How to connect to your VPS over SSH

SSH — Secure Shell — is the encrypted connection you use to control a Linux VPS from a terminal. There is no desktop, no icons, no mouse. Everything you do to the server, from installing software to reading its logs, starts with an SSH connection, so getting it working properly is the actual first step of owning a VPS.

You need three things before you begin: the server's IP address, a username, and either a password or an SSH private key. Your host sends these in a welcome email, or shows them in your control panel — see current plans at /vps-hosting if you have not provisioned a server yet.

Connecting from macOS or Linux

Both ship an SSH client already. Open Terminal and run:

ssh root@203.0.113.10

Replace root with the username you were given and the address with your actual server IP. The first time you connect to a given server, you will see something like this:

The authenticity of host '203.0.113.10' can't be established.
ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?

Type yes. This is SSH recording the server's identity so it can warn you later if it ever changes unexpectedly — which is exactly what happens if someone reinstalls the server, or, far less innocently, if something is intercepting your connection. Type the password when prompted, and you are in.

Connecting from Windows

Current versions of Windows include the OpenSSH client in PowerShell and Windows Terminal, so the same command works with no extra software:

ssh root@203.0.113.10

If that command is not recognised, install the optional OpenSSH client from Windows Settings under "Optional Features", or use PuTTY instead. In PuTTY, enter the IP address in the "Host Name" box, leave the port at 22, click Open, accept the host key prompt, then log in at the black window that appears.

Setting up key-based login

A password can be guessed or brute-forced. An SSH key pair — a private key that stays on your computer and a public key placed on the server — cannot be, in any practical sense, and it is also faster to use since there is nothing to type. Generate one on macOS, Linux, or modern Windows:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "you@example.com"

Accept the default file location by pressing Enter, and set a passphrase if you want an extra layer of protection on the key file itself. This creates two files: a private key (id_ed25519, never shared) and a public key (id_ed25519.pub, safe to copy anywhere).

Copy the public key to the server. On macOS or Linux, the simplest way is:

ssh-copy-id root@203.0.113.10

If that command is not available — it is not on Windows — copy it manually instead:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | ssh root@203.0.113.10 "mkdir -p ~/.ssh && chmod 700 ~/.ssh && cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys && chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"

Once the key is confirmed working, disable password authentication by editing /etc/ssh/sshd_config:

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Set:

PasswordAuthentication no
PermitRootLogin prohibit-password

Then reload SSH — the service is called ssh on Debian and Ubuntu, and sshd on RHEL, Rocky Linux and AlmaLinux:

sudo systemctl restart ssh      # Debian / Ubuntu
sudo systemctl restart sshd     # RHEL / Rocky / AlmaLinux

Leave your existing session open while you do this, and test a fresh connection in a new window straight afterwards, exactly as before.

Common connection problems

Once you can connect reliably, the next jobs are creating a proper user account and locking down the firewall — see how to create a non-root sudo user and how to secure a new Linux server. If you manage to lock yourself out entirely, this guide covers getting back in.