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Create your first VM

This guide walks the full Cloud Server page, from picking a boot source to confirming the order. Everything is on a single page — you scroll top to bottom and fill it in section by section.

Prerequisites

Steps​

Step 1. Open the create-VM page​

Go to Cloud Server → Servers. With no VMs yet, the page shows "No servers" — click + Create Server (the same button is also at the top right of the Servers list and on the dashboard).

Empty Servers page with the Create Server button

Step 2. Pick a boot source​

Under Choose operating system, pick one of three boot sources (tabs):

Image​

Pick a built-in OS image: Ubuntu, Windows, Rocky, CentOS, AlmaLinux, Debian. For each OS, click Select version to choose a specific build (for example Ubuntu 24.04 LTS).

Pick an OS image

Snapshot server​

Boot from a snapshot of an existing VM — handy for cloning environments or restoring.

Pick from a Snapshot server

Volume​

Boot from an existing bootable volume — useful when you've prepared a custom image.

Boot from a Volume

Step 3. Pick the billing period​

Under Billing, pick a prepay period: Prepay 1 month, 3 months, 6 months or 12 months. Longer periods are usually cheaper; the matching cost appears in the Order summary panel on the right.

Pick the prepay period under Billing

Step 4. Configure the server​

Under Server configuration, pick the VM resources:

  • CPU & RAM — pick a plan (for example 1 VCPU - 1 GB RAM).
  • Disk type — NVME (IOPS).
  • IOPS — pick 4000 or 5000.
  • Disk size (GB) — drag the slider or type the number of GB.

You can scale up after creation — see Change configuration.

Configure CPU & RAM, disk type, IOPS and size

Step 5. Configure networking and Security Group​

Under Interface, choose how the VM attaches to the network with the Port / Network switch:

  • Network — the internal network the VM joins (defaults to default-network with subnet 10.0.0.0/24).
  • Port — attach to a pre-created Port.

Under Security Group, pick the firewall group that controls inbound/outbound traffic. The default is Default; you can pick multiple Security Groups.

Pick a Network under Interface and a Security Group

The Default Security Group allows outbound traffic but blocks inbound. If you need SSH/RDP from the Internet, open the matching port in the Security Group — see Manage Security Groups.

Step 6. Sign-in details​

Under Sign-in details, the admin account is preset by the image: Console: root | SSH: ubuntu. Pick how to sign in to the VM:

  • Password — set a password for the admin account.
  • SSH key — pick an existing key, or click Create SSH key to make a new one. SSH keys are safer than a password and recommended for production. See SSH Key.

Sign-in details — password or SSH key

Step 7. Name, review the order and confirm​

  • Number of servers — how many VMs to create (defaults to 1).
  • Server name — name the VM.

Review the Order summary panel on the right (disk, IOPS, OS, SSH key, Monthly fee and Total), then click Confirm.

When the VM shows up in the Servers list with status Active, provisioning is done.

Next steps​