The Complete Guide to Managing Your Cloud Server
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Once your new cloud server is provisioned and online, our client portal puts complete control over your infrastructure right at your fingertips. From quick reboots to deep system recovery and network configuration, everything is managed from a single, intuitive interface.
This comprehensive guide walks you through every feature available in your cloud dashboard, explaining not just what each tool does, but exactly how to use it.
Part 1: The Cloud Servers Dashboard
When you log into your client area, you’ll find the 'Cloud Servers' link, which will take you directly to your Cloud Servers dashboard. Think of this as your bird's-eye view.
Menu: Client Area -> Cloud Servers
1. Navigating the Overview
The main table lists all your active servers. Rather than clicking into each one to check its status, this view provides immediate, critical information:
Status Indicator: A clear visual cue (Online, Offline, or Pending) so you know your server's current state.
Primary IP Addresses: Quickly copy your server's public IP for SSH or DNS configuration.
Core Specifications: A quick reminder of the CPU cores, RAM, and Disk space allocated to that specific machine.
Management Plan: Shows whether the server is Unmanaged, Standard, or Premium.
2. Organising with Projects & Tags
If you manage multiple servers for different clients or purposes, a long, flat list can become difficult to navigate.
Creating Projects: You can group servers into distinct 'Projects' (e.g., "Internal Infrastructure," "Client A Hosting," or "Staging Environments"). Using the Projects dropdown at the top of the interface, you can instantly filter your view to only show servers relevant to what you're working on.
Using Tags: For even finer control, you can assign custom tags to individual servers. Simply click the tag icon next to a server, type your label (like "database," "cpanel," or "critical"), and press enter. You can then search and filter your entire server list by these specific tags.
3. Out-of-Band Access: The Server Console
If you accidentally lock yourself out of your server—perhaps by misconfiguring a firewall rule or disabling SSH—you aren't locked out completely. Clicking the Console button opens a web-based Virtual Network Computing (VNC) terminal directly in your browser. This simulates having a physical monitor and keyboard plugged directly into your server.
Tip: Because this opens in a new window, ensure your browser hasn't blocked the pop-up. You will be prompted for your standard root login credentials once the console connects.
4. Power Controls
You don't need to be logged into your server via SSH to manage its power state. The dashboard provides immediate power controls:
Start/Stop: Initiates a graceful shutdown or startup, exactly like pressing the power button on a physical computer. It asks the operating system to safely close running processes before powering off.
Reboot: Sends a graceful restart command to the server.
Hard Reboot: If your server has completely frozen or crashed and is unresponsive to graceful commands, the Hard Reboot option forcefully cuts and restores the virtual power. Use this only when necessary, as forcing a power cut can sometimes result in unsaved data loss.
Part 2: Advanced Server Management (Product Details)
Clicking on 'Manage' for any specific server from your main dashboard opens its dedicated Product Details interface. This is your primary workspace for advanced configuration.
Note: This is also accessible via the Client Area -> Services menu, so you can access each server's management dashboard independently.
1. Real-Time Resource Usage
The first thing you will see is the Overview tab, which displays live performance metrics.
CPU & RAM Graphs: These visualisations help you spot bottlenecks. If you notice your CPU or RAM usage consistently pegging at 90-100%, it’s a clear indicator that your current plan is struggling with your workload and it may be time to scale up.
Storage Allocation: Keep a close eye on your disk usage. Running out of root disk space is a primary cause of database crashes and server instability.
2. Managing IP Addresses and Reverse DNS (rDNS)
Under the Network or IP Management tab, you have full control over your server's public-facing identity.
Additional IPs: If you require extra dedicated IPv4 addresses (for specific SSL setups, custom nameservers, or application requirements), you can purchase and assign them directly to the server from this screen.
Reverse DNS (rDNS): This is absolutely crucial if you are sending emails from your server. Mail providers like Google and Microsoft check if your server's IP address resolves back to its hostname. To set this up, locate your primary IP, click the edit icon, and enter your server's fully qualified domain name (for instance, changing a default or temporary name like
thisismytest.serverto your production hostname,thismytest.server). Save the changes, and the rDNS record will propagate automatically.
3. Creating and Managing Private Networks
Private Networks allow your cloud servers to communicate with one another over a secure, isolated local network that is completely inaccessible from the public internet.
How it works: When you create a Private Network and assign your servers to it, our system attaches a secondary virtual network interface (NIC) to your servers.
