Getting Started with Your VPS

This guide walks you through everything you should do in the first 30 minutes after your VPS is provisioned - from finding your IP address to making the server ready to use.

Step 1: Find Your IP and Credentials

Log in to the client area and open your VPS service. Your IP address, root password, and a link to the VirtFusion panel are all shown there.

You can also manage your VPS - reboot, reinstall, view console - directly from VirtFusion without raising a ticket.

Step 2: Connect via SSH

From a Mac or Linux terminal, run:

ssh [email protected]

On Windows, use PuTTY or the built-in Windows Terminal.

When prompted, accept the host key fingerprint and enter your root password. You should land at a root shell prompt.

Step 3: Update the Operating System

The first thing to do on any fresh server is apply all pending updates:

Ubuntu / Debian:

apt update && apt upgrade -y

AlmaLinux / Rocky / CentOS:

dnf update -y

Fedora:

dnf upgrade -y

Step 4: Create a Non-Root User

Running everything as root is risky. Create a normal user and give it sudo access:

adduser yourname
usermod -aG sudo yourname   # Ubuntu/Debian
usermod -aG wheel yourname  # RHEL-based

Step 5: Set Up SSH Key Authentication

Password logins are convenient but less secure. Generate a key pair on your local machine if you do not have one:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]"

Then copy the public key to the server:

ssh-copy-id [email protected]

Once you have confirmed you can log in with your key, disable password authentication by editing /etc/ssh/sshd_config and setting:

PasswordAuthentication no

Restart SSH: systemctl restart sshd

Step 6: Enable a Firewall

Ubuntu / Debian (UFW):

ufw allow OpenSSH
ufw enable

RHEL-based (firewalld):

firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=ssh
firewall-cmd --reload

Only open ports that your server actually needs. If you are running a web server, you will also need to allow HTTP and HTTPS:

ufw allow 'Nginx Full'
# or
ufw allow 80 && ufw allow 443

What Next?

Your VPS is now updated, secured, and ready to use. Depending on what you are building, your next steps might include:

• Installing a web server (Nginx or Apache)
• Setting up a control panel
• Pointing your domain at the server (see our DNS guide)
• Installing a database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB)

If you need help at any point, open a ticket in the client area and we will assist.