Connecting to your server with SSH

You manage your cloud server from the command line over SSH. When your server is set up, its IP address and administrator (root) details are ready.

1. Find your access details

1. In the customer panel open your server from My services.
2. On the Overview tab you will see the IP address.
3. Use Reveal in the Access details box to show the username (root) and password.

2. Connect from Windows, macOS or Linux

Open PowerShell on Windows 10/11, or Terminal on macOS and Linux, and run (replace the IP address with your server’s):

ssh root@203.0.113.21

On the first connection you are asked to confirm the server’s fingerprint; type yes. Then enter the password. Nothing appears on screen while you type the password — that is normal.

3. First things first: change the password and update

passwd
apt update && apt upgrade -y        # Ubuntu / Debian
dnf upgrade -y                        # AlmaLinux / Rocky Linux

4. Logging in with an SSH key (recommended)

Key-based login is far more secure against password-guessing attacks.

1. Create a key pair on your own computer: ssh-keygen -t ed25519
2. Copy the public key to the server: ssh-copy-id root@203.0.113.21 (on Windows, append the contents of ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the server).
3. Confirm in a new session that key login works.
4. Then set PasswordAuthentication no in /etc/ssh/sshd_config and run systemctl restart ssh (the service is called sshd on RHEL-based systems).

Careful: before disabling password login, always test that you can open a new session with your key; otherwise you may lose access. If you do, you can reset the root password from the panel.

Can’t connect?

For common errors and fixes see SSH connection errors.