Set up a new virtual server

When you pay for a virtual server, nothing is installed yet. That is on purpose. You choose the operating system and how you sign in, and the server is built from there.

There are four steps and it takes about a minute.

Getting to the wizard#

Straight after payment there is a Set up my server button on the confirmation page.

If you closed that page, the wizard is still waiting for you. There are three ways back:

• The Discord message you were sent has a link.
• The client area Overview shows a banner with a Finish setup button.
• Open the service from Services and click Open the setup wizard in the banner at the top.

The service shows Setup required on its card until you finish. There is no hurry and nothing expires because you have not run it.

Step 1: the operating system#

Eight tiles. Pick one.

If you are not sure, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is the safe answer. It has the longest support window and the most guides written for it.

You can reinstall with a different one later, at no cost, so this is not a decision you are stuck with. See Reinstall a virtual server.

Both Windows tiles carry a warning you should read. They are Microsoft evaluation media and stop working 180 days after installation unless you supply your own Windows licence.

Step 2: the hostname#

The name the server calls itself. It is filled in for you already, so you can just click Continue.

If you want your own, use letters, digits and hyphens, up to 63 characters, starting and ending with a letter or digit. The field forces lowercase as you type.

It has to be unique across our fleet. If someone already has the name you want, you are told and you pick another.

Step 3: how you sign in#

Two choices on Linux.

Generate a root password. We make a strong one. It is shown to you once as the install starts, and it is also stored encrypted on your account so you can reveal it again later from the service page.

Use my SSH public key. Paste one public key per line, up to twelve. A password is generated as well, so you can still get in through the console if you ever need to.

On Windows there is only the password option, because Windows signs in over Remote Desktop.

Step 4: check it over#

A summary of the plan, the specification, the location, the system, the hostname, the IPv4 address and how you will sign in.

Then press the button, which names the system you picked, for example Install Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

While it builds#

The page shows each step as it happens: copying the system image onto your volume, applying your hostname, address and credentials, growing the volume to your plan size, powering the server on.

A Linux install is usually under a minute. Windows takes up to about fifteen, because it finishes its own first boot before it answers.

Copy the password now. It is in a box on this screen with a copy button. You can reveal it again later from the service page, but copying it now saves you a step.

You can close the page. The install carries on and the details are sent to you on Discord.

Nothing else on the service can be changed while the install runs. The controls unlock by themselves when it finishes.

When it is done#

You see Your server is ready with the user name and the password, and a button to open the service.

From there:

1. Connect over SSH or over Remote Desktop.
2. Open the Security tab and check which ports are open. A new Linux server allows port 22 and ping only. A new Windows server allows 3389 and ping only. Everything else is refused, so you have to open the ports your own software needs. See The firewall.
3. Put your own address on the always allowed list before you start changing rules.
4. Take a snapshot once the server is set up the way you want it.

If it fails#

You get the error on screen, and the service goes straight back to a state where you can run the wizard again. Nothing is charged again. If it keeps failing, our team is already notified and you can email [email protected].

Running the wizard a second time#

You can, and the panel will let you. But understand what it does: it wipes the volume and builds the server from scratch. Nothing on it survives. Both the review step and the retry screen say so.

If what you want is a fresh system on a server you have been using, the Reinstall tab in the client area is the same operation with the same warnings.