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Fedora Server

Package management, updates, release upgrades, and firewall setup on a Fedora VPS.

Our Fedora image is the official Fedora Cloud Base image, provisioned with cloud-init. It’s a minimal install, so you’ll add the software you need yourself. For help deciding whether Fedora is right for you, see Choosing a Linux distribution.

What’s in the image

  • Packages: a minimal Fedora install with dnf, OpenSSH, and cloud-init.
  • Networking: configured by cloud-init at boot. See VPS networking for how your addresses are assigned.
  • Firewall: the cloud image doesn’t ship with an active firewall. See Set up a firewall.
  • SELinux: enabled and enforcing. Some changes, like moving SSH to a different port, need an SELinux policy update as well.

To check which Fedora release you’re running:

Shell
cat /etc/fedora-release

Install packages

Fedora uses dnf to install packages:

Shell
sudo dnf install htop

To search for a package:

Shell
dnf search htop

Update your system

To install the latest updates:

Shell
sudo dnf upgrade --refresh

Reboot if the update installed a new kernel.

Automatic updates

To install updates automatically, install the dnf5-plugin-automatic package:

Shell
sudo dnf install dnf5-plugin-automatic

Create /etc/dnf/automatic.conf with the following content so updates are applied, not just downloaded:

ini
[commands]
apply_updates = yes

Then enable the timer:

Shell
sudo systemctl enable --now dnf5-automatic.timer

Upgrade to a new Fedora release

A new Fedora release comes out about every six months, and each release is supported for about 13 months. Upgrade at least once a year to stay on a supported release.

First, fully update your current release and reboot. Then download the new release, replacing 45 with the release you’re upgrading to:

Shell
sudo dnf system-upgrade download --releasever=45

When the download finishes, reboot into the upgrade:

Shell
sudo dnf offline reboot

The upgrade can take several minutes. Only upgrade one or two releases at a time.

Set up a firewall

Fedora uses firewalld. Our hardening guide walks through installing and configuring it.

Next steps