KoaVM
Guide pages

Guide · For customers

Your VPS

The Services page lists your VPSs. Open one to see status, resources, charts and all the commands.

Logging in to the VPS

Log in over SSH as root:

ssh root@YOUR-IP

The root password was given to you by whoever sold you the VPS (or you chose it when ordering). If you provided an SSH key you can also log in without a password.

With Windows you sign in with remote desktop (RDP) to the VPS IP, user Administrator. On Windows the password is changed from Windows itself (Ctrl+Alt+Del › Change a password); if you lost it, reinstall.

Start, shut down, restart

  • Start, Shut down, Restart: shutdown and restart ask the system to close cleanly.
  • Force stop (under "Not responding?"): pulls the virtual plug. Use it only if the system is stuck.

Console

Open console shows the VPS in the browser, even when the network is not working: useful to fix the configuration or see why it does not boot. There are two modes:

  • Serial, the Linux terminal: log in with the root user and password;
  • Graphical, the real VPS screen: meant for Windows and for installing a system from an ISO. Click the screen to use keyboard and mouse; Ctrl+Alt+Del sends the key combination to the VPS.

Preinstalled app

If you picked an app when ordering (for example WordPress, Docker or a panel such as HestiaCP), it installs by itself on the first boot. The VPS page shows how far it has got; at the end you find the address, user and password to sign in. Install log shows what it is doing. Do not restart the VPS while the install is running.

CD and ISO

CD / ISO › Mount an ISO attaches a disc from the library (for example a rescue disc) and, if you want, boots the VPS from the CD. Then use the graphical console. Unmount removes the disc and the VPS boots from its own disk again.

Forgotten password

Generate new password sets a new root password and shows it only once: copy it right away. The VPS must be running.

Rescue mode

If the VPS does not boot any more, you lost the password or you broke /etc/fstab, Boot into rescue mode (Rescue mode card on the VPS page) restarts it into a small Linux system (Debian) prepared by the panel:

  • it has the same IP addresses as the VPS (IPv6 and private networks too);
  • you log in with SSH as root with a temporary password, shown only once when you start rescue mode (you can also pick your saved SSH keys);
  • the VPS disk is attached but not mounted: it is the second disk, lsblk shows it (the login message tells you which one it is);
  • the panel console works as usual.

Your SSH client warns that the server key changed: that is expected, it is a different system. If the panel firewall closes port 22 of the VPS, open it while you are in rescue mode or use the console.

A few examples, with the VPS disk at /dev/vda (check with lsblk):

mount /dev/vda1 /mnt                 # mount the VPS system
nano /mnt/etc/fstab                  # fix fstab
chroot /mnt passwd root              # new root password for the VPS
umount /mnt

If the disk uses LVM, install the tools with apt install lvm2 (the rescue system has network access) and activate the group with vgchange -ay.

When you are done, Leave rescue mode: the VPS shuts down, the rescue disk is removed and the VPS boots its own system again, as before (same server SSH keys, same users). After 24 hours it leaves rescue mode by itself; the page warns you when less than an hour is left. Meanwhile the VPS services are down and snapshots, backups (automatic ones are skipped), reinstalls and plan changes are not possible. Start, Shut down and Restart work: the VPS boots the rescue system again.

With Windows the Linux rescue system is for reading and copying files from the disk (NTFS: apt install ntfs-3g, then for example mount -o ro /dev/sdb2 /mnt; check the disk with lsblk); it does not repair the Windows boot and cannot read BitLocker-encrypted disks. If Windows was shut down with fast startup, mount it read-only.

Reinstalling the system

Reinstall the OS wipes the whole disk and starts from scratch with the system you choose; the IP address stays the same. For safety you have to type the VPS name. The VPS's snapshots are deleted too: if you need anything, take a backup first. Extra disks are left untouched and the new system mounts them where they were.

Charts

The VPS page shows CPU, RAM and disk usage and the monthly traffic, with the day it resets.

The Disk in the last 24 hours chart shows how much the VPS reads and writes, in MB/s and, with the IOPS button, in operations per second: one line for reads and one for writes, with the average above the chart. Move the mouse (or use the keyboard arrows) over the chart for the values at a given moment. The disk is measured every 30 seconds on the server that hosts the VPS, while the VPS is running.

If your plan has disk or CPU limits you find them under the charts, for example "read 300 MB/s" or "at most 80% of each vCPU". Disk limits apply to each disk. With the main disk only, the chart has the dashed limit line: when it gets there the VPS cannot go any faster. If it happens often, ask for a bigger plan.

Disk space

The Disk space card shows the used and free space of each disk inside the VPS (measured from the OS every 10 minutes; Measure now measures right away), how much it grew in the last 24 hours, when it fills up at that rate and a chart of the last 7 days. It needs the Incus agent, which is already in the systems installed by the panel; on Windows the space is not measured.

With Email me when a disk goes over you get an email when a disk goes over the threshold you choose (50 to 99%): it is sent once and, when the disk drops 5 points below the threshold, it is armed again for the next time.