How do I change the operating system on my VM?

Important Note

Carrying out a rebuild of your Cloud VM will wipe all your data in full which is contained on that VM, after completion a fresh install of the template chosen will be placed on the server.

As this is the case, should you need to retrieve some/all of that data, it is imperative that you backup your data before carrying out the rebuild process.

Also note that some templates will bill you extra - for example our Windows templates have additional licencing.

These actions would be carried out via your Cloud (OnApp) panel; please see the following in relation to to this:

What is the Cloud Control panel?

Rebuild Virtual Machine

You can change the operating system on your VM by rebuilding it and picking a different template. In order to rebuild the VM, you would first need to login to your Cloud control panel for the VM - then you would follow the steps below:

Virtual Machines > vm name > Tools > VM Options > Rebuild Virtual Machine

This will restart your VM, will wipe all data off of it, reset your Root\Admin password, and revert the hostname if you changed it.  You can see the status of the rebuild by looking at the "Virtual Machine Activity Log" section on the same screen as Rebuild Virtual Machine

Notes

If you change from a template that requires a licence, to any other template - either one that requires a licence or not, please contact our Sales team in order to ensure the licence for the old template is removed from your subscription, for your next billing period.

If you are moving from a template that has no licence fees, to a template that does have licence fees - such as a Plesk template, you will need to acquire a Licence - you can do so via https://cp.blacknight.com:

Billing >> Subscription Management > (Subscription ID) > Licences

As licences are typically a monthly charge, if you change to a templates that requires a licence - and leave it active for over an hour, and then change to a free template you will be charged for the template licence, for a full month. 

If you change to that same template again in the space of a month then you will not be charged again. You can see more on billable templates here:

What charges me extra on my Cloud VM?