GuidesVPS Setup Guide

VPS Setup Guide

Get your VPS up and running in minutes. This guide covers everything from first login to securing your server.

After ordering, your VPS credentials are emailed to you and shown in your dashboard under the server's Access tab.

1. Connect to Your Server

Once your VPS is provisioned you'll receive an IP address, username (usually root), and a temporary password.

1

Open a terminal

On macOS/Linux open Terminal. On Windows use PuTTY, Windows Terminal, or PowerShell.
2

SSH into your server

Replace YOUR_IP with your server's IP address from the dashboard.
bash
ssh root@YOUR_IP
Accept the fingerprint prompt by typing yes and pressing Enter.
3

Change your root password

bash
passwd
Enter a strong password. Store it in a password manager.

2. Update the System

Always update packages first to get security patches.

Ubuntu / Debian
apt update && apt upgrade -y
CentOS / Rocky
dnf update -y

3. Create a Non-Root User

Running everything as root is dangerous. Create a regular user for day-to-day work.
bash
adduser deploy
usermod -aG sudo deploy
su - deploy

4. Configure Firewall

bash
# Allow SSH
ufw allow OpenSSH
# Allow HTTP and HTTPS
ufw allow 80/tcp
ufw allow 443/tcp
# Enable firewall
ufw enable
ufw status

5. Set Up SSH Key Auth (Recommended)

Password logins can be brute-forced. SSH keys are much more secure.

bash
# On YOUR LOCAL MACHINE, generate a key pair:
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your@email.com"

# Copy the public key to your server:
ssh-copy-id deploy@YOUR_IP
Once SSH keys are working, disable password auth: edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config, set PasswordAuthentication no, then systemctl restart ssh.

6. Set Timezone & Hostname

bash
# Set timezone (e.g. Europe/London)
timedatectl set-timezone Europe/London

# Set hostname
hostnamectl set-hostname myserver

What Next?

Your server is now secure and ready. Continue with:

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