Litescaler Blog • DevOps • 8 min read

 

How to Install a Custom OS on Your Litescaler VPS — Full Control, Zero Limits

 

For 90% of users, a one-click template — Ubuntu 24.04, Debian, CentOS Stream — is the right answer. Fast, secure, ready in under a minute. This guide is not for them.

This is for the security researcher who needs Kali Linux. The developer who wants a bare-bones Arch install with nothing extra running. The sysadmin building a custom firewall on OPNsense. The person who needs a specific kernel, a real-time OS, or a BIOS-level diagnostic environment.

Because Litescaler‘s VPS platform is built on KVM — Kernel-based Virtual Machine — you have complete hardware virtualisation access. That means any OS with an ISO file can run on your server. Here is exactly how to do it, step by step.

Seven steps from start to running custom OS. Read the full guide below before you begin — the order matters.

 

#	Step	What to do
1	Get network details	Copy IPv4, Gateway, Subnet Mask from Litescaler dashboard before touching anything
2	Upload your ISO	Navigate to VPS Management → ISO/Media tab → upload your custom OS ISO
3	Switch boot to CD-ROM	Settings → Boot Order → set CD-ROM/ISO as primary boot device
4	Power cycle the server	Click Stop (not Restart) → wait 5 seconds → click Start to pick up BIOS change
5	Install via VNC console	Open VNC Console in dashboard → run installation exactly as you would on a physical PC
6	Configure static network	Use nmtui or edit /etc/network/interfaces to enter your IPv4, Gateway, Subnet Mask
7	Switch back to hard disk	Settings → Boot Order → set Hard Disk as primary → unmount ISO → reboot

 

This is the step most people skip — and the reason most custom OS installs end in a locked-out server with no internet access.

Unlike a template install that configures networking automatically, a custom OS has no idea what your server’s IP address is. You need to tell it manually during installation. If you do not have these details written down before you wipe the existing OS, you have no way to retrieve them.

 

Open your Litescaler dashboard → navigate to your VPS → find the Network Details section. Write down all four of the following:

 

•     IPv4 Address — your server’s public IP

•     Gateway — the router your server communicates through

•     Subnet Mask — defines your network range (typically 255.255.255.0)

•     DNS servers — use 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 if not specified

 

Important Do not proceed until you have these four values noted somewhere outside the server — in a notes app, on paper, anywhere. Once you wipe the existing OS, this information is only available through the dashboard.

 

You need a direct HTTPS link to your ISO file, or the ISO file itself. Litescaler‘s NVMe Gen4 infrastructure means even large ISO files upload in seconds — a 4GB Kali Linux ISO takes under 30 seconds on most connections.

 

1.   In your VPS Management Panel, navigate to the ISO / Media tab

2.   Click Upload ISO — either paste a direct download URL or upload the file directly

3.   Wait for the upload to complete and confirm the ISO appears in your media library

 

Note Supported formats: any standard .iso file. If your OS provides a torrent or compressed archive (.tar.gz, .zip), download and extract the raw .iso file first before uploading.

 

The server needs to know to boot from your ISO instead of the existing hard disk. This is done in the Settings panel of your VPS dashboard.

 

4.   Navigate to Settings → Boot Order in your VPS Management Panel

5.   Set CD-ROM / ISO as the Primary boot device

6.   Save the setting

 

Important Do not click Restart. A standard restart may not pick up the BIOS boot order change. Click Stop (Power Off), wait a full 5 seconds until the server shows as offline, then click Start. This ensures the BIOS re-reads the boot configuration from scratch.

 

You have not installed SSH yet — there is no operating system on the server to accept SSH connections. The only way to interact with the server at this stage is through the VNC console, which gives you a direct video feed of the server’s display inside your browser.

 

Click VNC Console in your Litescaler dashboard. The installer will load exactly as it would on a physical machine — graphical or text-based depending on the OS.

 

What to expect during installation

•     The installer will ask for language, keyboard layout, timezone, and partitioning — answer as you would on any PC installation

•     When it asks about network configuration, select Manual / Static IP — this is where your Phase 1 notes become essential

•     Enter your IPv4 address, gateway, subnet mask, and DNS servers exactly as noted from the dashboard

•     The VNC connection may drop briefly during the final stages of installation — this is normal and it will reconnect automatically

•     Do not close the browser tab during installation — if you lose the VNC session, it reconnects on refresh

 

Note If you are installing a minimal or server-only OS without a GUI (Arch, Alpine, Debian minimal), the installer will be text-based. Navigate using arrow keys and Tab. Enter confirms selections.

