Managing VPS Instances

Complete guide to managing, monitoring, and maintaining your VPS instances.

Overview

Once your VPS is created, you can manage it through the dashboard or SSH. This guide covers all management operations.

Instance Dashboard

Access your VPS dashboard:

Go to Pods in the main menu
Click on your instance name
View the instance dashboard

Dashboard Sections

Overview Tab:

Instance status
Resource usage charts
Connection information
Quick actions (Start, Stop, Reboot)

Metrics Tab:

Real-time performance graphs
CPU usage
Memory utilization
Disk I/O
Network traffic

Snapshots Tab:

Create and manage snapshots
Restore from snapshots
Delete old snapshots

Console Tab:

Web-based terminal access
Emergency access when SSH is unavailable

Instance Operations

Start Instance

Start a stopped instance:

Go to your instance dashboard
Click Start button
Instance boots in 30-60 seconds

Cost Note: Billing resumes when started.

Stop Instance

Shut down your instance:

Go to your instance dashboard
Click Stop button
Confirm the action
Instance shuts down in 30-60 seconds

Important:

All data is preserved
Still billed for storage
Can start anytime
Network connections are lost

Graceful Shutdown:

# Prefer SSH shutdown for clean stop
ssh root@your-ip
sudo shutdown -h now

Reboot Instance

Restart your instance:

Go to your instance dashboard
Click Reboot button
Confirm the action
Instance reboots in 1-2 minutes

Use Cases:

After kernel updates
To apply system changes
Troubleshooting issues
After configuration changes

SSH Reboot:

sudo reboot

Delete Instance

Warning: This permanently deletes your instance and all data!

Before Deleting:

✅ Backup important data
✅ Create snapshot if needed
✅ Update DNS records
✅ Notify team members
✅ Document configuration

Delete Steps:

Go to your instance dashboard
Click Delete button
Type instance name to confirm
Click Confirm Delete
Instance deleted in 1-2 minutes

Cannot be undone!

Editing Instance Configuration

Change Instance Name

Go to instance dashboard
Click Edit button
Update name
Click Save

Attach/Detach Firewalls

Attach Firewall:

Go to instance dashboard
Click Edit button
Select firewall from dropdown
Click Save
Rules apply immediately

Detach Firewall:

Click Edit button
Remove firewall selection
Click Save
All traffic allowed (not recommended!)

Add/Remove SSH Keys

Add Key:

Go to instance dashboard
Click SSH Keys section
Click Add Key
Select existing key or add new
Key added to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Remove Key:

Go to SSH Keys section
Click Remove next to key
Key removed from server

Resource Monitoring

CPU Usage

Monitor CPU utilization:

Dashboard:

Real-time graph
Average over 1h, 6h, 24h
Peak usage highlighted

SSH Monitoring:

# Real-time CPU usage
htop

# CPU info
lscpu

# Load average
uptime

# Per-process CPU
top -o %CPU

High CPU Troubleshooting:

Identify process: top
Check logs: journalctl -xe
Restart service if needed
Consider upgrading profile

Memory Usage

Track RAM utilization:

Dashboard:

Used vs. Available
Swap usage
Historical trends

SSH Monitoring:

# Memory usage
free -h

# Detailed memory info
cat /proc/meminfo

# Per-process memory
top -o %MEM

# Find memory hogs
ps aux --sort=-%mem | head

High Memory Solutions:

Identify memory leak
Restart services
Clear caches
Upgrade to larger profile

Disk Usage

Monitor storage utilization:

Dashboard:

Used/Total storage
I/O operations per second
Read/write bandwidth

SSH Monitoring:

# Disk space
df -h

# Largest directories
du -h --max-depth=1 /

# Find large files
find / -type f -size +100M -exec ls -lh {} \;

# I/O stats
iostat -x 1

Low Disk Space Solutions:

# Clean package cache
apt clean  # Ubuntu/Debian
yum clean all  # CentOS

# Remove old logs
journalctl --vacuum-time=7d

# Find and remove old files
find /tmp -type f -atime +7 -delete

# Docker cleanup (if applicable)
docker system prune -a

Network Traffic

Monitor bandwidth usage:

Dashboard:

Inbound traffic
Outbound traffic
Peak bandwidth
Monthly total

SSH Monitoring:

# Network interfaces
ifconfig

# Live traffic
iftop

# Bandwidth per process
nethogs

# Network statistics
netstat -i

Software Management

Update System

Keep your system updated:

