{"id":1940,"date":"2026-08-15T03:49:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T22:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kwikserver.com\/tutorials\/basic-setup-guide-for-fresh-ubuntu-server\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T12:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T06:38:16","slug":"basic-setup-guide-for-fresh-ubuntu-server","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kwikserver.com\/tutorials\/basic-setup-guide-for-fresh-ubuntu-server\/","title":{"rendered":"Basic Setup Guide for a Fresh Ubuntu Server"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new Ubuntu VPS works fine straight out of the box, but a few first-boot steps make it both more secure and easier to manage later. This is a straightforward walkthrough for getting a fresh Ubuntu server ready for real use.<\/p>\n

1. Log in as root<\/h2>\n
ssh root@your_server_ip<\/pre>\n
Accept the host authenticity prompt if this is the first time connecting, then log in with your root password or SSH key.<\/p>\n
Root can do anything on the system with no guardrails, which is exactly why you shouldn’t use it for day-to-day work; one mistyped command as root can cause real damage. The next few steps set up a regular user account with sudo access instead.<\/p>\n
2. Create a new user<\/h2>\n
adduser sammy<\/pre>\n
You’ll be prompted for a password and, optionally, some details like a full name. None of the extra fields are required.<\/p>\n
3. Grant sudo privileges<\/h2>\n
usermod -aG sudo sammy<\/pre>\n
This adds the new user to the sudo group, so they can run administrative commands by prefixing them with sudo<\/code> instead of logging in as root directly.<\/p>\n
4. Set up a basic firewall<\/h2>\n
Ubuntu ships with UFW, a simple front end for iptables.<\/p>\n
ufw app list\nufw allow OpenSSH\nufw enable\nufw status<\/pre>\n
Allow OpenSSH before enabling the firewall. If you enable UFW first and forget this step, you’ll lock yourself out of the server. Any other service you install later, a web server or a database, will need its own ufw allow<\/code> rule before traffic can reach it.<\/p>\n
5. Enable SSH access for your new user<\/h2>\n
Stay logged in as root until you’ve confirmed the new account actually works, so you can troubleshoot from root if something’s wrong.<\/p>\n
If you’re using password authentication, just switch users on your next connection, from a separate terminal session:<\/p>\n
ssh sammy@your_server_ip<\/pre>\n
From there, prefix any command that needs elevated rights with sudo<\/code>. If you’re using key-based authentication instead, copy your existing SSH key setup over to the new account:<\/p>\n
rsync --archive --chown=sammy:sammy ~\/.ssh \/home\/sammy<\/pre>\n
Don’t add a trailing slash after ~\/.ssh<\/code>, since that changes what rsync actually copies. Once that’s done, you should be able to log in as the new user without a password.<\/p>\n
With a sudo user in place, SSH locked down to key or password login through a non-root account, and a basic firewall running, your server has a solid foundation for installing whatever software comes next. A KwikServer Linux VPS is a good place to practice this whole flow before putting anything into production.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A first-boot checklist for a new Ubuntu VPS: creating a sudo user, locking down SSH, and enabling a basic firewall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"","rank_math_focus_keyword":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-linux"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t