Server Reboot
How to properly restart your VPS or VDS, both via SSH and from the control panel
There are two types of reboots: soft reboot (via OS) and hard reboot (forced from the panel). Always use soft reboot when possible.
Reboot via SSH (soft reboot)
The correct and safe way to reboot:
rebootor:
shutdown -r nowWith a 5-minute delay (useful to notify connected users):
shutdown -r +5 "The server will reboot in 5 minutes"Cancel a scheduled reboot:
shutdown -cReboot from panel (hard reboot)
Use this option only if the server is unresponsive and you cannot access via SSH:
- Log into the control panel
- Select your server
- Click Reboot or Hard Reset
Hard reboot is equivalent to pulling the power plug. It can cause data loss if operations are in progress or filesystems are not yet synced. Use it only as a last resort.
Verify server is back online after reboot
From your computer, you can monitor the server coming back online with:
ping SERVER_IPOr directly with SSH in a loop:
until ssh root@SERVER_IP 'echo online'; do sleep 5; doneHow long does it take?
- VPS: typically 30-90 seconds
- VDS: typically 1-3 minutes
If the server is not back online after 5 minutes, check the panel for errors or use the VNC console to see what's happening.
Check what caused the reboot
After logging in, you can check the system logs:
# Last reboot
last reboot
# Kernel log (useful for crashes)
journalctl -b -1 -p err
# Complete log of the last boot
journalctl -b -1