Best Linux distro for a server

Ubuntu LTS has the largest set of current server guides and suits most VPS work; Debian is a conservative base common with Plesk; AlmaLinux tracks Enterprise Linux and is the straightforward base for cPanel; Rocky Linux is a compatible rebuild with a long life but narrower panel support. Choose the distro your control panel still installs, then the one your team knows.

Each Ubuntu LTS gets five years of standard security updates, and AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux major versions get about ten years. These are operating-system dates; a control panel can stop supporting a distro sooner, as cPanel did with Rocky Linux.

Ubuntu Pro extends coverage for a fee and is not part of the standard window. For a new server today, pick the newest LTS or major release your software supports so you are not planning an OS upgrade within two years.

Confirm the release, apply all updates, create a sudo user, turn on a firewall and enable automatic security updates. The commands differ between the Debian and Enterprise Linux families.

# Check what you booted
cat /etc/os-release

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install unattended-upgrades
sudo ufw allow OpenSSH && sudo ufw enable

# AlmaLinux / Rocky Linux 8 and 9
sudo dnf upgrade -y
sudo dnf install dnf-automatic
sudo systemctl enable --now dnf-automatic-install.timer
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=ssh && sudo firewall-cmd --reload

On Ubuntu, unattended-upgrades applies security updates once installed and enabled; on Enterprise Linux 10, which ships DNF 5, check the release notes for the automatic-update package name. Creating the non-root user is covered in adding a sudo user on Ubuntu, and brute-force protection in installing Fail2ban.