Setup & operation
Can I install any operating system on a VPS?
On KVM, yes. OnionVPS provides templates for Ubuntu, Debian, AlmaLinux, Rocky, Fedora, Arch, Alpine, NixOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Windows Server, Proxmox and others, and you can upload a custom ISO and install anything that boots. On container-based virtualisation such as OpenVZ, you are limited to Linux templates the host provides.
Custom ISO upload is free, needs no approval, and works through the out-of-band VNC console — you watch the installer exactly as if you were at a physical machine.
This is the practical reason KVM matters for anything unusual. FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Whonix, a hardened image or an appliance operating system are all impossible on shared-kernel virtualisation.
See also: Out-of-band console · Custom ISO · OpenVZ · KVM
7 answers in Setup & operation
- How do I connect to a VPS with SSH? Run ssh root@your-server-ip from any terminal on macOS, Linux or Windows 10 and later. Use the key you supplied at provisioning, or the password email…
- How do I secure a new VPS? Five steps cover the overwhelming majority of real-world compromises: key-based SSH with password authentication disabled, no direct root login, a def…
- How do I stop SSH brute-force attacks? Disable password authentication entirely — brute force against key-based SSH is not possible. Add fail2ban to reduce log noise, and consider moving SS…
- How do I set up a firewall on a VPS? Use nftables on modern Linux, or ufw as a friendlier front end. Set the default inbound policy to drop, allow established and related connections, the…
- Can I upload my own ISO? Yes, on every plan, at no cost and with no approval step. Upload the ISO from the panel or point us at a URL, attach it as virtual media, and boot fro…
- What is KVM virtualisation? KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is full hardware virtualisation built into the Linux kernel, using processor extensions to run each guest with its …