Vultr DocsLatest Content
Associated Doc

My Vultr Instance Lost Network Connectivity After an OS Upgrade.

Updated on 15 September, 2025

Troubleshooting guide for resolving network connectivity issues after OS upgrades that change network interface names on Vultr instances.

Some operating system upgrades may cause your instance’s network interface names to change (for example, from enp1s0 to ens3), breaking existing Netplan configuration and resulting in loss of network connectivity.

Vultr typically uses interfaces such as enp1s0, enp8s0, and may add more depending on your instance configuration. If your instance loses network connectivity after an upgrade, verify and correct your Netplan interface names.

Fix Network Interfaces Names

  1. Access your instance via the Web Console from the Vultr Customer Portal. Run the following command to list all active interfaces and their MAC addresses:

    console 
    $ ip addr

    Compare the listed interfaces with your Netplan config /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml to ensure the names match.

  2. In case names are not correct, edit the NetPlan /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml file to reflect the correct interface names and MAC addresses. Below is an example of a corrected Netplan config:

    yaml 
    # /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml
network:
    version: 2
    ethernets:
        enp1s0:
            dhcp4: true
            dhcp6: true
            match:
                macaddress: <mac-address>
            set-name: enp1s0
        enp8s0:
            addresses:
            - 10.1.112.7/20
            match:
                macaddress: <mac-address>
            mtu: 1450
            set-name: enp8s0

    Save and exit the file.

    Replace the <mac-address> fields based on the actual output of ip addr.

  3. Test the configuration.

    console 
    $ sudo netplan try --debug

    This applies the configuration for 120 seconds. If networking works, confirm by pressing Enter.

  4. Test external network access using ping.

    console 
    $ ping 1.1.1.1

    If the ping is successful, your instance has recovered internet access.

Disable Cloud-Init Network Management

To ensure your custom network configuration persists after reboots, you can disable cloud-init from overwriting the Netplan configuration:

  1. Create a new cloud config file to disable the cloud-init network configuration.

    console 
    $ sudo vim /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.d/99-disable-network-config.cfg

  2. Add the following content to the file.

    yaml 
    network: {config: disabled}

    Save and exit the file.

  3. Reboot the instance to apply and persist the configuration.

    console 
    $ reboot

    This ensures cloud-init does not override your custom Netplan interface mappings on future boots.