SSH Key Management

The key on your laptop is how you log in.

The portal stores the public half. The private half stays on your machine, unless you use Generate SSH Key and download it once. Attach a key when you create the server. See Creating and Managing Virtual Machines. A key without a security group that allows SSH still cannot connect. That is Using Security Groups.

Where the keys live

From Cloud → Access, stay on the SSH Keys tab. + Add SSH Public Key pastes a key you already have. + Generate SSH Key makes a new pair in the portal.

Add a key you already have

On Linux, macOS, or Windows PowerShell:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519

Accept the default path, set a passphrase. Then in the portal click + Add SSH Public Key. Name it something you will recognize on the create-server form. Paste the public key (the .pub file), not the private file. Click + Add Keypair.

Or generate one here

Click + Generate SSH Key. Name it, then + Generate. The private key downloads immediately. Keep that file. If you lose it, that key cannot open the server, and we cannot recover it.

Use it

On the create-server form, under Authentication, choose Use SSH Key and pick this key. Then:

ssh -i ~/.ssh/your_private_key ubuntu@YOUR_IP

Ubuntu is ubuntu. Other images have their own user. See Default Usernames for Cloud Instances.

If it will not connect

• Private key permissions: chmod 600 on the key file.
• The username for that image. See Default Usernames.
• The key actually attached to this server.
• A security group that allows inbound SSH. See Using Security Groups.