Ubuntu/Debian:

# Update package list
sudo apt update

# Upgrade packages
sudo apt upgrade -y

# Upgrade distribution
sudo apt dist-upgrade -y

# Remove old packages
sudo apt autoremove -y

CentOS/Fedora:

# Update all packages
sudo yum update -y

# Or with dnf (Fedora)
sudo dnf update -y

# Clean old packages
sudo yum autoremove -y

Auto-Updates (Ubuntu/Debian):

# Install unattended-upgrades
sudo apt install unattended-upgrades -y

# Enable auto-updates
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades

Install Software

Web Server:

# Nginx
sudo apt install nginx -y
sudo systemctl enable nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx

# Apache
sudo apt install apache2 -y
sudo systemctl enable apache2
sudo systemctl start apache2

Database:

# MySQL
sudo apt install mysql-server -y
sudo mysql_secure_installation

# PostgreSQL
sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib -y

# Redis
sudo apt install redis-server -y

Programming Languages:

# Python 3
sudo apt install python3 python3-pip -y

# Node.js (via NodeSource)
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install nodejs -y

# PHP
sudo apt install php php-fpm php-mysql -y

# Go
sudo apt install golang -y

# Ruby
sudo apt install ruby-full -y

Docker:

# Install Docker
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh

# Add user to docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

# Install Docker Compose
sudo curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/latest/download/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

Service Management

Control system services:

# Start service
sudo systemctl start nginx

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop nginx

# Restart service
sudo systemctl restart nginx

# Reload configuration
sudo systemctl reload nginx

# Enable on boot
sudo systemctl enable nginx

# Disable on boot
sudo systemctl disable nginx

# Check status
sudo systemctl status nginx

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u nginx -f

User Management

Create Users

Add non-root users:

# Create user
sudo adduser johndoe

# Add to sudo group (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo usermod -aG sudo johndoe

# Add to wheel group (CentOS)
sudo usermod -aG wheel johndoe

# Set password
sudo passwd johndoe

SSH Key Management

Add SSH key for user:

# Switch to user
sudo su - johndoe

# Create .ssh directory
mkdir -p ~/.ssh
chmod 700 ~/.ssh

# Add public key
echo "ssh-ed25519 AAAA..." >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Disable password authentication:

# Edit SSH config
sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

# Set these values:
PasswordAuthentication no
PubkeyAuthentication yes

# Restart SSH
sudo systemctl restart sshd

Security Hardening

Configure Firewall

UFW (Ubuntu/Debian):

# Install UFW
sudo apt install ufw -y

# Default policies
sudo ufw default deny incoming
sudo ufw default allow outgoing

# Allow SSH (important!)
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp

# Allow HTTP/HTTPS
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp

# Enable firewall
sudo ufw enable

# Check status
sudo ufw status verbose

Firewalld (CentOS):

# Start firewalld
sudo systemctl start firewalld
sudo systemctl enable firewalld

# Allow services
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=ssh
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https

# Reload
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Check status
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

Install Fail2Ban

Protect against brute-force attacks:

# Install
sudo apt install fail2ban -y

# Create local config
sudo cp /etc/fail2ban/jail.conf /etc/fail2ban/jail.local

# Edit config
sudo nano /etc/fail2ban/jail.local

# Find [sshd] section and ensure:
enabled = true
maxretry = 3
bantime = 3600

# Start fail2ban
sudo systemctl enable fail2ban
sudo systemctl start fail2ban

# Check status
sudo fail2ban-client status sshd

Secure SSH

Best practices for SSH:

# Edit SSH config
sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

# Recommended settings:
Port 22                          # Or custom port
PermitRootLogin no              # Disable root login
PasswordAuthentication no        # Key-based only
PubkeyAuthentication yes
PermitEmptyPasswords no
X11Forwarding no
MaxAuthTries 3
ClientAliveInterval 300
ClientAliveCountMax 2

# Restart SSH
sudo systemctl restart sshd

Adjust SSH Session Timeout

By default, SSH sessions timeout after 10 minutes of inactivity. You can increase this by editing the SSH configuration:

# Edit the production SSH config
sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/99-production.conf

# Find and modify these values:
ClientAliveInterval 300    # Seconds between keep-alive checks
ClientAliveCountMax 2      # Number of missed keep-alives before disconnect

The total timeout = ClientAliveInterval × ClientAliveCountMax seconds.