The benefit: Traffic sent over the private network doesn't count towards your public bandwidth limits, and it is significantly faster and more secure. It’s the perfect way to connect your front-end web servers to your back-end database servers.
4. Expanding Capacity with Block Storage
When you need more disk space, you have options. While upgrading your whole plan increases everything (CPU, RAM, Disk), Block Storage allows you to attach extra, independent hard drives to your server.
Attaching: Once purchased in the panel, the volume is attached to your server as a raw block device (e.g.,
/dev/vdb).Mounting: Please note that attaching the storage in the portal is only step one! You will still need to log into your server via SSH, format the new drive (using
mkfs), and mount it to a directory within your operating system (like/mnt/volume1or/backup) before you can store files on it.
5. Managing Software Licences
If you opted for premium software during checkout, the Licensing tab keeps everything organised. Here you will find your active keys for platforms like cPanel, Plesk, LiteSpeed, or JetBackup.
Note on IP changes: Software licences are bound to your server's primary IP address. If you view this tab, it will confirm the IP your licence is registered against and provide quick links to the vendor's official installation documentation if you are setting the software up from scratch.
6. System Safety: Snapshots
Before you execute a major OS upgrade, install complex software, or make risky configuration changes, you should always take a manual snapshot.
What it does: A snapshot instantly freezes and captures the exact state of your server's disk.
Restoring: If your update breaks the server, simply navigate back to the Snapshots tab, click Restore, and your server will be rolled back to that exact moment in time, usually within minutes. It is the ultimate "undo" button.
7. Custom Installations via ISO Boot
While we provide standard OS templates, you might want to run something custom.
The Process: In the ISO Boot section, you can select an ISO from our library or provide a direct URL to your own custom image. Once mounted, you change the server's boot order to boot from the CD-ROM first, and restart. You then use the Server Console (mentioned in Part 1) to manually walk through your custom OS installation wizard. Remember to unmount the ISO and revert the boot order once you're done!
8. Disaster Recovery: The Rescue System
This is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. If a botched firewall rule locks you out of SSH, or a broken kernel prevents the server from booting entirely, the Rescue System is your lifeline.
How to use it: Activating the Rescue System reboots your machine into a secure, lightweight Linux environment running purely in RAM. We will provide you with a temporary root password for this rescue environment.
Fixing the issue: Once logged in via SSH, your actual server's hard drive will be available as an unmounted disk. You can mount it, access your files, fix the broken configuration file or firewall rule, and then disable the Rescue System in the portal to reboot back into your normal, fixed operating system.
9. Managing the Cloud Firewall
Instead of managing complex iptables or firewalld rules directly on the server, you can manage your security policies at the network level using our Cloud Firewall.
Rules: You can easily create specific Allow or Deny rules. For a standard web server, you would typically allow inbound traffic on Port 80 (HTTP) and Port 443 (HTTPS) from any IP, but perhaps restrict Port 22 (SSH) so it can only be accessed from your home or office IP address.
10. Resetting the Root Password
If you lose your root SSH password, you can generate a new one securely from the dashboard.
Important: Our system securely injects the new password into your server's configuration. For this change to take effect, you must initiate a reboot of the server immediately after resetting the password in the client area.
Part 3: Upgrading & Reinstalling
Your infrastructure should never hold your business back. We’ve designed the platform to make scaling or starting fresh incredibly straightforward.
1. Scaling Up: Upgrading Your Plan
When your project outgrows its current resources, upgrading is seamless.
The Process: Navigate to the Upgrade/Downgrade options, select your new, more powerful plan, and complete the checkout.
What happens next: Our system will automatically adjust your virtual hardware allocation. You will simply need to reboot the server for the operating system to recognise the new CPU cores and RAM.
Note on Downgrading: While you can seamlessly upgrade, downgrading to a smaller plan is often not possible if it involves reducing disk space, as shrinking an active file system can cause severe data corruption.
2. Starting Fresh: The Reinstall Feature
Sometimes, it’s easier to wipe the slate clean. The Reinstall feature allows you to completely format your server and deploy a new operating system.
Total Wipe: Be extremely careful! Clicking Reinstall will permanently and irreversibly delete all data, databases, and configurations currently on the server.
Deployment Options: You can choose a standard, bare-bones Linux distribution, or select one of our Application Templates to have the system automatically provision a fresh OS with your chosen control panel (like cPanel or OpenPanel) pre-installed and ready for configuration. The process typically takes less than 5 minutes.
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