VPS Not Responding: Troubleshooting Guide

When your VPS stops answering, the first job is to find out what exactly has stopped: the whole server, one service, or only your own connection to it. This guide walks through the checks in order, the fixes you can make yourself over SSH, and when to ask support. It applies to your own Domain India VPS, which is self-managed: you run the software, and support handles starting, stopping and force-restarting the server.

1. Work out what has stopped

2. Test from your own computer

Run these from your computer, replacing the IP with your VPS IP address:

ping -c 4 203.0.113.10               # many firewalls block ping, so no reply proves little
nc -zv 203.0.113.10 22               # is the SSH port open?
curl -sI http://203.0.113.10 | head -n1   # does the web server answer?
ssh -v [email protected]             # -v shows where the connection stops

Then try SSH from a different network, such as your phone's hotspot. If it works there, the server is fine and your own IP address has been blocked (section 4).

3. If you can still log in: find the cause

Check the basics first:

uptime                     # load, and whether the server rebooted recently
df -h                      # a full disk stops databases, mail and logins
free -h                    # memory and swap
systemctl --failed         # services that have stopped
sudo journalctl -k | grep -i "out of memory" | tail   # processes the kernel killed

Disk full. Find what grew and clean up safely:

sudo du -xh / --max-depth=2 2>/dev/null | sort -h | tail -20
sudo journalctl --vacuum-time=7d     # trim old system journal entries

Delete old backups, logs or caches you no longer need. Don't delete database files by hand: removing MySQL or MariaDB data files such as ibdata1 or the log files destroys data.

Out of memory. Restart the service that was killed, then find what used the memory with top (press M to sort by memory). Lower the worker counts of PHP-FPM, your database or your Node.js processes, add swap as a safety net, or move to a plan with more RAM.

A stopped service. Restart it and read why it failed:

sudo systemctl restart nginx          # or apache2, httpd, mariadb, mysql, php8.3-fpm
sudo journalctl -u nginx -n 50

4. If SSH is blocked or refused

The most common causes are a firewall rule, Fail2ban blocking your IP after failed logins, or an edit to the SSH configuration.

• Blocked by Fail2ban. From a session that still works (for example over a hotspot), check and unblock your home IP: sudo fail2ban-client status sshd, then sudo fail2ban-client set sshd unbanip YOUR_IP.
• Firewall rule. Check sudo ufw status or sudo firewall-cmd --list-all, and allow SSH with sudo ufw allow OpenSSH or sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=ssh && sudo firewall-cmd --reload. See VPS firewall setup.
• SSH configuration. Run sudo sshd -t to find syntax errors, and check the port with sudo sshd -T | grep -i '^port'. Fix, then sudo systemctl restart ssh (or sshd on AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux).

If you can't get in from any network, you can't fix it from inside. Open a ticket (section 6); support will tell you what console or recovery access is available for your server. See also connecting to a VPS when SSH is broken.

5. Rebooting

If the server still answers SSH and you have fixed the cause, or a kernel update needs it, reboot from inside:

sudo reboot

Before rebooting, check your services are enabled to start at boot (systemctl is-enabled nginx mariadb), and that PM2 or Docker apps are set to restart. After the reboot, run systemctl --failed and open your websites.

6. When to open a ticket

There is no VPS management page or power button in the Domain India client area. Open a ticket at /client/support/new when:

• nothing answers from any network;
• the server needs starting after a power-off, or a force restart because it is frozen;
• the VPS keeps crashing or rebooting on its own;
• you need a console, OS reinstall or other platform task.

Include the VPS IP address, when it stopped responding, what you changed last and the results of the tests in section 2. Support is on 24/7 live chat too, and tickets get a first response within 15 minutes.

7. Prevent the next outage

• Watch disk and memory. Rotate logs, and alert yourself before the disk fills. For graphs and alerts, see production observability with Prometheus, Grafana and Loki.
• Add swap on small plans so a memory spike slows the server rather than killing services.
• Harden SSH with keys and a firewall. See the SSH security hardening checklist.
• Keep backups off the server. A self-managed VPS needs its own backup plan; copy databases and files to storage elsewhere.
• Apply security updates regularly, and reboot for kernel updates at a quiet time.

8. Domain India VPS

Domain India VPS plans are self-managed KVM servers with full root access. You handle the software and routine reboots; support handles starting, stopping and force-restarting the server on request. If your server keeps running out of memory, a larger plan may be the fix: on 19 September 2026, Domain India list prices were ₹553 a month for VPS Starter (2 GB RAM) and ₹1,105 a month for VPS Basic (4 GB RAM), excluding 18% GST.

Ready to get back online? Work through the checks above, read the VPS management guide, or open a ticket if your VPS needs a start or restart from our side.