VPS operating systems: templates, reinstalls and custom ISOs

Every Offshore VPS is a KVM virtual machine with full root access. You pick an operating system template when you order, and you can change it at any time: reinstall from another template, or boot your own ISO and install any system that runs on x86-64 hardware.

Available templates

The dates are the projects' own published plans as of September 2026. On FreeBSD, stay on the latest 14.x point release: each one is supported for only a few months after the next is published. Whatever you choose, install pending updates right after the first boot, as shown in the getting started guide.

Reinstall from a template

1. Back up your data to another machine. VPS snapshots and off-site backups shows how with restic or Borg.
2. On your server's page in the client area, under Server actions, pick the template in Reinstall with, confirm that the disk will be erased and send the request. The new access details appear on the same page once the reinstall is done.
3. Confirm. The new system is written to the disk and the VPS boots into it.
4. Log in as root with the new credentials, install updates and work through the hardening guide again.

A reinstall creates new SSH host keys, so your SSH client will warn that the remote host identification has changed. Remove the old key from your computer, then connect again:

ssh-keygen -R SERVER_IP

Boot a custom ISO

Use your own ISO for systems that are not in the template list, such as OpenBSD, NixOS, FreeBSD 15, AlmaLinux 10 or Rocky Linux 10, or to start a rescue system. First note the current network settings, which the installer may ask for:

ip -br addr
ip route

1. Find a direct HTTPS link to the ISO file on the publisher's official download page or mirror list, so you know the image is genuine. The link must download the file without a login or an intermediate page.
2. On your server's page in the client area, under Server actions, choose Boot my own ISO and paste the link. Large images take a few minutes to fetch.
3. We attach the ISO, set the VPS to boot from it and restart it. The request then shows as done, and the address and password of the VNC console appear in the Access section of the page.
4. Open the VNC console. You now see the installer as if you were sitting at the machine.
5. Install to the virtual disk, usually /dev/vda on Linux or vtbd0 on FreeBSD. If the installer does not configure the network by itself, enter the IPv4 address, netmask and gateway you noted, and add an address from your /64 if you want IPv6.
6. When the installation finishes, request Detach the ISO and boot from disk under Server actions. Until it shows as done, a restart opens the installer once more.

KVM presents virtio disks and network cards. Current Linux and BSD installers include virtio drivers; Windows installers do not. If you need Windows, order a Windows RDP plan instead.

Notes on cloud-init

Some templates use cloud-init to apply first-boot settings such as the hostname, the root password or key, and the network configuration. Check whether yours does:

cloud-init status

If the command is not found, your system does not use cloud-init and you can skip the rest of this section. If it is installed, cloud-init can regenerate the network configuration at boot. If you manage networking yourself, turn that part off:

echo 'network: {config: disabled}' > /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.d/99-disable-network-config.cfg

If your hostname resets after a reboot, tell cloud-init to keep it:

echo 'preserve_hostname: true' > /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.d/99-preserve-hostname.cfg

On Ubuntu, cloud-init may write /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/50-cloud-init.conf, which can switch password logins back on. The hardening guide uses a file that SSH reads before that one, so your settings win. To stop cloud-init entirely once the server is set up:

touch /etc/cloud/cloud-init.disabled

Systems you install from your own ISO have no cloud-init unless you add it.

Choosing an operating system

On the 1 GB Dinghy plan, package managers can run short of memory during large updates; dnf on AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux is the usual case. If free -h shows no swap, add a 1 GB swap file:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1M count=1024
chmod 600 /swapfile
mkswap /swapfile
swapon /swapfile
echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' >> /etc/fstab

If you are unsure, choose Debian 13 or Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. Both are widely documented, supported until 2029 or later, and match the commands in our other guides. Once the system is running, secure it with the first-hour hardening checklist.