FAQ

Your server is accessible two ways: SSH for normal use, and the VNC console as a last resort when SSH isn't available.

SSH — Primary Access Method

This is how you'll typically access the server for day-to-day use. Your server runs SSH on port 2222 — not the default port 22, so you'll need to specify it explicitly.

Linux / macOS:

ssh root@your.server.ip -p 2222

Windows (PowerShell):

ssh root@your.server.ip -p 2222

OpenSSH ships with Windows 10 and later, so the command is identical. You'll be prompted for your password on first login.

Windows (PuTTY):

1. Enter your server IP in the Host Name field
2. Set Port to 2222
3. Ensure Connection type is set to SSH
4. Click Open and log in as root with your password

VNC Console

The VNC console is accessible from your server's settings in the portal under the VNC tab. It provides direct access to your server regardless of its network state, making it useful if you've lost SSH access due to a misconfigured firewall rule or network issue.

Careful! The console is not as secure as SSH. I recommend only using it when necessary.

SSH key authentication replaces passwords with a cryptographic key pair: a private key that stays on your machine and a public key that lives on the server. The server verifies your identity by confirming you hold the private key, without it ever leaving your machine.

Generating a Key Pair

Ed25519 is the recommended algorithm — it's modern, compact, and widely supported. Run the following on your local machine:

Linux / macOS:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "optional-label"

Windows (PowerShell):

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "optional-label"

The command is identical — OpenSSH ships with Windows 10 and later. You'll be prompted for a save location (accept the default) and an optional passphrase. A passphrase encrypts the private key on disk, adding a second factor if the key file is ever compromised. It's recommended but not required.

Your keys are saved to:

• Linux / macOS:
  ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 (private)
  ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub (public)
• Windows:
  C:\Users\YourUsername\.ssh\id_ed25519 (private)
  C:\Users\YourUsername\.ssh\id_ed25519.pub (public)

Your Public Key

The .pub file is what you share. Its contents look like this:

ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAI... optional-label

To display it:

Linux / macOS:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Windows (PowerShell):

Get-Content "$env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_ed25519.pub"

When a setup wizard, web form, or configuration field asks for your public key or SSH key, paste the entire output — the full single line starting with ssh-ed25519. Don't add line breaks or extra spaces.

Adding Your Key to a Server Manually

Public keys are stored in ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the server. Each line in that file is one authorized public key. To add yours:

mkdir -p ~/.ssh && chmod 700 ~/.ssh
echo "your-public-key-here" >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Replace your-public-key-here with the full contents of your .pub file. Permissions matter — SSH will refuse to use authorized_keys if it's world-readable.

If you're on Linux and already have password access to the server ssh-copy-id can handle this for you:

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub -p 2222 root@your.server.ip

Connecting with Your Key

Linux / macOS terminal:

ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 -p 2222 root@your.server.ip

If your key is in the default location ~/.ssh/id_ed25519, SSH will find it automatically and -i can be omitted. You can also define a persistent configuration in ~/.ssh/config to avoid typing options every time:

Host myserver
    HostName your.server.ip
    User root
    Port 2222
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

With that in place, connecting is simply:

ssh myserver

PuTTY (Windows):

PuTTY version 0.75 and later supports OpenSSH private keys directly. If you're on an older version, use PuTTYgen (included with PuTTY) to load your id_ed25519 file and save it as a .ppk file first.

To configure key authentication in PuTTY:

1. Open PuTTY and enter your server IP and port (2222) in the Session screen
2. Navigate to Connection → SSH → Auth → Credentials
3. Under Private key file for authentication, browse to your id_ed25519 file (or .ppk if converted)
4. Return to Session, save the session for reuse, then click Open

Once key authentication is working, you can translate these concepts to other clients — the underlying mechanism is the same regardless of what software you're using.