Arm64 VPS and VDS: getting started and software compatibility

An Arm64 VPS or Arm64 VDS is a virtual server with 64-bit Arm (AArch64) processors and full root access. You connect, secure and manage it exactly like any other Linux server (connect over SSH, secure a new Linux server). The difference is the processor architecture: every program you run must be built for arm64. This guide shows how to check that and what to do when software exists only for x86.

Before you start

• An Arm64 VPS or VDS with one of the operating systems listed in the order form, and SSH access as root or a sudo user.

Step 1: Check the architecture

uname -m
dpkg --print-architecture

On Ubuntu and Debian you see aarch64 and arm64. On AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux, uname -m also prints aarch64.

Step 2: Install software

• Distribution packages come from the arm64 repositories automatically: sudo apt install nginx installs the arm64 build.
• Vendor downloads: pick the file marked arm64, aarch64 or linux-arm64, not amd64, x86_64 or x64.
• Language runtimes such as Node.js, Python, Go, Java, .NET, PHP and Rust are available for arm64. Packages with native code (Python wheels, Node add-ons) need an arm64 build or are compiled during installation, which needs build tools: sudo apt install build-essential.

Verify a binary before you rely on it:

file /usr/local/bin/mytool

The output names ARM aarch64 for a native arm64 binary.

Step 3: Use Docker with arm64 images

Install Docker Engine from Docker's repository exactly as on x86 (install Docker on Ubuntu); Docker publishes arm64 packages. Check which platforms an image is published for:

docker buildx imagetools inspect nginx:latest

The list shows entries such as linux/amd64 and linux/arm64. If linux/arm64 is listed, docker pull picks it automatically.

Step 4: Run amd64-only images with emulation (when you must)

For an image that exists only for amd64, register QEMU emulators with the kernel, then ask for the platform explicitly:

docker run --privileged --rm tonistiigi/binfmt --install all
docker run --rm --platform linux/amd64 alpine uname -m

The second command prints x86_64 from inside an emulated container. Emulation works for occasional tools and build steps, but it is much slower than native code; for anything that runs all day, use an arm64 image or rebuild it (multi-architecture Docker images).

The emulator registration does not survive every reboot on all systems; run the first command again if amd64 containers stop starting after a restart.

Arm64 VDS: your own virtual machines

An Arm64 VDS adds nested virtualization. KVM on it runs 64-bit Arm guests; use arm64 images for them, such as Ubuntu's arm64 cloud image, and the Arm system emulator package (qemu-system-arm) together with UEFI firmware for Arm guests (qemu-efi-aarch64 on Ubuntu and Debian). The libvirt workflow is the same as in KVM virtual machines with libvirt.

Troubleshooting

exec format error. You started a binary or container built for another architecture. Check it with file (binaries) or docker image inspect --format '{{.Architecture}}' image (images), then install the arm64 build.

no matching manifest for linux/arm64/v8 in the manifest list entries. The image has no arm64 variant. Look for an alternative image, build your own, or run it with emulation as in Step 4.

pip install compiles for a long time or fails. No arm64 wheel exists for that package version, so pip builds it from source. Install build-essential and the -dev packages the error names, or choose a version that ships arm64 wheels.

A vendor's install script stops with "unsupported architecture". The vendor publishes no arm64 build. Ask the vendor, or run that component on an x86 server.

Next steps

• Build images for both architectures: multi-architecture Docker images.
• Lock the server down: secure a new Linux server.