Create VPS in Contabo

On Contabo Dashboard:

Choose Cloud VPS
Select:
- OS: Debian 13
- Location (Singapore / Germany / US)
- SSH Key (recommended)

Deploy server
Wait for email with:
- IP address
- root password

On Linux / Mac:

ssh root@your_server_ip

On Windows:

Use PowerShell
Or PuTTY

4️⃣ Initial Server Update (VERY IMPORTANT)

After login:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

⚠️ Why?

Update security patches
Fix vulnerabilities
Ensure latest package versions

Optional but recommended:

apt install sudo curl wget git unzip -y

You can choose either:

Option A: Apache

apt install apache2 -y
systemctl enable apache2
systemctl start apache2

Check:

Option B: Nginx (Recommended for performance)

apt install nginx -y
systemctl enable nginx
systemctl start nginx

6️⃣ Install PHP

Check available version:

apt search php

Install PHP + common extensions:

apt install php php-cli php-fpm php-mysql php-curl php-xml php-mbstring php-zip php-gd -y

Check:

php -v

7️⃣ Configure PHP with Nginx (if using Nginx)

Enable PHP-FPM:

systemctl enable php8.x-fpm
systemctl start php8.x-fpm

Edit Nginx config:

nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/default

Uncomment:

location ~ \.php$ {
    include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
    fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.x-fpm.sock;
}

apt install mariadb-server -y

8️⃣ Install MySQL / MariaDB

apt install mariadb-server -y

Secure installation:

mysql_secure_installation

Then:

mysql -u root -p

Create database:

CREATE DATABASE mydb;
CREATE USER 'myuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'strongpassword';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON mydb.* TO 'myuser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

⚠️ Only if you want GUI access (like Windows VPS)

Install desktop environment:

Install Chrome:

wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb
apt install ./google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb -y

Install Chrome Remote Desktop:

wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/chrome-remote-desktop_current_amd64.deb
apt install ./chrome-remote-desktop_current_amd64.deb -y

Enable:

systemctl enable chrome-remote-desktop@$USER

Chapters

Create VPS in Contabo Free