Setting up a VPS for a Beginner

Gazoo · Aug 12, 2017

I am looking for some kind of beginners guide for setting up a VPS. I have searched here and on Google but much of what I have found is a little technical and there are some parts of the information I am finding that are not really for a complete beginner at setting up a VPS.

I know how to do things in cPanel and a few other control panels but my experience is only with shared web hosting and everything is all setup when I have gotten my services.

I am looking at getting a VPS setup to move all of my websites to eventually so I need to set it up to have the capabilities to run both WordPress and a few other types of websites. Mostly php sites for the most part.

I am really a complete newbie in this area so I was hoping that someone here would be able to help point me to some helpful information and maybe a guide on how to do this. It just needs to be for a beginner, so please keep that in mind.

At first I will probably just move some of my WordPress websites and then later some others.

I will be looking to use a free control panel so any recommendations there will also be greatly appreciated. If there is a free option that is somewhat similar and easy to use like cPanel then that might be best.

I need to know how to basically start from scratch and setup everything including the control panel.

I will probably just get some kind of starter VPS somewhere to start out and then upgrade as my needs change.

Any help, guidance or other helpful information will really help me out.

HostBastic · Aug 12, 2017

Since you are currently hosted on cPanel my suggestion would be to install CentOS Web Panel on the VPS, its a free cPanel look-a-like. Not to mention under the "User Account" section there is a built in feature called "cPanel Migration" which will help you migrate your cPanel account onto the CentOS Web Panel.
There are quite a few tutorials which explain how to install and configure CentOS Web panel, that would be a good starting point. After that you should lookup some hardening settings for your OS.

UltratechHost · Aug 12, 2017

You need to follow some basic step like:

1. Obtain your VPS from any provider as per your requirement.
2. Install CentOS Web Panel (Free) or cPanel/WHM
3. Setup the mail server/web server/dns server and all other security setup including CSF Firewall and Kernel Optimization
4. Move your website to the VPS through migration process.

Gazoo · Aug 14, 2017

HostBastic said:
Since you are currently hosted on cPanel my suggestion would be to install CentOS Web Panel on the VPS, its a free cPanel look-a-like. Not to mention under the "User Account" section there is a built in feature called "cPanel Migration" which will help you migrate your cPanel account onto the CentOS Web Panel.
There are quite a few tutorials which explain how to install and configure CentOS Web panel, that would be a good starting point. After that you should lookup some hardening settings for your OS.

Thanks for the information HostBastic. I was looking a little into different panels and was trying to figure out which one would be best for my particular needs and knowledge. Since you say that CentOS is a little like cPanel then that would be a good choice since I am familiar with that one.

Is there anything else that is required to use that particular panel? Any special server requirements?

UltratechHost said:
You need to follow some basic step like:

1. Obtain your VPS from any provider as per your requirement.
2. Install CentOS Web Panel (Free) or cPanel/WHM
3. Setup the mail server/web server/dns server and all other security setup including CSF Firewall and Kernel Optimization
4. Move your website to the VPS through migration process.

Thanks UltratechHost. It seems like CentOS is what will probable be best for my needs based on your opinion and that of HostBastic. Is there anything else the server would need to support that panel?

Also, in #3 of your list is there anywhere that has any kind of guide as to how to do those or is that done through the CentOS panel?

hfav · Aug 14, 2017

First secure your VPS.

Use a strong Password
Enable Firewall
Change SSH Port (Search google)
Use /etc/hosts.allow and /etc/hosts.deny and allow only your IP address for SSH access.

I will recommend you to use VestaCP with IPTables + Fail2ban

Gazoo · Aug 17, 2017

hfav said:
First secure your VPS.

Use a strong Password

Enable Firewall

Change SSH Port (Search google)

Use /etc/hosts.allow and /etc/hosts.deny and allow only your IP address for SSH access.

I will recommend you to use VestaCP with IPTables + Fail2ban

I am a complete beginner with VPS's, so do I do all of these security measures before installing the OS and Control Panel that I would be using or do I do these after those are installed?

HostBastic said:
With that panel you should use CentOS Minimal edition, which should be made available by your provider. Regarding the server configuration I would recommend atleast 2 GB of RAM, 2 IP's for the nameservers and SSD drives since the I/O performance will be noticable. Look for upgradable VPS solutions, that way you can always upgrade or downgrade your service depending on your needs.

Thanks for the information about this, this is really helpful.

I was looking on the CentOS site and I saw that they have both the "Minimal" edition as you stated and also one called the "Everything" edition. Is there any reason I would need the "Everything" edition, maybe future needs or is that just a bunch of extras I would not need?

Please forgive what probably seems like a basic question but this VPS stuff is all new to me.

24x7serverman · Aug 21, 2017

You can setup the VPS using the various tutorials available on internet. You can go with cPanel as it is very easy to use and has multiple options to manage the all the things without command line. You can easily migrate the sites using Transfer tool. You can install firewall, antivirus and many other security tools on the cPanel server.

You can install various CMS for developing the websites which are just one click installation. You can install the free themes too.

24x7serverman · Aug 22, 2017

CentOS is the best, go with it only. Refer this post, you will get the answer why CentOS is preferable - https://forumweb.hosting/16345-why-centos.html

Sonwebhost · Aug 31, 2017

I would go to u tube and get the instructions for setting up a new vps. Security would be first on the list.

Waqass · Sep 3, 2017

Thanks for the thumbs up. I have also been into VPS thing few months and also in learning phase. So I can better understand your position. Now back to the question. They will all work with most popular linux distributions but I will suggest Centos 6 or 7 as it's the most popular linux when its come about hosting. All other will work just fine its just that you will find ton of material for CentOs if you are stuck anywhere. The second one I found the most used was Ubuntu being popular for being easy. However again go for CentOs and every script out there will support this os.

neckom · Oct 23, 2017

hi,

there is a large number of tutorials on this topic ... However, as a beginner...it may be better for you to get a VPS from company with customer support ....

They help you and explain everything you need... I can recommend some companies like: turnkeyinternet or vpswebserver

Setting up a VPS for a Beginner

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