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Server settings: name, tags, notes, billing term and the danger zone

The Settings tab of a server: give it a panel name, tags and private notes, switch monthly or yearly billing, cancel it, and reinstall or delete it.

updated · 4 min read

Everything about a server that isn't day-to-day lives on its Settings tab, the last tab on the server's page. It has three parts: Name, tags and notes, Billing (monthly or yearly, and cancelling), and the Danger zone with reinstall and delete.

What you need

  • A server, open in the panel. Click it on your servers page, then Settings at the end of the row of tabs.
  • To change billing or delete, the account owner's login or a team role allowed to. Teams lists the roles.

Name, tags and notes

The Name, tags and notes form of web-prod-1.northwind-labs.example with the name Website, the tags prod and web, a private note about nginx and PHP 8.3, and the save button
The name and tags show on the servers page and in search; the notes only here.
  1. Name: how the panel lists the server, up to 63 characters, like Website or Shop front. Leave it empty to show the hostname. It doesn't change the hostname inside the server, which was set on the first boot; to change that, log in and run hostnamectl set-hostname.
  2. Tags: up to 10, separated by commas or spaces. Each is 1 to 24 letters, digits, dots, dashes, underscores or colons, starting with a letter or digit (capitals are lowercased), so prod, web and env:staging all work.
  3. Notes (private): plain text, up to 2,000 characters, shown only in the panel. Good for what runs there and who to ask. Don't keep passwords there.
  4. Press save.

Check it worked: the header now shows the name and tags, and on the servers page you can filter by the tags. The command palette finds the server by its name and tags too.

From a terminal, vps9 servers label <server> "Shop front" --tags prod,web does the same, and the API has PUT /servers/:id/details.

Billing

The Billing box of the server staging: billed monthly, paid until 2026-11-08, next renewal $7.99 for a month, no add-ons, the switch to yearly button and the cancel at period end button highlighted
The box says how the server is billed and until when it's paid, with the next renewal at today's prices.
  • billed and paid until: the term and the end of the period you've paid for.
  • next renewal: what the next period will cost at today's prices, and when its invoice comes (7 days before paid until).
  • add-ons: what's added to the plan, with a link to change them.

Switch between monthly and yearly

Press switch to yearly from the next renewal (or switch to monthly… on a yearly server). Nothing changes for the period you've already paid; the next renewal invoice is for the new term. If that invoice has already gone out, the switch starts with the one after. Press the button again to switch back before then. The button only shows when the plan has a yearly price. For prices, savings and what happens to add-ons, see Switch a server to yearly billing.

Cancel at the end of the period

Press cancel at period end and confirm. The server keeps running until paid until, no renewal invoice comes, and then the server, its disk and its snapshots are deleted. Press keep this server any time before that date to undo it. Cancel a server covers what to back up first.

If the paid period has already ended (the renewal is overdue), there's no end of period left to cancel at, and the box says: "This server's paid month has ended. Pay the renewal to keep it, or delete it now."

The danger zone

The Danger zone with Reinstall, which erases the disk and installs a fresh system while the address and plan stay, and Delete, which stops the server and moves it to the recycle bin, keeping its disk and addresses for 7 days before it is wiped
Both ask on a page of their own, where you type the server's hostname before anything happens.
  • Reinstall… erases the disk and installs a fresh system, the same one or another. The addresses, the plan and the billing stay. Reinstall a server has the steps.
  • Delete… deletes the server and its disk now and releases its addresses. It can't be undone, and unused time isn't refunded outside the 14-day money-back guarantee. Cancel a server explains what's deleted and what happens to billing.

When a button says "not in this state", the server is busy with another action, suspended or being built. Wait for the action to finish, or pay the open renewal first.

Troubleshooting

  • "Use at most 10 tags." Remove some: a server takes 10.
  • "… isn't a tag." A tag is 1 to 24 letters, digits, dots, dashes, underscores or colons, starting with a letter or digit. A space starts a new tag, and capitals are lowercased for you.
  • The switch to yearly button is missing. The plan has no yearly price yet, or the server is set to be cancelled. Press keep this server first.
  • "Being deleted: it can't be kept any more." The deletion has started. If that's a mistake, open a support ticket straight away; a deleted disk can't be recovered.

Next steps

Doing it on VPSNine

Monthly and yearly prices for each plan are on vpsnine.com/plans. Yearly costs less than twelve months.

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