Restart, reinstall and backups — cloud server lifecycle operations.
When to restart, stop or reinstall your cloud server, how daily backups and restores work, and what happens to an archived server.
The operations you'll use on a cloud server, where to find them, and what each one does to your data.
All of these are on the server's page in the new panel (rivervo.com/panel): open the server's project from Projects (or find it with the search box, Ctrl+K / ⌘K).
Restart
A clean reboot: the operating system shuts down its programs and boots again. Same data, same OS. It's usually back within a minute.
When: after a kernel update, after installing packages that need a reboot, or when the system is stuck and restarting individual services doesn't help.
How: server page → Restart. Or from SSH: sudo reboot.
Stop and Start
Stop asks the operating system to shut down cleanly. Start turns the server back on.
- Billing continues while the server is stopped — a stopped server still holds its resources.
- If the OS ignores the shutdown request, the panel tells you the server is still running. Try again, or shut it down from the Console.
There's no forced power-off button for customers. If the server is completely unresponsive, open the Console first; if that doesn't help, write to support (Help → Write to us).
Console
Server page → Console opens a browser-based console (like a monitor and keyboard attached to the server). It works even when SSH doesn't — for example after a firewall mistake. Click inside the screen to type and sign in as root with your root password.
Reset root password
Server page → ⋯ → Reset root password. The new password is shown on the server page in Connect to your server (Show / Copy). It isn't emailed.
Reinstall system
Wipes the disk and installs a fresh copy of the same operating system. You get a new root password.
When: recovering from serious breakage, or starting the server over for a new project.
How: server page → ⋯ → Reinstall system (or Danger zone → Reinstall) → Erase and reinstall.
Everything on the disk is gone. There's no undo. Copy anything you need off the server first, or make sure you have a recent backup.
Want a different OS? The panel reinstalls the same OS only — write to support.
Snapshots
There are no customer-made snapshots. You can't take a snapshot before a risky change yourself — use daily backups (below) and copy important data off the server before big changes.
A snapshot is made automatically in one case only: when a server is archived (see below).
Daily backups
Backups are an optional extra, available in the new panel.
- Turn on: the Backups card on the server page → Daily backups switch (or the Backups step when you create the server).
- What you get: a daily copy of the whole server; the last 7 are kept. The first backup appears within a day.
- Price: +20% of the server's plan price.
- Turning backups off deletes all existing backups of that server.
Restore: Backups card → Restore next to a date → Overwrite and restore. Everything on the server's disk is replaced with that backup — changes made after it are lost — and the server restarts. Attached volumes aren't affected.
Change plan (resize)
Server page → Billing → Change plan.
- Only plans of the same type and region are offered.
- The disk can't shrink. Choose Only CPU and RAM if you want to keep the current disk size, so you can move back to a smaller plan later.
- The server restarts during the change (1–3 minutes).
- Upgrades charge the difference now; downgrades are not refunded.
Archived servers
If a server paid from balance isn't renewed, it's archived when the paid month ends. Its data is kept as a snapshot for 7 days: server page → Restore brings it back (one month is charged; it gets new IP addresses and a new root password). After 7 days it can't be restored.
Deleting a server
Danger zone → Delete — type the server's name to confirm. The server and all its data are deleted immediately, billing stops, and nothing is refunded.