How to connect to your VPS with SSH (and RDP for Windows VPS)

When to use this

SSH (Secure Shell) gives you an encrypted command line on your Linux server. You need it for almost everything on a Linux VPS: installing software, editing configuration and reading logs. If you are still deciding whether you need a VPS, see what a VPS is.

Before you start: Your welcome email holds the VPS IP address and login details. Use exactly what it says, including any non standard SSH port. The examples below use 203.0.113.10, an address reserved for documentation.

Connect from Windows

Built in OpenSSH (Windows 10 and 11)

1. Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal.

2. Type the command with the username and IP from your email:

   ssh username@203.0.113.10
   # if your email gives a different port, for example 2222:
   ssh -p 2222 username@203.0.113.10
   

3. Compare the host key fingerprint shown on first connection with the one in your email or VPS panel if provided, then type yes.

4. Enter the password. Nothing appears while you type; that is normal.

If ssh is not recognised, add the OpenSSH Client under Settings > System > Optional features.

PuTTY

1. Open PuTTY, type the IP in Host Name, set the Port (22 unless told otherwise), and choose SSH.
2. Click Open, accept the host key, and log in with your username and password.

Connect from macOS or Linux

1. Open Terminal.
2. Run ssh username@203.0.113.10 and follow the same prompts as above.

Set up key based login

Keys are much harder to steal or guess than passwords.

1. Create a key pair on your computer (Windows PowerShell, macOS or Linux):

   ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "you@yourbusiness.in"
   

   Press Enter to accept the default location, and set a passphrase.

2. Copy the public key to the server. On macOS or Linux:

   ssh-copy-id username@203.0.113.10
   

   On Windows PowerShell:

   type $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_ed25519.pub | ssh username@203.0.113.10 "mkdir -p ~/.ssh && chmod 700 ~/.ssh && cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys && chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"
   

3. Log out and connect again. It should ask for the key passphrase, not the server password.

First security steps

1. Update the system:

   # Ubuntu or Debian
   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
   # AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux or similar
   sudo dnf upgrade -y
   

2. Create a regular user with sudo rights for daily work if your login is the administrator account, and test logging in as that user with your key.

3. Enable a firewall, allowing SSH before you switch it on. If your VPS has a control panel that uses its own ports, allow those too.

   # Ubuntu or Debian (ufw)
   sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
   sudo ufw allow 80,443/tcp
   sudo ufw enable
   

4. Disable password login, carefully. Keep your current session open, then edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config (and check files in /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/, which can override it) to set:

   PasswordAuthentication no
   PermitRootLogin prohibit-password
   

   Run sudo sshd -t to check for errors, then sudo systemctl reload ssh (Ubuntu or Debian) or sudo systemctl reload sshd (AlmaLinux or Rocky). Open a second terminal and confirm you can still log in with your key before closing the first one.

Windows server: use Remote Desktop

A Windows server is managed with Remote Desktop (RDP) rather than SSH. If you need a Windows server and do not have one yet, contact ODHOST with your requirements.

1. Open Remote Desktop Connection on Windows (search for mstsc). On a Mac, install Microsoft's Windows App from the App Store.
2. Enter the IP address from your welcome email and click Connect.
3. Sign in with the username and password from the email.
4. Change the password after first login, keep Windows Update on, and restrict RDP in Windows Defender Firewall to your office IP addresses if you can.

How to confirm it worked

• You can log in with your key, and a password login attempt is refused.
• sudo ufw status (or sudo firewall-cmd --list-all) shows SSH, HTTP and HTTPS allowed.
• Updates report nothing left to install.

If it still fails

Open a support ticket with the VPS IP, the exact command you ran, the full error text (run ssh -v for detail), your public IP address, and what you changed last (firewall, SSH port, keys). Never send private keys or passwords. For more server options, see hosting for developers.