Getting Started with AlmaLinux 9 on Your VPS

AlmaLinux 9 is a community-driven, RHEL 9-compatible distribution backed by CloudLinux. It's a drop-in replacement for CentOS, offering excellent stability, long-term support (until 2032), and enterprise compatibility. Similar to Rocky Linux but with different governance.

About AlmaLinux 9

• Release date: May 2022
• Support until: May 2032 (10 years)
• RHEL compatibility: 1:1 compatible with RHEL 9
• Backed by: CloudLinux
• License: Free and open source

AlmaLinux vs Rocky Linux

Connect via SSH

ssh root@your-vps-ip

# With SSH key
ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa root@your-vps-ip

Update System

# Update system
dnf update -y

# Install automatic security updates
dnf install dnf-automatic -y
systemctl enable dnf-automatic.timer
systemctl start dnf-automatic.timer

Firewall Setup

# Check firewall status
firewall-cmd --state

# Enable firewall
systemctl enable firewalld
systemctl start firewalld

# Allow SSH
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=ssh
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=22/tcp

# Allow HTTP/HTTPS
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https

# Apply changes
firewall-cmd --reload

Install Packages

# Development tools
dnf groupinstall "Development Tools" -y
dnf install git curl wget -y

# Utilities
dnf install htop tmux vim nano zip -y

# Web servers and databases
dnf install nginx -y
dnf install mysql-server -y
dnf install php php-fpm -y

User Management

# Create new user
useradd -m -s /bin/bash admin

# Set password
passwd admin

# Add to sudoers
usermod -aG wheel admin   # On RHEL-based systems, it's 'wheel' not 'sudo'

Monitor Resources

# Check disk space
df -h

# Check memory
free -h

# Check running services
systemctl status

# System uptime
uptime

Related: Rocky Linux 9 | OS comparison | VPS setup | RHEL-based systems