Step 1: Choose a region and instance type
- In the panel, go to Compute > Instances and click New instance.
- Select the region closest to your users (for example FRA1, NYC1, or SGP1).
- Pick a plan:
- Launch – great for low-traffic services and dev environments.
- Scale – ideal for production APIs and web apps.
- XL – heavy compute, queues, analytics, and similar workloads.
Step 2: Select an image
XenonCloud supports common Linux distributions and custom images:
- Ubuntu LTS (recommended for most workloads).
- Debian, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, and others.
- Your own custom image from a snapshot or upload workflow.
Step 3: Add SSH keys
SSH keys are the recommended way to access servers. You can upload an existing key or generate a new one.
# Generate an SSH key if you don't already have one
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]"
# On Linux/macOS the public key is typically:
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pubPaste the public key into the SSH keys section when creating the instance, or add it globally under Account > SSH keys.
Step 4: Configure networking & firewall
For a first server, keep it simple:
- Assign a public IPv4 address.
- Use a basic firewall profile that allows SSH (port 22) from your IP and HTTP/HTTPS if you're running a web service.
- You can adjust rules later from Networking > Firewalls.
Step 5: Create the instance
Review your configuration and click Create instance. Provisioning usually completes in seconds. You'll see the instance appear in the list with its public IP.
Step 6: Connect over SSH
From your terminal:
# Example: connecting to an Ubuntu instance
ssh [email protected]
# Some images use 'root' or 'xenon' as the default user
ssh [email protected]The default username is shown in the panel for each image. After connecting, update packages and configure your application stack.
Next steps
- Harden the server using the server hardening guide.
- Attach additional storage via block volumes.
- Place instances behind a firewall using firewall policies.