# Reinstall a server

> Wipe a server and start again on a fresh system, the same one or another, with or without its app, packages and setup script, and what's lost.

Source: https://vpsnine.com/help/reinstall-a-server · Updated: 2026-10-21

To reinstall a server, open it in the panel, go to **Settings**, press **Reinstall…** in the danger zone, choose the system and what to install with it, type the hostname and confirm. The disk is erased and a fresh system boots with the same IP addresses, plan and billing; everything that was on the disk, and every snapshot of it, is gone.

## What you need

- A copy of anything on the server you want to keep. [Back up your server](https://vpsnine.com/help/backups-you-should-run) shows how. A [snapshot](https://vpsnine.com/help/snapshots) won't do: a reinstall deletes the server's snapshots.
- At least one [SSH key in your account](https://vpsnine.com/help/manage-ssh-keys-in-the-panel), or a root password chosen on the reinstall form. The reinstall puts your account's current SSH keys on the new system.
- A server that is running, stopped or in error, with no other action in progress.

## What stays and what's lost

| Stays | Is lost |
| --- | --- |
| The IPv4 and IPv6 addresses | Everything on the disk: files, databases, users, settings |
| The plan, add-ons and billing (a reinstall costs nothing) | Every snapshot of the server, manual and automatic |
| The panel name, tags and notes | The SSH host keys (your computer will warn you, see below) |
| The panel firewall rules, alert rules and reverse DNS | Any root password the server had (a new one replaces it, or none) |
| The automatic snapshot schedule | |

## 1. Open the reinstall form

Open the server, go to the **Settings** tab, and press **Reinstall…** in the danger zone. The form opens on its own page; nothing happens until you confirm at the bottom.

[Screenshot: The top of the reinstall page for db-primary, saying it erases the disk and installs Debian 12 again or the system you pick, with your account's SSH keys, and can't be undone] The page names the server and the system it will install unless you pick another.

## 2. Choose the system

**Operating system** starts on the one the server has. Pick another to switch, for example from Debian 12 to Ubuntu 24.04. [Choose a Linux distribution](https://vpsnine.com/help/choose-a-distribution) compares them.

## 3. Keep, change or remove the app

[Screenshot: The One-click app choices on the reinstall form: Keep it as it is: no app, picked, and Install another app] On a server with an app, a third choice removes it: No app, just the operating system.

- **Keep** installs the server's [one-click app](https://vpsnine.com/help/one-click-apps) again, from scratch. If the server has none, it stays without one.
- **Install another app**, then pick it in the list below. Apps that don't suit the system you picked are hidden.
- **No app: just the operating system** removes it (shown when the server has an app).

An app only installs on a distribution it supports. If you switch systems and keep an app that doesn't run there, the form tells you.

## 4. Packages and the setup script

- **Extra packages** starts with the packages you asked for last time. Edit the list, or empty it for none.
- **Setup script**: **run the setup script from last time again**, **use a new setup script** (write it in the box that unfolds under **New setup script**), or **No setup script**. The old script isn't shown, because we store it encrypted, but it can be run again.

[Extra packages and setup scripts](https://vpsnine.com/help/setup-scripts) explains what each runs and when.

## 5. Root password (optional)

[Screenshot: The root password choices on the reinstall form: No password, SSH keys only, picked; Generate one for me; and Use my own] A password set here replaces any password the server had. Keys stay the recommended way in.

The same three choices as when you ordered: **No password: SSH keys only**, **Generate one for me** (shown once, on the next page), or **Use my own**. A root password lets you log in on the [serial console](https://vpsnine.com/help/serial-console). This is also the way back in if you've lost both your key and your password. [Set a root password](https://vpsnine.com/help/root-password) has the rules.

## 6. Confirm

Type the server's hostname in **Type … to confirm**, exactly as shown, and press **reinstall**. The server shows **reinstalling**, then **running** once the new system has booted. Its events record the reinstall.

**Check it worked:** remove the old host key on your computer, then log in:

```bash
ssh-keygen -R 203.0.113.42
ssh root@203.0.113.42
```

Use your server's address; `203.0.113.42` is a placeholder. `cat /etc/os-release` shows the system you picked. If you chose an app, packages or a script, they install on the first boot: follow them with `tail -F /var/log/vps9-setup.log`.

## From the command line or the API

With the [vps9 CLI](https://vpsnine.com/help/install-the-vps9-cli), which asks you to type the hostname first:

```bash
vps9 servers reinstall web-1
vps9 servers reinstall web-1 --image ubuntu-24.04 --app docker
vps9 servers reinstall web-1 --no-app --root-password generate
```

`--image` takes an image id or a system key like `ubuntu-24.04`; `--package`, `--packages` and `--setup-script file` set the first boot. With the [API](https://vpsnine.com/help/api-quickstart), send `{"action": "reinstall"}` to `POST /servers/:id/actions`, adding `image`, `app` (or `null` for none), `packages`, `setupScript` and `rootPassword` only for what you want to change. A generated password comes back in the answer, once.

## Troubleshooting

- **`WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!`** Expected after a reinstall: the new system has new host keys. Run `ssh-keygen -R <address>` and connect again.
- **"Add an SSH key to your account first, or set a root password: a reinstall puts your account's keys on the server."** Add a key under **Account**, or choose a root password on the form.
- **"not in this state"** next to Reinstall. The server is being built, suspended, in rescue, or busy with another action. Leave rescue, pay an open renewal, or wait for the action to finish.
- **The server shows error after the reinstall.** The newest event says what failed. Try again once; if it fails twice, [open a support ticket](https://my.vpsnine.com/support/new?category=server).

## Next steps

- [Your server's first hour: a checklist](https://vpsnine.com/help/first-hour-checklist)
- [Server settings](https://vpsnine.com/help/server-settings)
- [Rescue mode](https://vpsnine.com/help/rescue-mode), to fix a server without erasing it

## Doing it on VPSNine

Every [distribution on our list](https://vpsnine.com/os) can be reinstalled onto any plan, and any [one-click app](https://vpsnine.com/apps) that runs on it can come with the reinstall.