Create a Debian 8 Template

Create a VPS using the ISO template option. We recommend 5 GB disk size. This should be the minimim size of a VPS you wish to offer and it should be large enough to accommodate a minimal installation of Debian.

On the server this VPS has been created, you need to download the ISO to the /virt/iso/ folder.

mkdir -p /virt/iso && cd /virt/iso && wget http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/8.3.0/amd64/iso-cd/debian-8.3.0-amd64-netinst.iso

Configure the VPS ISO as "debian-8.3.0-amd64-netinst.iso" and then start the VPS. It should boot to ISO.

Connect to VNC and proceed with the VPS installation. When you get to the network configuration you will need to setup static configuration. VirtPanel uses routes to pass the traffic to the VPS so the gateway and netmask your web hosting provider gave to you will not work. The gateway needs to be the node's IP and the netmask should allow communication to this gateway. For example, 255.255.255.0 is usually fine. Try 255.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 if that doesn't work. This is just a temporary solution to get the installation files.

If you installed the minimal verison of Debian you may need to install the SSH server through VNC.

apt-get install openssh-server

Allow root login with a password through SSH.

sed -i "s/PermitRootLogin .*/PermitRootLogin yes/g" /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Reduce LoginGraceTime

sed -i "s/LoginGraceTime .*/LoginGraceTime 30/g" /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Install the virtpanel service which configures VPS networking, resolvers, hostname and root password when the VPS is started.

wget -O /etc/init.d/virtpanel https://site.virtpanel.com/files/debian8init && chmod +x /etc/init.d/virtpanel && systemctl enable virtpanel

Reboot the VPS, you should now be able to login with the control panel password.

Cleanup temp files

apt-get clean

Zero free space to reduce the size of the template file.

dd if=/dev/zero of=/zerodisk bs=10M;rm -f /zerodisk

To finish you should delete the host SSH keys so they are regenerated at first boot.

/bin/rm -v /etc/ssh/ssh_host_*

Shutdown cleanly.

shutdown -h now

After the VPS has cleanly shutdown you can now create a template from within VirtPanel.

Next: Common Errors

Previous: VPS Templates » Create a Windows Server 2008 Template

Testimonials

I started using VirtPanel in March 2015, the support and service is excellent. The panel is always having new features for server admins and customers added at no extra fees. If I have any server issues VirtPanel are always on hand to offer advice on resolving the issues. I highly recommend VirtPanel to anyone.
John E. - xHosts.uk

I mitigated from SolusVM to VirtPanel in early 2015 because of how simple it looked compared to other control panels that are available, including SolusVM. Since they understand networking better than SolusVM it saves me a lot of time installing nodes which I can use to help grow my business further. Any complaints I have had have been corrected and it is working well for myself, my vps customers and my resellers.
Lewis B. - HostSavor.com