Best Remote VPS Server Management Tools

So you jumped into the world of VPS hosting? Congrats, my friend! Running your own Virtual Private Server gives you way more power and customization than regular shared hosting.

But with great power comes great…responsibility? I was gonna say complexity, but I guess Spiderman’s quote works too LOL.

Managing a remote server can be daunting if you’re used to point-and-click cPanel hosting. The good news? Plenty of wonderful tools exist to make VPS administration easy!

In this guide, I’ll go over my favorite dashboards, apps, and tricks for managing a Virtual Private Server from anywhere. Grab some popcorn and let’s turn you into a VPS pro!

Key Takeaways:

• VPS hosting offers more flexibility than shared hosting at an affordable price. Use remote tools to easily configure and manage your Virtual Private Server.
• Web-based dashboards like Virtualmin provide an intuitive way to administer sites, emails, files, and more without SSH command lines.
• SSH connections allow advanced terminal control and software install through Putty, WinSCP, or SSH apps on macOS/Linux devices.
• EasyEngine combines terminal access and a dashboard for simplified WordPress management and security hardening.
• Premium panels like Plesk, cPanel, or InterWorx offer robust hosting control if you prefer conventional GUIs over CLI.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What’s the difference between shared vs VPS hosting?

• Shared hosting packages resources between hundreds of accounts. VPS provisions dedicated CPU, memory, storage and bandwidth not affected by other sites.

Is VPS hosting complicated for beginners?

• VPS gives more responsibility than shared plans but remote tools provide user-friendly control for beginners. Ease grows with experience.

What are the benefits of using tools for remote VPS management?

• Convenience to securely manage sites from anywhere. GUI simplicity without complex command lines. Automation to handle tedious hosting tasks.

Alright, let’s check out some awesome solutions! I’ll start with straightforward web dashboards before covering developer-focused SSH tools and premium commercial panels.

Beginner-Friendly Web Dashboards

For getting started with VPS hosting, I recommend using web-based dashboards that provide an intuitive graphical interface without the need to touch a terminal shell.

Virtualmin

My favorite turnkey dashboard is Virtualmin. Their open-source control panel installs in just a few minutes with a single command:

Or if running Ubuntu/Debian:

Once configured, you can access Virtualmin from any web browser just by visiting your server IP address:

https://x.x.x.x:10000

It gives you a central spot to:

• Provision domains and subdomains
• Add email accounts
• Manage databases
• Control websites and files
• Monitor resource usage
• Run backups
• Build custom scripts
• Expand functionality through addons

I really like Virtualmin for its balance of simplicity yet broad utility for common tasks – especially great for new VPS owners still learning the ropes!

Ajenti

If you want something a bit more modern and slick, Ajenti is a good choice.

Ajenti bills itself as a “control panel for control freaks” with an open API that developers can hook into for advanced automation.

Out of the box, it enables easy site and server management through the web UI or SSH terminal:

• Standard hosting tools like domain/database/cronjob creation
• Handy widgets for monitoring disk usage, bandwidth, resource hogging processes
• Log viewers and visitor analytics
• User access controls and permissions

One downside is Ajenti requires a bit more technical skill to install compared to Virtualmin. But the modern dashboard and abundance of settings may appeal to intermediate linux users.

Webmin

Webmin is another browser-based option developed by Virtualmin’s creators originally. It pioneered the web interface approach for simplifying server administration way back in the late 90’s!

In addition to typical functions like website, email, database management, Webmin shines in advanced configurations:

• Tweaking kernel settings
• Managing firewall rules
• Controlling SSL certificates
• Configuring backup routines
• Adding and removing software packages
• Monitoring everything in detailed status reports!

Webmin offers rock-solid stability leavened with old-school visual charm! The UI admittedly looks dated compared to Ajenti and Virtualmin but I assure you it’s still maintained and works great.

EasyEngine

EasyEngine takes yet another approach – it combines the simplicity of a web dashboard with terminal access for managing WordPress sites.

After installation, you log into EasyEngine over SSH just like a regular CLI, but get extras tools optimized for WordPress hosting such as:

• One command site setup ( CPU/memory configs, caching plugins, CDNs all preconfigured)
• Click UI for admin like virtual hosts, databases, user permissions etc
• Integrated security hardening like fail2ban, IP blacklists, malware detection
• Staging environments and git deployment built-in

EasyEngine delivers a phenomenal hosting stack that avoids the bloat of cPanel/Plesk. I offer it as an option for clients interested in simplified WordPress management from their VPS.

So those are my favorite web dashboards for getting started with user-friendly VPS administration! Of course, sometimes you still need to access the raw terminal so let’s go over the best SSH tools…

SSH Tools for Direct Server Access

In addition to web dashboards, I strongly recommend having SSH access setup for managing your Virtual Private Server via command line (also called CLI or shell).