Common timeout settings:

Timeout	ClientAliveInterval	ClientAliveCountMax
10 min (default)	300	2
30 min	900	2
1 hour	1800	2
4 hours	3600	4
8 hours	3600	8
Disabled	0	0

After editing, restart SSH:

sudo systemctl restart sshd

Note: Longer timeouts may pose a security risk if you leave sessions unattended. Consider your security requirements when adjusting this setting.

Enable Automatic Security Updates

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt install unattended-upgrades -y
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades

CentOS:

sudo yum install yum-cron -y
sudo systemctl enable yum-cron
sudo systemctl start yum-cron

Backup & Recovery

Create Snapshots

Regular snapshots protect your data:

Go to instance dashboard
Click Snapshots tab
Click Create Snapshot
Enter descriptive name
Click Create

Snapshot Tips:

Take before major changes
Weekly for production
Before system updates
Label with date and purpose

Manual Backups

Backup specific data:

Database Backup:

# MySQL
mysqldump -u root -p database_name > backup.sql

# PostgreSQL
pg_dump database_name > backup.sql

File Backup:

# Tar archive
tar -czf backup.tar.gz /path/to/data/

# Rsync to remote server
rsync -avz /path/to/data/ user@remote:/backup/

Automated Backups:

# Create backup script
cat > /root/backup.sh << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d)
tar -czf /backup/data-$DATE.tar.gz /var/www/
find /backup/ -name "data-*.tar.gz" -mtime +7 -delete
EOF

chmod +x /root/backup.sh

# Add to crontab
crontab -e
# Add: 0 2 * * * /root/backup.sh

Performance Optimization

Optimize Web Server

Nginx:

# /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
worker_processes auto;
worker_connections 2048;

gzip on;
gzip_types text/plain text/css application/json application/javascript;

client_max_body_size 100M;

PHP-FPM:

# /etc/php/8.1/fpm/pool.d/www.conf
pm = dynamic
pm.max_children = 50
pm.start_servers = 5
pm.min_spare_servers = 5
pm.max_spare_servers = 35

Enable Caching

Redis for sessions:

# Install Redis
sudo apt install redis-server -y

# Configure PHP to use Redis
echo "session.save_handler = redis" >> /etc/php/8.1/fpm/php.ini
echo "session.save_path = 'tcp://127.0.0.1:6379'" >> /etc/php/8.1/fpm/php.ini

Database Optimization

MySQL tuning:

-- Check slow queries
SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'slow_query_log';
SET GLOBAL slow_query_log = 'ON';

-- Add indexes
CREATE INDEX idx_user_email ON users(email);

-- Analyze tables
ANALYZE TABLE users;

Troubleshooting

Cannot SSH

Check instance status:

Verify instance is running
Check SSH service: sudo systemctl status sshd
Check firewall allows port 22

Test connectivity:

# Ping server
ping your-ip

# Test SSH port
telnet your-ip 22

# Verbose SSH
ssh -v root@your-ip

High Load

Check processes:

# CPU hogs
top -o %CPU

# Memory hogs
top -o %MEM

# Disk I/O
iotop

Solutions:

Kill rogue processes
Restart services
Upgrade instance profile
Optimize applications

Out of Disk Space

Find space hogs:

du -h --max-depth=1 / | sort -rh | head -20

Clean up:

# Old logs
sudo journalctl --vacuum-time=7d

# Package cache
sudo apt clean

# Docker cleanup
docker system prune -a

# Old kernels (Ubuntu)
sudo apt autoremove --purge

Service Won't Start

Check logs:

sudo journalctl -u service-name -n 50

# Or
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log

Common fixes:

# Check configuration
sudo nginx -t

# Fix permissions
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/

# Check ports
sudo netstat -tlnp | grep :80

Best Practices

Regular Maintenance

Weekly:

Review resource usage
Check for updates
Review logs for errors
Verify backups

Monthly:

Full system update
Create snapshot
Review security logs
Clean up old files
Review firewall rules

Monitoring

Set up monitoring:

CPU/memory alerts
Disk space alerts
Service health checks
Uptime monitoring

Documentation

Keep records of:

Configuration changes
Software installed
User accounts
Firewall rules
Backup schedules

Next Steps

Need help? Contact support through the dashboard.