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Setting Up and Optimizing a VPS Server

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Initial VPS Setup

1. Access Your VPS Control Panel
   • Log in to your Xenum Hosting client area
   • Navigate to your VPS service
   • Look for the VPS management interface (often labeled “Manage VPS” or similar)
2. Choose Your Operating System
   • Select from available options like Ubuntu, CentOS, or Debian
   • Ubuntu is recommended for beginners due to its user-friendliness and extensive documentation
   • CentOS/AlmaLinux is often preferred for business applications requiring stability
3. Access Your Server via SSH
   • For Windows: Use PuTTY or Windows Terminal
   • For Mac/Linux: Use the built-in Terminal
   • Connect using the IP address and root credentials provided in your welcome email
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   ssh root@your_server_ip
   

4. Perform Initial Security Setup
   • Update your system packages:
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     # For Ubuntu/Debian
     apt update && apt upgrade -y
     
     # For CentOS/AlmaLinux
     yum update -y
     

   • Create a non-root user with sudo privileges:
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     # For Ubuntu/Debian
     adduser yourusername
     usermod -aG sudo yourusername
     
     # For CentOS/AlmaLinux
     adduser yourusername
     passwd yourusername
     usermod -aG wheel yourusername
     

   • Configure basic firewall:
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     # For Ubuntu/Debian
     ufw allow OpenSSH
     ufw allow 80/tcp
     ufw allow 443/tcp
     ufw enable
     
     # For CentOS/AlmaLinux
     firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=ssh
     firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
     firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
     firewall-cmd --reload
     

5. Install a Web Server
   • For most websites, install LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP):
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     # For Ubuntu/Debian
     apt install apache2 mysql-server php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql -y
     
     # For CentOS/AlmaLinux
     yum install httpd mariadb-server mariadb php php-mysqlnd -y
     systemctl start httpd
     systemctl enable httpd
     systemctl start mariadb
     systemctl enable mariadb
     

   • Secure MySQL/MariaDB:
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     mysql_secure_installation
     

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Installing a Control Panel (Optional)

1. DirectAdmin (if offered by Xenum Hosting)
   • Follow the installation instructions provided by Xenum Hosting support
   • Typically involves running an installation script
2. Alternative Control Panels
   • Webmin (free):
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     # For Ubuntu/Debian
     apt install wget apt-transport-https software-properties-common
     wget -q http://www.webmin.com/jcameron-key.asc -O- | apt-key add -
     add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] http://download.webmin.com/download/repository sarge contrib"
     apt update
     apt install webmin -y
     

   • Access Webmin at https://your_server_ip:10000

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Optimizing VPS Performance

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1. Resource Monitoring

• Install monitoring tools:
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  # For Ubuntu/Debian
  apt install htop iotop -y
  
  # For CentOS/AlmaLinux
  yum install htop iotop -y
  

• Check current resource usage:
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  htop  # Interactive process viewer
  free -m  # Memory usage
  df -h  # Disk usage
  

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2. Web Server Optimization

• Edit Apache configuration:
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  # For Ubuntu/Debian
  nano /etc/apache2/mods-available/mpm_prefork.conf
  
  # For CentOS/AlmaLinux
  nano /etc/httpd/conf.modules.d/00-mpm.conf
  

• Recommended settings (adjust based on your VPS resources):
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  <IfModule mpm_prefork_module>
      StartServers             5
      MinSpareServers          5
      MaxSpareServers         10
      MaxRequestWorkers      150
      MaxConnectionsPerChild   0
  </IfModule>
  

• Enable caching modules:
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  # For Ubuntu/Debian
  a2enmod expires
  a2enmod headers
  systemctl restart apache2
  
  # For CentOS/AlmaLinux
  # Edit /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf to uncomment the modules
  systemctl restart httpd
  

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3. PHP Optimization

• Edit php.ini:
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  # For Ubuntu/Debian
  nano /etc/php/7.4/apache2/php.ini  # Version number may differ
  
  # For CentOS/AlmaLinux
  nano /etc/php.ini
  

• Recommended settings:
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  memory_limit = 256M
  max_execution_time = 300
  upload_max_filesize = 64M
  post_max_size = 64M
  opcache.enable = 1
  opcache.memory_consumption = 128
  

• Restart web server after changes:
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  # For Ubuntu/Debian
  systemctl restart apache2
  
  # For CentOS/AlmaLinux
  systemctl restart httpd
  

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4. MySQL/MariaDB Optimization

• Edit my.cnf:
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  # For Ubuntu/Debian
  nano /etc/mysql/my.cnf
  
  # For CentOS/AlmaLinux
  nano /etc/my.cnf
  

• Add these settings (adjust based on your VPS resources):
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  [mysqld]
  innodb_buffer_pool_size = 256M
  innodb_log_file_size = 64M
  query_cache_size = 32M
  query_cache_limit = 1M
  

• Restart MySQL/MariaDB:
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  systemctl restart mysql  # or mariadb
  

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Troubleshooting Common VPS Issues

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High CPU Usage

• Identify resource-intensive processes:
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  top
  

• Check Apache access logs:
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  # For Ubuntu/Debian
  tail -f /var/log/apache2/access.log
  
  # For CentOS/AlmaLinux
  tail -f /var/log/httpd/access_log
  

• Solutions: Optimize code, implement caching, block abusive IPs

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Memory Issues

• Check memory usage:
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  free -m
  

• If swap is needed:
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  # Create a 2GB swap file
  dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1M count=2048
  chmod 600 /swapfile
  mkswap /swapfile
  swapon /swapfile
  
  # Make permanent
  echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' >> /etc/fstab
  

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Disk Space Issues

• Check disk usage:
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  df -h
  

• Find large files/directories:
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  du -h --max-depth=1 /var | sort -hr
  

• Clean up log files:
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  find /var/log -type f -name "*.log" -exec truncate -s 0 {} \;
  

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Security Best Practices

1. Keep software updated:
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   # For Ubuntu/Debian
   apt update && apt upgrade -y
   
   # For CentOS/AlmaLinux
   yum update -y
   

2. Install and configure fail2ban:
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   # For Ubuntu/Debian
   apt install fail2ban -y
   
   # For CentOS/AlmaLinux
   yum install epel-release -y
   yum install fail2ban -y
   

3. Disable root SSH login:
   • Edit SSH config:
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     nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
     

   • Change to:
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     PermitRootLogin no
     

   • Restart SSH:
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     systemctl restart sshd
     

4. Regular backups:
   • Set up automated backups using scripts and cron jobs
   • Store backups off-server