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Contabo

Manage Contabo compute instances, snapshots, custom images, object storage, private networks, firewalls, secrets, and tags.

Actions22

Instance → Reinstall

AI-generated

Summary

Reinstalls an existing Contabo compute instance with a new OS image, optionally applying new default users, root passwords, SSH keys, and cloud-init user data.

Inputs

  • instanceId (required) — The unique identifier of the compute instance to reinstall.
  • imageId (required) — The OS image ID to install on the instance.
  • additionalFields.defaultUser — The default login user created on the instance (default: root).
  • additionalFields.rootPassword — Root password. If omitted, one will be auto-generated and emailed.
  • additionalFields.displayName — The friendly name for the instance.
  • additionalFields.sshKeys — Select SSH keys from your secrets to configure on the instance.
  • additionalFields.userData — Cloud-init user data script (e.g. base64 or plaintext script).
  • customRequestId — Optional UUIDv4 request identifier. If left blank, a random UUIDv4 is auto-generated.

Output shape

a single record containing the updated instance details or a success flag

The operation returns the updated instance data. The reinstall process replaces the OS while preserving the underlying product plan and configuration (IPs, storage).

Examples

Example 1: Reinstall a VPS with a new Ubuntu image and custom SSH keys

Instance ID: 12345, Image ID: ubuntu-22-04, SSH Keys: secretId-1, secretId-2

Example 2: Reset an instance to its original state using the original image

Instance ID: 12345, Image ID: original-config, Root Password: auto-generated

Example 3: Reinstall with a custom cloud-init script to install specific software

Instance ID: 12345, Image ID: debian-11, User Data: base64 encoded script

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