Getting Started with Rocky Linux 9 on Your VPS

Rocky Linux 9 is a community-driven, RHEL 9-compatible operating system. It's the successor to CentOS and is ideal for production servers requiring stability, long-term support, and enterprise compatibility. Perfect for hosting control panels, databases, and business applications.

About Rocky Linux 9

• Release date: July 2022
• Support until: May 2032 (10 years)
• RHEL compatible: 1:1 compatibility with RHEL 9
• Package manager: yum/dnf (not apt)
• Init system: systemd

Rocky vs RHEL vs CentOS

Connect via SSH

ssh root@your-vps-ip

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

Update System

# Update package lists and system
dnf update -y

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

Configure Firewall

# Check firewall status
firewall-cmd --state

# Enable and start firewalld
systemctl enable firewalld
systemctl start firewalld

# Allow SSH (critical!)
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

# Reload firewall
firewall-cmd --reload

# Check rules
firewall-cmd --list-all

Install Packages

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

# Utilities
dnf install htop tmux vim nano zip unzip -y

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

SELinux Management

SELinux (Security Enhanced Linux) restricts what processes can access:**

# Check SELinux status
getenforce
sestatus

# Disable SELinux (if causing issues - not recommended for production)
setenforce 0

# Set to permissive mode (log violations but don't block)
setenforce 1

# Edit /etc/selinux/config for permanent changes