An SSH Key allows you to log into your server without needing a password. SSH Keys can be automatically added to servers during the installation process.
The simplest way to create an SSH key on Windows is to use PuTTYgen.
Download and run PuTTYgen.
Click the Generate button.
For additional security, you can enter a key passphrase. This will be required to use the SSH key and will prevent someone with access to your key file from using the key.
Once the key has been generated, click Save Private Key. Make sure you save this somewhere safe, as it is not possible to recover this file if it gets lost
Select all of the text in the Public key for pasting into OpenSSH authorized_keys file. This is what you would need to enter into the control panel to use the SSH key.
The tools to create and use SSH are standard and should be present on most Linux distributions. With the following commands, you can generate an SSH key.
Run: ssh-keygen -t rsa. For a more secure 4096-bit key, run: ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096
Press Enter when asked where you want to save the key (this will use the default location).
Enter a passphrase for your key.
Run cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub – This will give you the key in the proper format to paste into the control panel.
Make sure you back up the ~/.ssh/id_rsa file. This cannot be recovered if it is lost.
Once you’re logged in, go to Client Area.
Click Add SSH Key.
Enter a descriptive name for the key.
Paste in your SSH public key. This is a long string beginning with ssh-rsa. You should have saved this from when you generated your key.
Click Add SSH Key.
Now, when you’re deploying servers, you will be able to select which SSH keys you want to add to the newly deployed server. Remember to select the keys before the initial server deployment; otherwise, you will need to log into the newly created server and add the SSH keys manually.
SSH keys are only available for Linux and FreeBSD. They are not supported for Windows, custom ISOs, or snapshot restores.
SSH keys can only be managed from the control panel during deployment. You cannot use the control panel to manage them on an already-installed instance.
Download and run the PuTTY SSH client.
Type the IP address or Username + IP address ( user@x.x.x.x ) of the destination server under the “Host Name” field on the “Session” category.
Navigate to the Connection -> SSH -> Auth category (left-hand side).
Click Browse… near Private key file for authentication. Choose the private key file (ending in .ppk) that you generated earlier with PuTTYgen.
Click “Open” to initiate the connection.
When finished, end your session by pressing CTRL + D.
Check that your Linux operating system has an SSH client installed ( which is ssh ). If a client is not installed, you will need to install one.
Initiate a connection: ssh -i /path/to/id_rsa user@x.x.x.x
When finished, end your session by pressing CTRL + D.