Is the VPS running?
Check Instances → Manage: if the status shows Stopped or Error, start it with the Start button.
Ping test
ping YOUR_VPS_IP- Replies received: Network layer is fine — the issue is at the application layer (SSH/firewall).
- No reply / 100% packet loss: Network unreachable or server is down.
Use the VNC console first
The VNC console bypasses SSH entirely. If it works, you can diagnose and fix SSH from inside the server. Access it via Instances → Manage → VNC Console.
Common causes
Firewall locked you out
If you recently changed UFW or iptables rules and can't reach SSH:
# Via VNC console
ufw status
ufw allow 22/tcp
iptables -F # emergency flush (disables ALL rules)SSH daemon not running
systemctl status sshd
systemctl start sshd
systemctl enable sshdSSH listening on wrong port
Check:
ss -tlnp | grep sshdIf it shows port 2222 instead of 22:
ssh -p 2222 root@YOUR_VPS_IPIP changed after reinstall
After a reinstall, the IP address remains the same but the SSH host key changes. Your client may show:
WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!Fix: ssh-keygen -R YOUR_VPS_IP
Out of memory (OOM kill of sshd)
dmesg | grep -i "out of memory"
journalctl -k | grep -i oomIf sshd was OOM-killed, free some memory and restart: systemctl restart sshd
Still unreachable?
Open a support ticket. Include:
- VPS name and IP address
- Last time it was reachable
- Any changes made before it became unreachable
- Output of
ping YOUR_VPS_IPfrom your machine