Cannot reach your VPS: a step-by-step check

When a VPS stops answering, the cause nearly always sits in one of three places: the state of the service, the network you connect from, or the system inside the server. Work through them in that order. Most of the time you will find the reason within minutes and without losing any data.

1. The service in your client area

• Open Services, choose the VPS and check that it is running. If it is stopped, start it and give it a minute or two.
• Make sure the service is not suspended. An invoice left unpaid can lead to suspension; you will find them under Invoices.
• If the server will not start from the panel, or shows an error when starting, open a ticket and paste the exact message.

2. The network you connect from

Try from a different network, for instance your phone on mobile data. If it works from there, the issue is on your own network, or the server firewall has blocked your IP address.

• Network is unreachable almost always points to something local: Wi-Fi, a VPN or the router.
• Connection timed out means no reply at all. It can come from your network, the server firewall or the VPS network.
• On an Unmanaged VPS running fail2ban or a similar tool, a few wrong passwords in a row can block your IP address for a while.

3. The system inside the server

Open the noVNC console from the service page. It works even when the server network is down.

• If the boot stopped at an error message, write it down and send it in a ticket.
• If you see a login prompt, log in as root and check the network, firewall and SSH service with the commands below.
• Connection refused over SSH means the server answers, but SSH is not listening on the port you use.
• Permission denied means the user name or password is wrong. Type the password by hand, with no extra spaces.

Commands to run

These commands only show information; they change nothing on the server.

• ip a: IP address and network interface. Compare the address with the one on the service page.
• ip route: the default route (gateway).
• systemctl status ssh or systemctl status sshd: whether the SSH service is running.
• ss -tlnp | grep ssh: the port SSH listens on.
• ufw status or firewall-cmd --list-all: the firewall rules.
• df -h: free disk space. A full disk can stop services, SSH included.

Keep the console open whenever you change network or firewall settings, so you can roll back at once if the connection drops.

If the console will not open

Reload the page and try another browser. If the console window stays blank, shows an error or times out, open a ticket with your public IP address so we can check access.

What to put in the ticket

• the server's IP address and the moment the trouble began;
• the exact error text or a screenshot;
• the port and user name you connect with;
• your public IP address, if the issue only happens from your network;
• the last change you made on the server, if any.

Leave passwords out of the ticket text.

Before you think about reinstalling

A reinstall can rescue a system that no longer boots, but it erases the whole disk. If the VPS is brand new and no password works, do not reinstall: contact us right away. In every other case, try the console first and save your data if you can.

Related articles

• noVNC console: reach your VPS from the browser when SSH fails
• Connecting to your new VPS over SSH: first login and first steps
• Reinstalling the operating system of your VPS from the client area
• Managed VPS Pro or Unmanaged VPS: which one fits you