A reinstall gives you a factory-fresh operating system on the same server, same IP, same plan. It takes about ten minutes. It also permanently erases everything on the disk, so read the first section before you click anything.
When NOT to reinstall
- You cannot log in. A reinstall will not fix a wrong password, an RDP or SSH connection error, or a locked-out account. Use Reset password on the server page instead; it takes ten seconds and keeps your data.
- The server feels slow. Check the live stats on the overview first. A reinstall rarely helps; an upgrade usually does.
Reinstall when you want a clean system, want to switch OS (for example Ubuntu to Windows), or something is broken beyond repair.
What is erased
Everything on the server's disk: files, databases, installed software, users, configuration, and any snapshots stored on the server itself. The IP address and the plan are kept.
If you have the Automated Backups add-on, your off-site restore points survive the reinstall and can be restored afterwards from the Backup Manager. The reinstall dialog also offers Back up now so you can take a fresh copy first.
If you do not have backups, copy anything you need off the server before you continue. There is no undo.
Step by step
- Open the server in your dashboard, go to Settings and click Reinstall OS.
- Read the warning. If you are here because of a login problem, click Reset password instead.
- Tick "I understand", type
reinstalland continue. - Pick the operating system. Windows Server is available on VPS Bear and larger. Optionally set a hostname and, for Linux, select SSH keys to install.
- Click Install operating system. The status changes to Building.
After the reinstall
- Wait about 10 minutes. Windows can take a little longer and runs at high CPU for the first half hour while Windows Defender does its first scan.
- The server gets a new password. Click Reset password on the server page to set and see it, then connect.
- Your IP address is unchanged, so DNS records keep working.
Restoring from backup instead
If you only want to roll back to how the server was yesterday, you do not need a reinstall at all: open the Backups tab and restore a restore point from the Backup Manager. That overwrites the disk with the chosen backup.