First steps after deploying a server

Your server is online — here's a 10-minute checklist to make it production-ready.

1. Update everything

apt update && apt upgrade -y

2. Create a non-root user

adduser deploy
usermod -aG sudo deploy

Working as a regular user with sudo prevents accidental system-wide mistakes.

3. Enable the firewall

ufw allow OpenSSH
ufw enable

Only open the ports you actually use. Add web ports later with ufw allow 80,443/tcp.

4. Set your timezone

timedatectl set-timezone UTC

5. Enable automatic security updates

apt install unattended-upgrades -y
dpkg-reconfigure --priority=low unattended-upgrades

That's it — your server now follows security best practices. Consider enabling daily backups from your control panel for extra safety.