Step 1 — Wait 5 Minutes After Purchase
After your VPS is created, the system automatically installs and configures everything for you.
Please wait approximately 5 minutes before proceeding.
Step 2 — SSH Into Your Server
You will receive your server IP address in your welcome email.
Open a terminal and run:
ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP
Example:
ssh root@203.0.113.45
Windows users: Use PuTTY or Windows Terminal to connect.
Step 3 — Read Your Credentials
Once logged in, run this command:
cat /root/credentials.txt
This file contains everything about your cluster:
- Your server IP
- Your SSH username and password
- Your SSH private key
- Your kubeconfig (to connect from your local machine)
- Your node token (to add more servers later)
Keep this file safe. Never share it publicly.
Step 4 — Check Your Cluster is Ready
Run this command on your server:
kubectl get nodes
You should see:
NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION
k3s-node Ready control-plane,worker 5m v1.34.x+k3s1
If STATUS shows Ready — your cluster is working perfectly.
Step 5 — Deploy Your First App
Let's deploy a simple web server to test everything is working.
Create the deployment:
kubectl create deployment my-website --image=nginx
Expose it to the internet:
kubectl expose deployment my-website --port=80 --type=NodePort
Get your app's port number:
kubectl get svc my-website
You will see something like:
NAME TYPE CLUSTER-IP PORT(S) AGE
my-website NodePort 10.43.x.x 80:31500/TCP 5s
The number after 80: is your port — in this example it is 31500.
Open your app in a browser:
http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:31500
You should see the nginx welcome page. Your cluster is working!
Handy Commands
# Check cluster health
kubectl get nodes
# See all running apps
kubectl get pods
# See all services and ports
kubectl get svc
# Delete an app
kubectl delete deployment my-website
Common Questions
Q: I opened https://MY_IP:6443 in my browser and got an error. Is something wrong?
No — this is completely normal. Port 6443 is the Kubernetes API and only works with kubectl, not a web browser. Your cluster is working fine.
Q: How do I connect to my cluster from my own computer?
Copy the KUBECONFIG section from your credentials.txt file and save it to ~/.kube/config on your local machine. Then install kubectl and run kubectl get nodes.
Q: My pod shows Pending instead of Running. What do I do?
Run the following command to see what is wrong:
kubectl describe pod POD_NAME
Q: Where can I see the setup log?
cat /var/log/k3s-bootstrap.log
Need Support?
- Open a Ticket
- Website: https://hostgraber.com
