KVM Cloud VPS Initial Setup & Security Guide

Upon purchasing your KVM Cloud VPS, your dedicated clean IPv4 address and root credentials are automatically delivered to your registered email and available in the Client Portal.

Connecting on Linux / macOS / Windows Terminal

Open your command prompt or terminal and connect via standard SSH:

ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP

On your first connection, confirm the host authenticity prompt (yes) and enter your root password when prompted.

Connecting on Windows with PuTTY

1. Download and launch PuTTY.
2. In the Host Name (or IP address) field, enter YOUR_SERVER_IP.
3. Ensure Port is set to 22 and Connection Type is SSH.
4. Click Open, accept the host key warning, and log in as root.

Operating as the root superuser poses serious security risks. Always create a dedicated administrative user with sudo privileges:

# 1. Update OS packages
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# 2. Create a new administrative user (replace 'developer')
adduser developer

# 3. Add user to the sudo group
usermod -aG sudo developer

# 4. Switch to new user to verify
su - developer

Protect your VPS by restricting open ports using UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall):

# Set default policies (Drop incoming, allow outgoing)
sudo ufw default deny incoming
sudo ufw default allow outgoing

# ALWAYS allow SSH before enabling UFW (Prevent self-lockout!)
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp comment "SSH Remote Management"

# Allow HTTP and HTTPS for web servers
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp comment "HTTP Web"
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp comment "HTTPS Web"

# Enable UFW and verify active status
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw status verbose

Most modern web applications, bots, databases, and microservices run containerized in Docker:

# Install official Docker convenience script
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh

# Add your user to the docker group (run docker without sudo)
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

# Verify Docker installation
docker --version && docker compose version

Configure Nginx as a high-speed reverse proxy with automated HTTPS encryption via Certbot:

# Install Nginx and Certbot
sudo apt install nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

# Start and enable Nginx service
sudo systemctl enable --now nginx

# Obtain free automated SSL certificate for your domain
# (Ensure your domain DNS points to your VPS IPv4 first!)
sudo certbot --nginx -d YOUR_DOMAIN.COM -d www.YOUR_DOMAIN.COM

Certbot automatically configures SSL renewal timers in systemd so your HTTPS certificate renews automatically every 60 days.