Choosing the right Linux distribution for your VPS

When you order a ServerPrism VPS, the very first thing you pick is which Linux distribution to install. That choice shapes which tutorials work, which packages you can install, and how often you'll spend time on updates. This guide walks through the options and which one fits which use case, so you don't end up reinstalling halfway through your setup.

What are you using the VPS for?

Start with the goal, not the distro:

• Hosting a game server, web app, or Discord bot you control: pick Ubuntu LTS or Debian. Stable, huge community, most tutorials assume one of them.
• A production server for clients, hosting panels (like Pterodactyl, Plesk, cPanel), or compliance-heavy workloads: pick AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux. They're binary-compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, which is what those panels and most enterprise software target.
• Learning Linux, tinkering, or running bleeding-edge software: Arch Linux is your friend. Rolling release, minimal install, you build it your way.

If you're not sure, pick Ubuntu LTS — it's the safest first choice and you can always reinstall later.

The options on ServerPrism

Ubuntu LTS (recommended for most)

Ubuntu's Long Term Support releases (currently 22.04 and 24.04) ship with 5 years of free security updates. The biggest beginner-friendly Linux community, so almost any "how do I install X on Linux" tutorial you find will work without changes. apt is the package manager. Slight bias toward including more pre-installed tools than Debian.

Pick this if you're a beginner, a developer, or just want things to work.

Debian

What Ubuntu is built on. Slower release cadence (a new major version every ~2 years) and slightly more conservative defaults make it the gold standard for unattended production servers. Smaller default install than Ubuntu, fewer surprises after security updates. apt-based, so most Ubuntu tutorials apply with minor tweaks.

Pick this if you want a server you can leave running for years and barely touch.

AlmaLinux / Rocky Linux

Both are free, community-led continuations of CentOS — binary-compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9/10. If a piece of software says "supports RHEL," it means these two. Uses dnf (the modern yum) as the package manager. SELinux is enabled by default, which adds a small learning curve but a real security benefit.

Pick one of these if you're running a hosting panel, an enterprise app, or want to mirror what large companies run in production. AlmaLinux and Rocky are near-identical; AlmaLinux has slightly faster security releases, Rocky has stronger CIQ corporate backing — flip a coin.

Arch Linux

Rolling release — there's no "version", packages update continuously. You install a minimal base and add only what you need with pacman. The Arch Wiki is the best Linux documentation on the internet. The downside: a quiet server might break after a pacman -Syu if you don't read the news file first.

Pick this if you're already comfortable with Linux, want the latest software, and don't mind babysitting updates.

Quick reference

How to switch distros later

Picking the right one matters a bit, because switching distributions reinstalls the VPS — all files and configurations on the disk are wiped. To switch:

1. Back up anything you want to keep (use scp, rsync, or our Backups tab).
2. In your VPS's dashboard, open the Connection tab.
3. Pick the new OS from the Operating System card.
4. Confirm the reinstall.

The OS image is installed during the next boot. You'll get fresh SSH credentials in the dashboard once it's ready.

If you only need a different version of the same distro (e.g. Ubuntu 22.04 → 24.04), the in-place upgrade tools (do-release-upgrade, dnf system-upgrade) usually work without a reinstall.

Next steps

Once you've picked your distro, the next steps are uploading your SSH key, hardening the firewall, and installing whatever you came here to run. See Getting started with VPS Hosting for the rest of the setup.