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First login to your virtual server

A virtual server (VPS) is your own machine: you get full administrator access, you install what you like, and you run it. This article takes you from your first login to the basic security steps.

When the server is ready

Once the payment succeeds, the server is built automatically, and you can follow its status on the server's page. The public IPv4 address appears on the Network tab and the Overview as soon as it has been assigned.

Your login details

On the server's Overview tab, under Connect over SSH, you find:

  • the Username: built from your name, without accents (for example kovacs-anna),
  • and a ready-made ssh command.

This user can run sudo without a password, so you can do any administrative task with it. Direct SSH login as root is turned off for security.

The initial password

In the Initial password row, Reveal password shows you the password. It is shown exactly once and is not kept on our side afterwards, so copy it before you close it. Change it with passwd as soon as you are in.

If the password is lost, you can set a new one through the browser console and the rescue system, or reinstall the server.

Using an SSH key (recommended)

An SSH key is safer than a password, and there is nothing to type.

  • Add keys on the server's Settings tab, on the SSH keys card, with Add a key. Your public key is usually in ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub. Never share your private key.
  • Keys belong to your account, not to one server. When a server is built or reinstalled, every key on your account is installed on it, and password login over SSH is turned off. The password then works only at the console.
  • A key you add later is not installed on a server that is already running. Either reinstall the server, or add the key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys yourself.

Supported key types: Ed25519 (recommended), RSA, ECDSA, and the sk- variants for hardware security keys.

First things to do

  1. Update the system: on Debian and Ubuntu sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade, on AlmaLinux and other RHEL-based systems sudo dnf upgrade.
  2. Change the password with passwd.
  3. Set up a firewall. The portal has no firewall service, so this is done on the server; see Upgrades, backups and firewalls.
  4. Take care of backups. We do not back up virtual servers.