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Reinstall Instance

Rebuilding an Instance wipes the Instance’s disk entirely and replaces it with a fresh operating system (OS) or Application image that you select. This process allows you to choose from available OS images or pre-configured Application images compatible with your Instance plan.

Consider rebuilding an Instance if:

  • You suspect your Instance has been compromised.
  • You have lost access (e.g., forgotten password, SSH key issues) and need a fresh start.
  • You want to switch to a different supported OS version or distribution.
  • You need to completely reset the Instance to a known clean state.

In some cases, it might seem simpler to destroy the current Instance and create a new one. However, rebuilding is often preferable for one key reason:

  • You want to keep your IP address. When you destroy an Instance, its assigned IP address is released back into the available pool. When you create a new Instance, you will likely get a different IP. Rebuilding an Instance retains the original IP address.

Warning Rebuilding an Instance is an irreversible process, just like destroying one. All data currently on the Instance's disk will be permanently erased. If you do not have backups or snapshots of your data, it cannot be recovered by DewaVPS after the rebuild process starts. Ensure you have saved any necessary data elsewhere before proceeding.

Rebuilding Instance with DewaVPS Panel​

Follow these steps to rebuild your Instance using the DewaVPS customer control panel:

  1. Log in to your DewaVPS panel.
  2. Navigate to the Instances section.
  3. From the list of your Instances, click on the name of the Instance you wish to rebuild. This will take you to the Instance's detail or management page.
  4. Locate and click the Reinstall icon.
  5. You will be prompted to Choose an OS or Application. Select the desired image from the available options.
  6. Enter a new username and a new strong password for accessing the Instance after the rebuild. Note: The old credentials will no longer work.
  7. Review your selections. When ready, press the Confirm.
  8. Wait for the rebuild process to complete. This typically takes a few minutes, similar to the time it takes to provision a new Instance. The Instance status will update once it's finished.
  9. Done! Your Instance has been rebuilt with the selected image and new credentials.

Post-Rebuild: SSH Host Key Change​

After the Instance is rebuilt, its operating system is reinstalled from scratch. This means it will generate a new unique SSH host key.

When you try to connect to the rebuilt Instance via SSH from a computer that has connected to it before the rebuild, your SSH client will likely show a warning message similar to this:

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@    WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!     @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY!
Someone could be eavesdropping on you right now (man-in-the-middle attack)!
It is also possible that a host key has just been changed.
The fingerprint for the ECDSA key sent by the remote host is
SHA256:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
Please contact your system administrator.
Add correct host key in /home/user/.ssh/known_hosts to get rid of this message.
Offending ECDSA key in /home/user/.ssh/known_hosts:5
  remove with:
  ssh-keygen -f "/home/user/.ssh/known_hosts" -R your_instance_ip
ECDSA host key for your_instance_ip has changed and you have requested strict checking.
Host key verification failed.