On this page 6 sections
A reinstall replaces everything on your server with a fresh operating system. You need access to the client area and, ideally, an SSH key saved under Account → SSH keys (see Create and use SSH keys).
A reinstall erases all data on the server. It can’t be undone, and we keep no backups of your data. Copy anything you need first, if necessary from rescue mode.
When to reinstall
- You want a different operating system or version.
- You want a different disk layout, for example RAID 0 instead of RAID 1.
- The server was compromised. A reinstall is the only reliable cleanup; see Secure your server in the first hour.
- A configuration is so broken that starting over is faster than repairing it, and your data is backed up.
You don’t need to reinstall for a lost password or a system that won’t boot: rescue mode lets you fix both without touching your data.
Available operating systems
| System | Versions | Network configuration |
|---|---|---|
| Debian | 13, 12 | ifupdown, /etc/network/interfaces |
| Ubuntu | 26.04 LTS, 24.04 LTS | Netplan, /etc/netplan/*.yaml (systemd-networkd) |
| AlmaLinux | 10, 9 | NetworkManager (nmcli) |
| Rocky Linux | 10, 9 | NetworkManager (nmcli) |
| Proxmox VE | 9 | /etc/network/interfaces with a vmbr0 bridge |
| FreeBSD | 15.0, 14.3 | /etc/rc.conf |
Any other system, including Windows Server with your own license, installs from an ISO image over the console. See Use the IPMI/KVM console.
Reinstall step by step
- In the client area, open Servers, select the server and open the Reinstall tab.
- Choose the operating system and version.
- Enter a hostname. Use a fully qualified name in a domain you control, such as
srv1.example.com; you’ll reuse it for reverse DNS. - Select one or more SSH keys, so that key-based login works from the first boot.
- Choose a disk layout, described in the next section.
- Confirm. The request appears under Recent operations with its status; the server then restarts and installs the new system, which you can watch from a console session.
Choose a disk layout
The form offers the layouts that your server’s number of disks allows. Linux layouts use mdadm software RAID; the ZFS mirror is offered for Proxmox VE and FreeBSD.
| Layout | Disks | Usable capacity | Survives |
|---|---|---|---|
| RAID 1 (default) | 2 identical | One disk | One disk failure |
| RAID 0 | 2 or more | All disks | Nothing: one failure loses everything |
| RAID 10 | 4 or more | Half | One failure per mirrored pair |
| RAID 5 | 3 or more | All but one disk | One disk failure |
| RAID 6 | 4 or more | All but two disks | Any two disk failures |
| ZFS mirror | 2 | One disk | One disk failure |
RAID 1 suits almost every two-disk server: the server keeps running when one disk fails, and the failed disk can be replaced without a reinstall. Choose RAID 0 only for data you can afford to lose, such as caches or scratch space. On storage servers with 22 TB drives, prefer RAID 6 or RAID 10: rebuilding a disk that size takes more than a day, and RAID 5 has no protection left during that time. A ZFS mirror adds checksums that detect silent corruption, plus snapshots and compression. Monitor and repair software RAID covers health checks and disk replacement.
After the reinstall
The new system has new SSH host keys, so your SSH client warns that the remote host identification has changed. Remove the old entry, then connect as usual:
ssh-keygen -R 203.0.113.10
ssh root@203.0.113.10Your IP addresses stay the same. Everything inside the old system is gone: users, firewall rules, services, scheduled jobs and any additional IPv4 or IPv6 addresses you configured yourself. Before you restore data from your backups:
- apply updates and the hardening steps in Secure your server in the first hour;
- configure additional IP addresses again; for IPv6, see Configure IPv6 on your server;
- check that the PTR records in the Network tab still name the right hosts.
Install a system that isn’t listed
For another distribution, a specific release or Windows Server with your own license, mount the installer ISO through virtual media in the Console tab and install it as you would on a local machine. Configure the network with the values shown in the Network tab. The steps are in Use the IPMI/KVM console.
