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# Troubleshooting

# Troubleshooting

Common things that go wrong, and how to fix them.

## I can't sign in / I forgot my password

Contact Host4Geeks support. We can reset your panel password from the VM shell — there's no self-service reset path (which is intentional: anyone who could reset your password without proving they own the account would be a security hole).

After the reset, sign in with the password we send, then change it from** Account → Change Panel Password** to something only you know.

## My browser says "Your connection is not private"

Expected on first visit. The panel uses a self-signed TLS certificate. Click **Advanced → Proceed** (Chrome/Edge) or **Advanced → Accept the risk** (Firefox). Browsers remember your choice — you'll only see this warning the first time.

Your panel data is still encrypted in transit; the warning is because your browser can't trace the cert back to a public certificate authority.

(Cleaner: when you connect via your VM's hostname rather than the IP, the warning is the same — same self-signed cert. The Odoo instances you deploy DO get real Let's Encrypt certificates on their custom domains —this warning is only on the panel itself.)

## Adding a domain says "Verification Failed"

DNS hasn't propagated to point your domain at the VM. Diagnose:

```
dig +short erp.acme.com @8.8.8.8
```

If empty or wrong, fix the A record at your DNS provider. If correct, wait 30–60 seconds and retry.

## "Enable SSL" fails

Most common cause: **Cloudflare proxy is on**. Set the Cloudflare record to "DNS only" (grey cloud) temporarily, retry Enable SSL, then re-enable the proxy. See [Domain & SSL](https://kb.host4geeks.com/en/article/domain-ssl-1tnk2p8/) for details.

Other causes:

* Let's Encrypt rate-limited you (5 certs per domain per week — wait it out)
* DNS hasn't fully propagated (wait a minute, retry)
* Your domain has a CAA record that disallows Let's Encrypt — check with your DNS provider

## My Odoo instance won't start (status stuck on "Stopped" or "Partial")

1. From the instance page, click **Start Instance** (or **Restart Instance**).
2. Wait 30 seconds, refresh.
3. If it's still not Running, click **Audit Log** in the navbar and look for recent failed entries — they often say what went wrong.
4. If you can't figure it out from the audit log, contact support with the instance name and approximate time of failure. We can SSH into the VM and read the container logs.

## My Odoo site loads with a "502 Bad Gateway" or just spins forever

Usually means the Odoo container is up but the database is down (or they're starting in the wrong order). Click **Restart Instance** in the panel — that does a coordinated stop-then-start with proper ordering.

If still broken after that, it's something in your Odoo configuration or modules. Contact support.

## My SFTP login is rejected

* Check the **port** — every instance has a different port (look at the SFTP Access card on the instance page).
* Check the **username** — always `odoo`, regardless of the instance name.
* Click **Show** on the password field and copy it carefully — the password is 16 characters of mixed case + digits.
* If you've **rotated the password** recently, the SFTP service takes ~5 seconds to restart. Wait and retry.

If still rejected after that, click **Generate Random** to make a fresh password and try the new one.

## Files I uploaded via SFTP aren't visible in Odoo

If you uploaded them to `/config/addons/`, you need to **Restart Instance** — Odoo only scans for new modules at startup. Then in Odoo: **Apps →Update Apps List**.

If you uploaded them to `/config/filestore/`, that's Odoo's own data directory. Don't manually put files there. Use Odoo's web UI to upload attachments.

## I see "Could not reach the management service" in red

The panel can't talk to its CapRover backend. Usually transient — refresh the page and it works. If it persists for more than a minute, contact support.

## Clone failed — what now?

Look at the progress page; the failure reason and a clone ID are usually visible. Share the clone ID with support; they can pull the full log.

The panel auto-cleans up partial state on a failed clone — you don't have to do anything to retry under the same name.

## My VM is slow / unresponsive

Check the dashboard's three stat cards (CPU, Memory, Disk):

* **CPU > 80% sustained** — something on your VM is using a lot of CPU. Likely culprits: an Odoo report generating data, a long pg_dump, or a custom module with a runaway loop. The audit log might show what action triggered it.
* **Memory > 90%** — VM is starved for RAM. Either temporarily stop instances you're not using (Stop Instance button), or contact support about a VM resize.
* **Disk > 85%** — most often Odoo's filestore growing. SFTP into `/config/filestore/` to see what's there. Or take a `pg_dump`-and-vacuum cycle of the database (contact support for help).

## I deleted an instance by mistake

Deletes are permanent — there's no undo built into the panel. The** Delete Forever** button asks you to type the instance name to confirm exactly because of this.

If you have a backup (manual `pg_dump`, downloaded filestore tarball, etc.), restoration is possible — contact support.

If you don't have a backup, the data is gone. We're sorry. Going forward: take backups before any change you're not sure about, and consider running important workloads on a cloned instance so you have a fall-back.

## I have a question that isn't answered here

Contact Host4Geeks support. Whenever possible, include:

* The **instance name** (if applicable)
* The **time** the issue started (so we can find it in your audit log)
* A **screenshot** of any error message
* What you were trying to do when it broke