vps
85 posts
Fix Nginx 403 Forbidden Errors on Your VPS
You've set up Nginx on your VPS, pointed the domain, hit refresh, and got a plain "403 Forbidden" page. Nothing is crashing, and the server is clearly answerin…
Fix Nginx 'Primary script unknown' (File not found) on a VPS
You open your site and get a bare white page that says File not found. The browser shows a 404, but the page doesn't look like your theme's 404 at all. Then yo…
Fix Nginx server_names_hash_bucket_size Errors on Your VPS
You add one more domain to your Nginx config, run nginx -t, and instead of "syntax is ok" you get a cryptic complaint about a hash bucket. Nothing was wrong a …
Fix SSH "kex_exchange_identification" Connection Closed
You type ssh root@your-vps-ip, and instead of a password prompt you get this: kex_exchange_identification: Connection closed by remote host. Sometimes it's Con…
Fix 'Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend' on a VPS
You type sudo apt update on your VPS, expecting a quick refresh, and instead get a wall of text ending in "Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend". Not…
Fix Slow SSH Login on Your VPS: UseDNS & GSSAPI
You type ssh root@your-server, hit Enter, and then... nothing. Ten seconds. Twenty. Eventually the password prompt shows up, and once you're in, the shell is p…
Fix Apache AH00558: Could Not Determine Server's FQDN
You restart Apache, and instead of a clean start you get a line like AH00558: apache2: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, u…
Fix 'perl: warning: Setting locale failed' on a Fresh VPS
You spin up a fresh Ubuntu or Debian VPS, SSH in, and the very first command you run — apt update, sudo anything, even just logging in — spits out a wall of ye…
Fix 'Address Already in Use' Starting Nginx or Apache
You just installed Nginx (or Apache) on your VPS, run systemctl start nginx, and instead of a clean start you get a wall of red: "bind() to 0.0.0.0:80 failed (…
Fix Remote Desktop Connection Errors on a Windows VPS
You double-click the RDP shortcut, type in your VPS's IP, and instead of the familiar Windows login screen you get "Remote Desktop can't connect to the remote …