SSH access

In your dashboard → Servers, find your VPS. You'll see the IP address (e.g., 203.0.113.42). The root password was emailed at setup. If you don't have it, reset it from the panel.

Linux and Mac have SSH built in. Windows 10+ too (via PowerShell or Windows Terminal).

ssh root@YOUR_VPS_IP

Enter the password when prompted. You're in.

Keys are more secure. Setup is one-time, then you never type a password again.

Step 1 — Generate a key pair on your computer

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]"

Press Enter to accept the default location. Optionally add a passphrase — even better security, you'll type it once per session.

Two files are created:

• ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 — the private key. Never share this.
• ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub — the public key. This is what you upload to the server.

Step 2 — Copy the public key

On Windows (PowerShell):

Get-Content ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | Set-Clipboard

On Linux/Mac:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | pbcopy   # macOS
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | xclip    # Linux with xclip
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub            # just print it

Step 3 — Add the key to the VPS

Log in once with password, then:

mkdir -p ~/.ssh
nano ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Paste your public key on one line, save (Ctrl+O, Enter, Ctrl+X), then:

chmod 700 ~/.ssh
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
exit

Step 4 — Test key login

ssh root@YOUR_VPS_IP

You should land in without a password prompt. If it still asks for a password, the key wasn't copied correctly — try again.

Type ssh myvps instead of the full command. Edit ~/.ssh/config on your computer:

Host myvps
  HostName 203.0.113.42
  User root
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Save. Now:

ssh myvps

Once you're in, run these to secure and update the box:

# Update everything
apt update && apt upgrade -y

# Set up a firewall
apt install ufw -y
ufw allow 22/tcp
ufw allow 80/tcp
ufw allow 443/tcp
ufw enable

# Disable root password login (after key works)
nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
# Set: PasswordAuthentication no
systemctl restart sshd

"Connection refused" — VPS is offline, or SSH isn't listening. Check the panel — the server may have crashed. If it's up but still refuses, the SSH service may be dead; use the panel's VNC/console to fix it.

"Permission denied (publickey)" — the key isn't set up correctly. Check ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the server contains the full public key on one line. And that ~/.ssh is 700 and authorized_keys is 600.

"Host key verification failed" — you rebuilt the VPS and the fingerprint changed. Remove the stale entry: ssh-keygen -R YOUR_VPS_IP.