New server

Base setup every VPS gets before its service. Written for Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

DNS

Before anything on the VPS, create an A record for the service domain pointing to the VPS IP - it propagates while the server is being set up.

request a certificate only once dig returns the new IP - see Let's Encrypt

SSH

Disable password login.

System packages

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install fish

Fish

Keep bash as the login shell - ssh host 'cmd', rsync and scp expect POSIX. Start fish for interactive sessions only:

printf '\n\n[[ $- == *i* && -z $FISH_STARTED ]] && FISH_STARTED=1 exec fish' >> ~/.bashrc

Provider VPS backups

• one checkbox in the provider panel, usually +20% of the VPS price
• the whole disk restores in minutes
• dies together with the provider account, so every service also needs an off-site backup