How to reboot self-managed VPS hosting

Your self-managed VPS (Virtual Private Server) gives you complete administrative access to your server, including its configuration, maintenance, updates, and software management. Knowing how to reboot or restart your server helps minimize downtime, resolve issues more efficiently, and gives you greater confidence in managing your hosting environment.

You have three options: a soft reboot, a hard reboot, and a service restart. This article explains the differences between them and helps you choose the least disruptive option for your situation.

Select a topic below to learn more about rebooting or restarting your self-managed VPS:

Before rebooting or restarting your VPS
Reboot and restart options
Which option should you use?
How to reboot or restart your VPS
Review

Reminder: A self-managed VPS is fully self-managed. You are responsible for performing server maintenance tasks, including reboots and service restarts, using your VPS management tools.

Before rebooting or restarting your VPS

Determine whether the entire server is affected or only a single service. This helps you choose the least disruptive option.
Make sure you know where the reboot and restart controls are located in your VPS management tools.

Reboot and restart options

Your self-managed VPS provides three restart options. Understanding when to use each one helps minimize downtime and avoid unnecessary disruption.

Type	What it does	Effect on running processes	Typical use
Soft reboot	Restarts the operating system gracefully.	Running processes shut down properly.	Routine maintenance or applying updates.
Hard reboot	Forces an immediate server restart.	Running processes stop immediately without shutting down gracefully.	When the VPS is unresponsive or frozen.
Service restart	Restarts a single service instead of the entire server.	Other services continue to run.	Applying configuration changes or resolving a service-specific issue.

Warning: A hard reboot interrupts running processes immediately and carries a higher risk of data loss. Use it only when your server is unresponsive or frozen.

Which option should you use?

Match your situation to the least disruptive option that resolves it.

Your situation	Option to use
The server is unresponsive or frozen.	Hard reboot
You are performing routine maintenance.	Soft reboot
You are applying operating system or software updates.	Soft reboot
Only one service is affected, or you are applying a configuration change to a specific service.	Service restart

Note: If your server is still accessible but a web service is not responding, restart the affected service instead of rebooting the entire server.

How to reboot or restart your VPS

Identify whether the issue affects the entire server or only a specific service.
Select the least disruptive option:
- Soft reboot: For routine maintenance or updates.
- Hard reboot: Only if the server is unresponsive.
- Service restart: If only one service is affected.
Open your VPS management tools.
Locate the appropriate reboot or restart control.
Run the selected action.

Important: Always choose the least disruptive option. Because a hard reboot can result in data loss, reserve it for situations where the server is completely unresponsive.

Review

Your self-managed VPS offers three ways to recover or maintain your server: a soft reboot, a hard reboot, and a service restart. Before taking action, determine whether the issue affects the entire server or only a single service, then choose the least disruptive option. In most cases, a soft reboot or service restart is sufficient, while a hard reboot should be reserved for an unresponsive server because it carries a higher risk of data loss.

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