Getting started with your VPS

Your VPS is deployed, here's the path from "I have an IP address" to a working, secured, backed-up server. The guides read in order, but each stands alone.

Get in and get your files up#

• Your first 30 minutes on a new VPS. The checklist: update, sudo user, keys, firewall, backups, half of it doable on the deploy form itself.
• Managing your VPSDime VPS. The control panel tour: one login for billing and servers, and everything that's self-service.
• Connecting to your VPS (SSH). Username, password, your first ssh command, the Console fallback, and why Linux isn't RDP.
• Terminal basics. Enough shell to run a server: tab completion, nano, systemctl, logs, and the safety habits.
• Using Claude Code on your VPS, safely. The AI agent as junior sysadmin, install, what it's good at, and the leash (CLAUDE.md rules included).
• Setting up SSH keys, properly. Generate on any OS, deploy via the panel or ssh-copy-id, the agent, and the config file.
• Uploading files (SFTP). Built into SSH, nothing to install, FileZilla/WinSCP or scp/rsync.

Put something live#

• Pointing your domain. A records, Cloudflare, or our free DNS Manager, and propagation expectations.
• Hosting a website. One-click apps vs nginx/Caddy, and free SSL with Let's Encrypt.
• One-click Applications explained. Coolify, Traccar, Immich, Code Server, picked on the deploy form, credentials emailed.
• Modern open-source control panels. Coolify, Dokploy, Dokku, HestiaCP, CloudPanel, and the security rule for all of them.
• Should I host my own email? The honest decision: what self-hosting costs in upkeep, when it's worth it, and the hybrid.

Moving an existing setup here#

• Migrating from shared hosting to a VPS. The email decision, the hosts-file test, and the overlap week.
• Migrating a VPS to a new server. Server-to-server rsync, database dumps, two-pass cutover, and the new-IP checklist.

Make it durable#

• Securing your VPS. SSH keys, closed ports, automatic updates, acting fast on CVEs, and what to do if compromised.
• Securing publicly accessible services. Bind databases and caches to localhost, service by service, and the scanner-report quick wins.
• Backing up your VPS. The 3-2-1 rule, database dumps, restic and friends, and how the Nightly Backups add-on fits in.

When you need us#

• How to raise a support ticket. The first-reply-fix recipe, and why you paste what the server said, never what the chatbot said.

Ordering a VPS or adding another one is covered separately: how to order and deploying a new VPS.

Still need a person? You can open a support ticket any time.