Restarting from the panel
In your VPS management panel, a Restart button performs a clean reboot of the machine with no data loss — the equivalent of restarting an ordinary computer.
Restarting from the command line
If you are already connected over SSH, a reboot can also be triggered directly:
sudo rebootThe SSH connection drops immediately (this is normal, the system is rebooting); reconnect after a few dozen seconds.
Clean restart vs forced restart
A normal restart gives active services time to shut down cleanly (closing connections, writing pending data). A forced restart from the panel (often called "Reset" or similar) cuts the power without that step — keep it for cases where the system no longer responds at all, SSH included.
When to reinstall from scratch
A reinstall returns the VPS to its initial state with a fresh operating system, deleting all existing data. It is justified in specific cases:
- switching Linux distribution (moving from Ubuntu to Debian, for example);
- starting from a clean base after a confirmed security compromise;
- a system too badly degraded to be repaired reliably.
Before reinstalling
Always back up every piece of data you want to keep before launching a reinstall from the panel: deletion is immediate and final as soon as you confirm.