How To Manage SSH Keys for Your Server

This guide will show you how to manage SSH keys on your non-cPanel Cloud VPS or Bare Metal Dedicated Server. SSH keys allow you to securely connect to your server via SSH (Secure Socket Shell). First, we will show you how to add your public SSH key and then remove an SSH key for a Cloud VPS account. We’ll also go over managing SSH keys for your Bare Metal Dedicated server with several options depending on your operating system (Debian, CentOS, Ubuntu).

• Managing SSH Keys for Cloud VPS
  • Add SSH Key
  • Remove SSH Key
• Managing SSH Keys for Bare Metal Dedicated
  • Debian
  • CentOS
  • Ubuntu

Managing SSH Keys for Cloud VPS

Add SSH Key

Important: You will need to generate a public key before you can complete these steps.

1. Log into your AMP (Account Management Panel).
2. Click the Manage SSH Keys button.
   
3. Click the blue ADD KEY button.
   
4. In the Label field put a name to help you identify what the key is for.
   
5. In the Public Key field paste your public key, by default it will usually be called “id_rsa.pub” and the first line should start with:
   

   ssh-rsa

   
   
   
   If you do not have a public key, you will need to generate one as stated earlier.
6. Optional: there is an Install to dropdown where you can select one of your servers you would like to automatically add the key to.
   
7. Click the blue ADD KEY button at the bottom of the popup once you have finished filling in the fields.
   
   Once the installation is complete, you will see a message stating “Public key successfully installed“.
   
8. You should now see the key you just added along with any others you may have added in the past. If you would like to install a key to one of your servers simply click the drop-down button next to the key you would like to use and select the server you want to install it to from the Install Key to dropdown and click SUBMIT. This step may take several minutes to complete.
   
   

Remove SSH Key

Now that you know how to add an SSH Key we will show you how to remove one. This is important if you want to delete access for a user.

1. Log into your AMP (Account Management Panel).
2. Click the Manage SSH Keys button.
   
3. You will see your SSH Keys listed. Click the button beside the key you want to delete.
   
4. The menu will drop down and list your Public Key. Click the Uninstall button to remove the SSH key.
   
   You are finished when you see a message stating “Public key successfully uninstalled.”
   

Managing SSH Keys for Bare Metal Dedicated

After purchasing a Bare Metal Dedicated server, our System Administration team will configure it and send you an email that includes server details such as Hostname, IP address, and root password. You can then use this to log in via SSH and manage the server. But, there may be times when you don’t want to use the root user or need additional accounts for other people.

For example, you may want to give SSH access to an administrator but don’t want them to have the same unlimited privileges that the root user has. In this case, you can create a new user and not add them to a group with sudo privileges.

The steps for creating users and logging in with SSH keys will differ based on your chosen operating system, so we have the following guides:

• Debian
  • Create Users
  • Login With SSH Keys
• CentOS
  • Create Users
  • Login With SSH Keys
• Ubuntu
  • Create Users
  • Login With SSH Keys

Congratulations, now you know how to manage SSH keys on your Cloud VPS or Bare Metal Dedicated server!

Learn how to manage and configure your servers with our comprehensive Cloud VPS Product Guide and Dedicated Server Product Guide.