System: reinstall and root password

The System section of your VPS has two things: Reinstall and Reset root password.

Reinstall

Sets up the server with a fresh operating system.

1. Open the server under Services and go to System.
2. Choose the image under Operating system: Debian 12, Debian 13, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, AlmaLinux 9 or Rocky Linux 9. Below it you see which user you sign in with afterwards.
3. Optional: paste your public key into SSH key (optional), one line like ssh-ed25519 AAAA… you@laptop. If you leave it empty, the current one is kept.
4. Click Reinstall. To confirm, you type the server's name.

The installation takes a few minutes. Afterwards there is a new root password. It appears once right below the button (New root password, "Shown only now") and is then listed in the overview under Credentials.

Where do I get an SSH key?

On your computer (Windows Terminal, macOS, Linux):

ssh-keygen -t ed25519

The public part is then in ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub (Windows: C:\Users\<name>\.ssh\id_ed25519.pub). Paste only that content. The file without .pub is your private key; it stays on your computer. The dashboard rejects private keys.

More in Connecting via SSH.

After the reinstall

Your computer still knows the server's old host key. On the next connection SSH warns with REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED. Remove the old entry:

ssh-keygen -R YOUR-IPV4

Then connect again as in First login.

Reset root password

Sets a new password for root, for example if you forgot it.

1. Under System, at Reset root password, click Reset password and confirm.
2. The new password appears once right below, or is then listed under Credentials in the overview.

Running SSH sessions stay open. The old password stops working. Your data is kept.

Next steps

After a reinstall you start from scratch: Securing your server, then for example Docker or Setting up swap. If something goes wrong, open a ticket.