Choosing an OS for your VPS.

Your cloud server needs an OS. You pick it when you create the server (+ Create → Cloud server in the new panel). We offer Ubuntu, Debian, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, CentOS Stream, Fedora and openSUSE. Here's how to pick.

Ubuntu (LTS)

Pick if: you're new to Linux servers, you want the largest community / most tutorials, you're running Docker / Kubernetes, or you're deploying a Node.js / Python / Ruby app.

Why: biggest ecosystem, best docs, latest mainstream packages, 5-year LTS support.

Versions: 24.04 LTS (recommended), 22.04 LTS.

Debian

Pick if: you want maximum stability, you're running a long-lived server you don't want to update for years, you have philosophical preference for minimal preinstalled packages.

Why: rock-solid, no surprises, conservative package versions, smaller default install than Ubuntu.

Versions: 12, 11.

AlmaLinux / Rocky Linux

Pick if: you specifically need RHEL-compatible (yum/dnf, SELinux defaults, etc.), or you have RHEL-specific scripts and tooling.

Why: drop-in CentOS replacement after RedHat ended free CentOS in 2021. AlmaLinux and Rocky are bug-compatible forks.

Versions: 10 and 9 for both.

CentOS Stream

Pick if: you specifically want to track the upstream RHEL development line.

Don't pick if: you want a stable production OS — Stream is rolling-release ahead of RHEL, not behind it.

Fedora

Pick if: you're developing/testing software that needs the latest kernel/glibc/python, you don't mind upgrading the OS yearly.

Don't pick for production: 13-month support window is too short.

openSUSE Leap

Pick if: you already run SUSE/openSUSE elsewhere and know zypper and YaST.

Versions: 16.

Practical recommendation

For 90% of users:

• Web app deployment → Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
• Database server / long-running infrastructure → Debian 12
• RHEL-compatible environment → Rocky Linux or AlmaLinux (latest version)

Changing OS later

Reinstall system (server page → ⋯ → Reinstall system) reinstalls the same OS from scratch — all data on the disk is erased and you get a new root password.

The panel can't switch a server to a different OS. If you need that, write to support (Help → Write to us), or create a new server with the OS you want and move your data over.

What's on a fresh server

A plain image of the OS you picked, plus:

• Your SSH key in /root/.ssh/authorized_keys, if you added one when creating the server
• A root password — always created, shown on the server page (it isn't emailed)
• Your own cloud-init config, if you provided one in the Cloud config step

We add nothing else on top of the OS image's own defaults: no firewall rules, no update settings, no control panel. Set those up yourself — see firewall basics. If you want a ready control panel for websites, that's our website hosting rather than a cloud server.