VGNCloud
The first month on a VPS is where most people either make the box boring and safe, or install five unused stacks and forget to copy anything off. This is a checklist, not a course. First hour: CLOUD panel and SSH. Live sizes: VPS page.
Hour one
- Sign in as root. Change the mailed password, or confirm the key you pasted.
- Add an SSH key if you did not paste one at setup.
- Decide whether password login stays on. Keys are enough for most people.
- Do not install Docker, three panels and a mail stack on day one.
Day one: updates and the firewall
Run the image updates. Then open only what you need in the CLOUD panel firewall. Default is ACCEPT. That is convenient and wide. SSH from anywhere is a preset. Web is 80 and 443. If you DROP 22 without a key and a plan, use the browser console. Outbound SMTP stays closed unless we open it.
Week one: a backup that is not this disk
We do not snapshot the VPS yet. A dump in /var/backups on the same NVMe is not a backup. Copy data somewhere that is not this server. Do it before you reinstall, not after. VPS backups.
What not to postpone
- Unattended upgrades, or a calendar reminder you will actually honour.
- Watching the traffic graph in the panel. Only outbound counts. Incoming is free. What counts.
- Writing down the IPv4 and the hostname. Both survive a reinstall. Delete and cancel do not keep them.
If you decide the machine was the wrong shape
A website often belongs on web hosting. Cancel on the storefront stops billing and removes the machine. Delete in the panel does not stop the bill. Honest version: cancel vs delete a VPS. Copy data off first.