SSH allows connecting to your server remotely and running Linux admin commands through old-school terminal input rather than a graphical interface.

Sounds scary for beginners? Don’t worry – with the right tools, SSH is dead simple for tasks web dashboards can’t handle like in-depth troubleshooting or development work.

Let’s check out my favorite solutions:

Putty (Windows)

If using Windows 10, the de facto standard is the free Putty app for SSH.

Despite looking rather aged itself, good ol’ Putty does the job perfectly:

Simply enter your server IP / user credentials and presto – full terminal control over your VPS whether locally or remotely! I keep Putty installed on all my Windows desktops and laptops.

Pro tip: PuTTYcm is an enhanced version with cloud sync and saved session management.

WinSCP (Windows)

Now command lines are awesome and all…but what about transferring files easily to your VPS?

This is where the fantastic (and still free!) WinSCP comes into play:

It gives you an intuitive drag-and-drop interface with automatic syncing capabilities. Support for advanced features like file permissions, remote editing, and scripted transfers too!

Together WinSCP and Putty form an unbeatable SSH team for Windows users. Truly a dynamic duo!

Built-in SSH Clients (Mac & Linux)

MacOS and Linux distributions like Ubuntu or Debian come with native SSH functionality already:

So owners of these devices just need to launch Terminal and use the ssh command like so:

This drops you right into a shell session on the remote server. Easy peasy!

And for securely transferring files over SSH they have SCP available (it stands for Secure Copy Protocol).

macOS also has elegant SSH apps like Termius available providing advanced terminal features as well as encryption and team collaboration capabilities.

Premium Commercial Panels

So far we’ve covered free and open source tools for VPS control. But if budget allows, paid commercial panels like cPanel, Plesk and Interworx offer more convenience and premium support. Let’s discuss the benefits of these solutions briefly.

cPanel

Likely the most popular paid dashboard is cPanel – they essentially pioneered the web hosting control panel concept in the first place!

Given decades of development, cPanel packs an incredibly robust featureset far exceeding open source alternatives:

• Icon-driven clicks for common hosting tasks
• granular configuration options
• themes and styles to personalize your admin experience
• loads of value-added tools like free SSL, spam protection, site builders etc

Of course all that power comes at a steeper price…but for certain users cPanel’s convenience justifies the ongoing licensing fees. Generally best suited to hosting companies vs end users IMO.

Plesk

Plesk competes directly with cPanel in the commercial hosting management space.

It’s comparable in functionality to cPanel with advanced features such as:

• Multi-server and reseller management
• Integrated billing solutions
• Security-hardened web admin
• Developer-friendly REST API and CLI toolkit
• Expandability through third-party extensions

Plesk still carries significant licensing fees like cPanel but offers a 30-day free trial for you to evaluate if it fits your VPS use case.

InterWorx

If seeking commercial software at a more modest price point, InterWorx deserves your consideration:

Some standout aspects:

• Intuitive icon-based UI like cPanel
• Bundled control panel updates and support
• Scales better than Plesk/cPanel on budget VPS plans
• Rapid provisioning and management of sites
• Owned by largest hosting automation company (cPanel)

InterWorx essentially delivers a discounted subset of cPanel’s offerings for lower demand users. Check them out!

So those are the main commercial players when open source tools won’t suffice. They require ongoing fees but deliver premium experiences, official support and advanced integration tools.

Now let’s wrap things up with my favorite VPS host where you can utilize all these wonderful tools we discussed!

Why Choose VpsWala VPS Hosting?

I have used quite a few VPS providers over my admin career. But lately my top recommendation is VpsWala due to their unbeatable value:

• Very affordable high-spec VMs starting under $5/month
• Choice of US, Europe and India-based locations
• SSD-Accelerated; RAID protection available
• Part of $200M public company (Serum Institute)
• Excellent 24/7 live chat support

Most importantly – VpsWala fully supports ALL the awesome VPS management tools we covered today:

• Virtualmin, Webmin, and Ajenti ready for fast setup
• SSH access on all plans for terminal convenience
• Add cPanel/Plesk with license fees waived first month!

So I highly suggest VpsWala as your VPS host while utilizing this article’s tips to access and control your server.

It’s a winning combo sure to make your entrance into self-managed VPS hosting smooth sailing!

Over 10 years into my system admin career, I’m still constantly learning new solutions and efficiency tricks in this field. Hopefully, you found my condensed guide helpful as just starting on this journey yourself.

Let me know in the comments if have any other questions about managing VPS plans! I’m always happy to nerd out over this stuff with our clients. 😉