Available operating systems

You choose the operating system at the first step of ordering a VPS plan, on the “Sistem de operare” (Operating system) screen. You get there when you click “Comandă” (Order) on a plan card on the “Planuri VPS” (VPS plans) page (blackbox.md/servers/plans) or in the “Servere virtuale” (Virtual servers) section of the home page. Your server is delivered with the chosen system already installed.

The blackbox.md website is available in Romanian and Russian; this article quotes the Romanian labels with their English meaning.

Available to: any customer signed in to blackbox.md, when ordering a VPS plan. The “VPS hosting” plans and dedicated servers do not have this step.

The 7 systems on the list

LTS (Long Term Support) means a version with extended support from the developer. Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and Debian 11 are old versions: their standard support period has ended. For a server you plan to use for many years, choose a newer version. The developers publish the support dates: Ubuntu release cycle and Debian releases.

All images are server images: no graphical interface and no control panel. You connect as root over SSH, on port 22; details in Your new server: what you get and first steps.

How to choose the system when you order

1. Click “Planuri VPS” (VPS plans) in the top menu, then “Comandă” (Order) on the plan you want.
2. If you are not signed in, you land on the sign-in page. After you sign in or sign up, you are taken back to your order automatically.
3. On the “Sistem de operare” (Operating system) screen (“Alegeți sistemul de operare cu care serverul va fi livrat gata instalat.” (Choose the operating system your server will be delivered with, already installed.)), select one of the 7 systems. “Ubuntu 24.04 LTS” is selected from the start.
4. Click “Continuă” (Continue).
5. Next come the “Date de facturare” (Billing details) and “Cheie SSH pentru server” (SSH key for the server) steps; you can skip both. The order is created only after the last step, and then the payment page opens. The next steps are in Placing an order step by step.

You can't skip the “Sistem de operare” step: a VPS order always includes the chosen system. If you change your mind at a later step, reload the page. The order hasn't been created yet, and the page goes back to “Sistem de operare”.

Tip If you have no specific requirement, keep “Ubuntu 24.04 LTS”. For software written for RHEL or CentOS, choose “AlmaLinux 9”.

How the families differ

The system firewall (ufw or firewalld) is inactive on a new server. Separately, incoming traffic to your server passes through network filtering managed by BLACKBOX. Before you turn on the firewall, read Firewall: network filtering and ufw/firewalld on the server. If an application you installed is blocked on AlmaLinux or CentOS Stream for no apparent reason, look in the application's documentation for its SELinux settings; don't disable SELinux.

The name of the SSH service differs from one family to the other. After you change the SSH configuration, the command below reloads the service on any of the systems. Before making the change, keep a second SSH session open: there is no web console, and if you lose access, you will have to write to support.

systemctl reload ssh || systemctl reload sshd

Below are the basic commands for each family. Automatic updates are covered in System updates and automatic security updates.

Ubuntu and Debian

Check the version and update the system:

cat /etc/os-release
apt update
apt upgrade -y

AlmaLinux and CentOS Stream

Check the version, update the system and see the SELinux mode (Enforcing means it is active):

cat /etc/os-release
dnf upgrade -y
getenforce

Systems you can't order online

If an order nevertheless requests a system that is not on the list, the order is not created. The “Eroare la plasarea comenzii” (Error placing the order) screen appears with the message “Sistemul de operare ales nu poate fi instalat automat. Alegeți altul din listă.” (The selected operating system cannot be installed automatically. Choose another one from the list.) The “Încearcă din nou” (Try again) button sends the same request and gets the same error. Reload the page, which goes back to the “Sistem de operare” (Operating system) step, and choose a system from the list. The “Înapoi la prețuri” (Back to pricing) button takes you to the home page. Other errors are covered in Errors when placing an order and what they mean.

Plans without a choice of system

• “VPS hosting” (VPS hosting 1, 2 and 3): there is no “Sistem de operare” (Operating system) step, and BLACKBOX decides the server image. Before ordering, ask support which control panel you will get. Details in “VPS hosting” plans with a control panel.
• Dedicated servers (Light, Premium, Storage): there is no “Sistem de operare” step. The team contacts you after you order to agree on the operating system. Details in Dedicated servers.

Where to see a server's system

• “Contul meu” (My account) → “Comenzi” (Orders), “Descriere” (Description) column: for example “Standard M · 2 vCPU / 4 GB RAM / 40 GB SSD · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS”. The same text appears on the “Serviciu” (Service) row of the “Am primit solicitarea dumneavoastră — BBX-…” (We have received your request — BBX-…) email.
• The “Serverul dvs. este gata — BBX-…” (Your server is ready — BBX-…) email, on the “Sistem de operare” (Operating system) row.
• On the server itself, with the first command in the sections above.

The server card in “My Servers” (the app.blackbox.md panel) does not show the operating system.

Changing or reinstalling the system

The panel has no button to reinstall or change the system, and an upgrade keeps the existing system.

• The order is not paid: in “Contul meu” (My account) → “Comenzi” (Orders), use “Anulează comanda” (Cancel the order) on the order's row and place a new order. See The “Comenzi” (Orders) page: statuses and actions.
• The order is paid: the cancellation rules are in Order cancellation and refunds.
• The server is already running: ask support to reinstall it, through a support ticket (Opening a support ticket). Include the order number BBX-…, the IP address and the system you want.

Another option: order a new server with the system you want, move your data (Moving a site to a BLACKBOX server), then delete the old server (Permanently deleting a server). Deleting a server does not refund the amount you paid.

Irreversible When the system is reinstalled, all data on the server is lost: files, databases and settings. Make a copy of your data first; see Backup strategy for your server.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the system name look slightly different in the email? The “Serverul dvs. este gata” (Your server is ready) email shows the name of the installed image, for example “Alma Linux 9” or “CentOS 9 Stream”. It is the same system you chose.

Does the server have a graphical interface? No. The images have no graphical interface, and there is no web console. You manage the server over SSH: Connecting to your server over SSH (Windows, macOS, Linux).

Does the system change when I upgrade? No. An upgrade adds resources and keeps the system, the data and the IP address. See Server upgrade: moving to a larger plan.

Can I choose the system when I order through the AI assistant? Yes, for VPS plans: the same 7 systems, with the codes ubuntu-24, ubuntu-22, ubuntu-20, debian-12, debian-11, centos-9 and almalinux-9. A system that is not on the list (for example Windows or Rocky Linux) is rejected with the error unsupported_os. Always specify the system: without it, an Ubuntu LTS version is installed automatically, not necessarily 24.04. See Orders, payments, cancellations and upgrades via AI.