Servers & access5 min readUpdated 2026-04-30

Connect to your VPS via SSH

Log in for the first time, set up SSH key auth, and disable root password login for production.

Once provisioning finishes, you'll receive an email with the root username and a one-time password. The first thing to do is log in via SSH, set up a key-based authentication, and disable password authentication.

1. First login (with password)

From your local terminal:

ssh root@YOUR.IPV4.ADDRESS

Enter the one-time password from your credentials email. If you accept the host key fingerprint, you're in.

2. Generate a local SSH keypair (if you don't have one)

If you don't already have an SSH key on your machine, generate one:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "silenthosts-key"

Use a passphrase. Press Enter to accept the default location (~/.ssh/id_ed25519).

3. Copy your public key to the server

Easiest method:

ssh-copy-id root@YOUR.IPV4.ADDRESS

This appends your public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the server. Now you can log in without typing the password.

4. Disable password authentication

Edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config on the server:

PasswordAuthentication no
PubkeyAuthentication yes
PermitRootLogin prohibit-password

Reload SSH:

systemctl reload ssh

Now only key-based login works. If you lose your key, the only recovery path is the rescue console from /client/services/{id}.

5. Recommended: change the SSH port

Most brute-force traffic targets port 22. Move SSH to a non-standard port like 2222:

Port 2222

Then reload SSH and update your firewall (see the firewall article).

Bonus: install fail2ban to rate-limit failed login attempts. See /kb/fail2ban-setup for the 5-minute setup.

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