 

Installation complete. The OS is on the disk. But if you reboot now, the server will likely have no internet access because the network interface has not been configured with your static IP details.

There are two ways to do this depending on your OS:

 

Option A — nmtui (recommended for most Linux distros)

nmtui is a simple text-based interface that works on any terminal without needing to edit config files manually. Run it from the VNC console:

 

nmtui

 

•     Select Edit a connection → choose your network interface (usually eth0 or ens3)

•     Set IPv4 Configuration to Manual

•     Enter your Address (with /24 for a standard subnet), Gateway, and DNS servers

•     Select OK → Back → Activate a connection → activate your interface

 

Option B — Edit /etc/network/interfaces (Debian/Ubuntu)

For Debian-based systems that use the older interfaces file:

 

nano /etc/network/interfaces

 

Add the following block, replacing the values with your actual network details:

 

auto eth0 iface eth0 inet static address YOUR.IP.ADDRESS netmask 255.255.255.0 gateway YOUR.GATEWAY dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4

 

Save the file and bring the interface up:

 

ifup eth0

 

Note Test your connection before moving to Phase 6. Run: ping -c 3 8.8.8.8 — if you get replies, networking is configured correctly. If not, double-check the IP, gateway, and netmask values against your dashboard.

 

The installation is complete and networking is live. Two final steps before your custom OS is running permanently.

 

7.   Return to your Litescaler dashboard → VPS Settings → Boot Order

8.   Set Hard Disk as the Primary boot device (move it above CD-ROM)

9.   Navigate to the ISO / Media tab and unmount / detach your ISO

10.  Reboot the server

 

Your server will now boot directly into your custom OS every time. The ISO is no longer attached. SSH is available once the OS finishes booting — connect using the credentials you set during installation.

 

Important If the server boots back into the installer instead of the installed OS, the boot order was not saved correctly. Return to Settings → Boot Order, confirm Hard Disk is first, save, then power cycle again (Stop → wait → Start).

 

The process above works for any ISO. Here are the most common use cases on Litescaler‘s KVM platform:

 

•     Kali Linux — penetration testing and security research environments

•     Arch Linux — minimal, fully custom builds with only the packages you choose

•     OPNsense / pfSense — custom firewall and network appliance configurations

•     Proxmox VE — running a hypervisor inside your VPS for nested virtualisation

•     Alpine Linux — ultra-lightweight containers and edge deployments

•     Real-time Linux kernels — low-latency audio production and media workloads

•     SystemRescue / GParted Live — disk repair, partition management, and recovery

•     Memtest86+ — BIOS-level hardware diagnostics

 

 

Can I install Windows on a Litescaler VPS?

Yes — any OS with a standard ISO file can be installed via this process. Windows requires a valid licence key and the installation ISO from Microsoft. The VNC console handles the graphical Windows installer without any issues.

What if I lose internet access after installation?

Open the VNC console from your dashboard — it connects directly to the server’s display and does not require network access. From there you can reconfigure networking using nmtui or by editing the interfaces file. This is why the VNC console exists: it is your emergency access door regardless of what state the OS is in.

Can I go back to a standard template after installing a custom OS?

Yes — the Reinstall option in your dashboard wipes the disk and installs a fresh template OS at any time. Take a snapshot before experimenting with a custom OS if you want a quick way to revert without a full reinstall.

How long does the full process take?

ISO upload: under 60 seconds on NVMe infrastructure. OS installation time varies by distro — Arch Linux minimal takes 5–10 minutes, a full desktop environment like Kali takes 15–20 minutes. The entire process from start to running custom OS typically takes under 30 minutes.

What is KVM and why does it matter for custom OS installs?

KVM — Kernel-based Virtual Machine — provides full hardware virtualisation. Your VPS behaves exactly like a physical machine at the BIOS level, which means any OS that can run on real hardware can run on a Litescaler KVM VPS. Providers that use container-based virtualisation (OpenVZ, LXC) cannot offer this — the OS must match the host kernel.

Litescaler‘s KVM infrastructure does not limit you to a menu of approved operating systems. If it has an ISO, it runs. The process is seven steps, takes under 30 minutes, and requires nothing beyond your dashboard access and the network details you wrote down in Phase 1.

Infrastructure sovereignty means your server runs exactly what you need it to run — not what a hosting provider decided was convenient to support.

 

Take full control of your infrastructure. Litescaler‘s KVM VPS gives you bare-metal access, NVMe Gen4 speed, and a VNC console ready from day one. Your server, your OS, your rules. Explore advanced VPS features → litescaler.com/hosting

 

Published on Litescaler.com — Genriva Systems

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