Managing your server's power state is one of the most fundamental tasks in server administration. Whether you need to apply configuration changes, troubleshoot an issue, or simply power down a server you are not using, Data Mammoth provides multiple ways to control your server's power state directly from the dashboard.

This guide explains each power action, when to use it, and how to perform it safely.

Accessing Power Controls

You will see the current power state displayed as a status badge (Running, Stopped, or Rebooting) alongside the available power action buttons.

Starting Your Server

If your server is currently stopped, click the Start button to power it on.

What Happens When You Start a Server

• The hypervisor allocates resources (CPU, RAM, disk) to your server.
• The operating system boots up and starts all configured services.
• Network interfaces come online, making your server reachable via its IP address.
• The process typically takes 15 to 60 seconds, depending on your OS and installed services.

When to Start a Server

• After a planned maintenance window where the server was shut down.
• When commissioning a newly provisioned server.
• After a force stop that was used for troubleshooting.

Stopping Your Server

Click the Stop button to gracefully shut down your server.

Graceful Stop vs. Force Stop

A graceful stop sends an ACPI shutdown signal to the operating system, which then:

A force stop immediately cuts power to the server without giving the operating system time to shut down. This is equivalent to pulling the power cord on a physical machine.

When to Use Graceful Stop

• Before performing maintenance that requires the server to be offline.
• When you want to temporarily deactivate a server to reduce resource usage.
• Before resizing or upgrading your plan (if required by the upgrade process).

When to Use Force Stop

• When the server is completely unresponsive and a graceful stop does not complete within a reasonable time (2 to 5 minutes).
• When the operating system is stuck during shutdown.
• When the web console shows the server is frozen or in a kernel panic.

Restarting Your Server

Click the Restart button to perform a graceful reboot. This is equivalent to running sudo reboot from the command line.

What Happens During a Restart

When to Restart

• After installing system updates or kernel upgrades.
• After changing critical configuration files (e.g., network settings, firewall rules, kernel parameters).
• When a service is misbehaving and a service-level restart did not resolve the issue.
• After adding or removing server resources.

Force Restart

A force restart performs an immediate hard reboot without waiting for the operating system to shut down cleanly. Use this only when:

• A graceful restart does not complete within a reasonable time.
• The server is unresponsive to both SSH and the web console.
• You need to recover from a kernel panic or frozen system.

Performing Power Actions via SSH

If you prefer the command line, you can perform power actions directly from an SSH session:

# Graceful restart
sudo reboot
Graceful shutdown
sudo shutdown -h now
Scheduled shutdown (e.g., in 10 minutes)
sudo shutdown -h +10
Cancel a scheduled shutdown
sudo shutdown -c

Note that SSH-based shutdown and reboot commands perform graceful operations. You cannot force stop or force restart from within SSH — those actions require the Data Mammoth dashboard or API.

Power Action Best Practices

Before Stopping or Restarting

After Starting or Restarting

Troubleshooting Power Issues

Server Will Not Start

• Check if your account has any unpaid invoices that may have triggered a suspension. See How to Pay an Invoice.
• Verify the server is not in a provisioning or maintenance state.
• Contact support if the start action completes but the server remains unreachable.

Graceful Stop Is Taking Too Long

• Wait at least 2 to 3 minutes — some services take time to shut down.
• If the stop does not complete after 5 minutes, use a force stop.
• Investigate what process is blocking shutdown by checking logs after the next boot.

Server Is Stuck in Rebooting State

• Wait up to 5 minutes for the reboot to complete.
• If the status does not change, try a force stop followed by a start.
• Use the web console to check if the server is stuck at a boot prompt.

What to Do Next

• Understanding Your Server Dashboard — Navigate all dashboard features.
• Monitoring Server Performance — Check resource usage after a restart.
• Using the Web Console (VNC/NoVNC) — Access your server when SSH is unavailable.
• Viewing Server Activity Log — Review power action history.