SSH access and keys

SSH Access and Keys

SSH (Secure Shell) is the secure way to connect to and manage your VPS. Learn how to set up SSH access properly.

Connecting to Your VPS

Linux/macOS

ssh root@your-server-ip

Windows

Use Windows Terminal, PowerShell, or PuTTY:

ssh root@your-server-ip

SSH Keys vs Passwords

SSH Keys	Passwords
More secure	Less secure
No brute force risk	Can be guessed
Convenient	Must remember
Recommended	Not recommended

Generating SSH Keys

Linux/macOS/Windows

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your-email@example.com"

This creates:

Private key: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 (keep secret!)
Public key: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub (share this)

Adding SSH Key to Your VPS

During Server Creation

Paste your public key in the SSH key field
The key is automatically added to the server

On Existing Server

# On your local machine
ssh-copy-id root@your-server-ip

# Or manually
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | ssh root@your-server-ip "mkdir -p ~/.ssh && cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"

Managing Keys in Dashboard

Go to Settings > SSH Keys
Click Add SSH Key
Paste your public key
Give it a name
Select this key when creating new servers

Disabling Password Authentication

For maximum security, disable password login:

# Edit SSH config
sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

# Set these values
PasswordAuthentication no
PubkeyAuthentication yes

# Restart SSH
sudo systemctl restart sshd

Troubleshooting

Permission denied

Check key permissions: chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
Verify public key is in authorized_keys

Connection timeout

Check if SSH port (22) is open in firewall
Verify server is running