Set Up Linux VPS – Complete Guide (SSH, Firewall, Security & Performance)

What is a VPS and what do you need it for?

A VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a virtual machine with its own OS, root access and fixed IP. You share physical hardware with other customers but have guaranteed resources (CPU, RAM, SSD) – much cheaper than a dedicated root server.

Typical use cases:

• Game servers (Minecraft, ARK, FiveM, DayZ) – with Pterodactyl or manually
• Voice servers (TeamSpeak, Mumble)
• Web projects, APIs, bots (Discord, Telegram)
• Development and test environments

More background: What is a VPS? · Root server comparison: What is a root server?

Step 0: Choose the right plan

Step 1: First SSH connection

ssh root@YOUR-SERVER-IP

See also: First steps with your server

Step 2: Update system

apt update && apt upgrade -y

Step 3: Hostname & timezone

hostnamectl set-hostname my-vps
timedatectl set-timezone Europe/Berlin

Step 4: Secure SSH (keys instead of password)

# On your local machine
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "nexorahost-vps"

# On server
mkdir -p ~/.ssh && chmod 700 ~/.ssh
nano ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

# Disable password login in /etc/ssh/sshd_config
systemctl restart sshd

Details: SSH keys instead of passwords

Step 5: UFW firewall

apt install ufw -y
ufw allow 22/tcp
ufw allow 25565/tcp   # Minecraft
ufw allow 80/tcp
ufw allow 443/tcp
ufw enable

Full guide: Firewall – opening and closing ports

Step 6: Fail2ban

apt install fail2ban -y
systemctl enable --now fail2ban

Step 7: Swap (for low RAM)

fallocate -l 2G /swapfile
chmod 600 /swapfile && mkswap /swapfile && swapon /swapfile
echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' >> /etc/fstab

Step 8–10: Tools, monitoring, backups

Install curl, git, htop. Monitor with htop, df -h, free -h. Plan snapshots (root server) or cron backups (VPS). See monitoring guide.

Game server preparation

1. Install Pterodactyl
2. Open ports in UFW
3. Set up domain/SRV record → Minecraft SRV

Related guides

• Root/V-Server hub
• Configure root server optimally
• Linux basics for beginners
• Game server hub