{"article":{"id":"4802898cfe282d785888fe76cd1121a5","categorySlug":"cloud-vps","slug":"vps-reinstall-rescue","title":"Reinstall the OS or boot rescue mode","excerpt":"Wipe your VPS and install a fresh operating system, or boot rescue mode to repair a server that no longer starts — without losing its data.","body":"Two recovery tools live on your server's **Management** tab in the control panel. Which one you need depends on whether you want to keep the data on the server.\n\n# Reinstall or rescue mode?\n\n- A reinstall erases the whole disk and installs a fresh operating system. Use it when you want a clean start, or when the old system is beyond repair. All data on the server is lost.\n- Rescue mode boots your VPS from a separate recovery system while its own disk stays attached. Nothing is erased — you can inspect the disk, fix a broken configuration, or copy data off, then boot back into your own system.\n\nIf there is any chance you will want the current state back, [take a snapshot first](/kb/vps-snapshots-backups) — it only takes a moment.\n\n# Reinstall the operating system\n\n1. In the portal sidebar, open **Cloud VPS** (or **Cloud Instances**, depending on the product) and click **Manage** on your server.\n2. Go to the **Management** tab and find the **Reinstall OS** card.\n3. Choose an operating system from the dropdown — Ubuntu, Debian, AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux; GPU servers also see images with the GPU (CUDA) software preinstalled.\n4. Click **Reinstall OS**.\n5. A confirmation window warns you that the reinstall erases all data on the server. It also has an optional **SSH public key** field — paste a key to install it on the new system, or leave it empty to keep the key from your original order.\n6. Confirm. You will see the message that the reinstall has started and your server is being rebuilt.\n\n![The Management tab: the Reinstall OS card with the operating-system dropdown, and the Rescue mode card below it](/assets/kb/vps/reinstall.png)\n\n\u003e Reinstalling erases everything on the server's disk. Make sure you have a snapshot, a backup, or a copy of anything you still need before you confirm.\n\nWhen the rebuild finishes, a fresh root password is generated. Find it on the **Overview** tab, in the Access card — click the eye icon to reveal it or the copy icon to copy it. Your SSH program may warn that the server's identity changed the first time you connect; after a reinstall that is expected.\n\n# Boot rescue mode\n\nUse rescue mode when the server no longer boots or you have locked yourself out — for example after a bad system update, a broken startup configuration, or a firewall change inside the operating system. It is free for every VPS.\n\n1. Open your server and go to the **Management** tab.\n2. In the **Rescue mode** card, click **Boot into rescue**. The server reboots into the recovery system, and the card shows a **Rescue active** chip.\n3. Go to the **Console** tab and click **Connect** to work in the recovery system directly from your browser — this works even when the operating system on the disk is broken.\n\n![The Console tab — click Connect for full keyboard and screen access in your browser](/assets/kb/vps/console.png)\n\nInside the recovery system, your server's disk is attached but not mounted. List the disks, then mount your system partition to work on it:\n\n```\nlsblk\nmount /dev/vda1 /mnt\n```\n\nDevice names can differ, so always check the `lsblk` output first. From there you can edit configuration files under `/mnt`, run a filesystem check, or copy important files off the server.\n\n\u003e Anything you save inside the recovery system itself disappears when you exit rescue mode. Only changes made on your mounted disk are kept.\n\n# Exit rescue mode\n\n1. Return to the **Management** tab.\n2. In the **Rescue mode** card, click **Exit rescue**. The server reboots from its own disk.\n3. Watch the **Console** tab to confirm the system starts normally.\n\n# If the server still won't start\n\nRevert to a snapshot or restore a backup if you have one — see [Snapshots and backups](/kb/vps-snapshots-backups). As a last resort, reinstall the operating system as described above. If you are unsure what to do, open a ticket from **Tickets** in the portal and our team will help.","status":"published","position":6,"createdAt":"2026-07-15T11:11:28Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-15T11:11:28Z"},"related":[{"id":"d8103957296579e9e635fc7800bda7a2","categorySlug":"cloud-vps","slug":"choosing-a-vps-line","title":"Choose a line: Standard, 100 Gbps, GPU or hourly Cloud Instances","excerpt":"Understand the difference between fixed Cloud VPS and GPU VPS plans and build-your-own Cloud Instances, and pick the right line and billing mode for your workload.","position":1,"status":"published"},{"id":"c9cf35dfb5bb44829ae9715fe04d2446","categorySlug":"cloud-vps","slug":"deploy-and-connect-vps","title":"Deploy a server and connect","excerpt":"Create a cloud server, follow the build, find its IP address and root password, then log in over SSH or through the web console in the portal.","position":2,"status":"published"},{"id":"0c8ceb77aec6974293a8891d6f1cfd91","categorySlug":"cloud-vps","slug":"vps-snapshots-backups","title":"Snapshots and backups","excerpt":"Take and restore snapshots of your VPS, and enable the Backups add-on for full copies stored separately from your server.","position":3,"status":"published"},{"id":"d0b4b2a67b8b95c63cbf6cfc1eb4bc21","categorySlug":"cloud-vps","slug":"vps-resize-plan-change","title":"Resize or change plan","excerpt":"Scale a cloud server up or down — resize a Cloud Instance's vCPU and memory, or move your Cloud VPS or GPU VPS to a bigger or smaller plan.","position":4,"status":"published"},{"id":"0485ae6dd65a367370dbbed64cad33f3","categorySlug":"cloud-vps","slug":"vps-cloud-firewall","title":"Use the cloud firewall","excerpt":"Enable the per-server cloud firewall, open only the ports you need with presets or custom rules, and deploy changes safely without locking yourself out.","position":5,"status":"published"}]}