend: {{.Name}}
-    {{end}}
+    # Single shared backend; Nginx routes to the right project by Host header.
     set req.backend_hint = {{.DefaultBackend}};
 
     # Normalize the host header