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How to Connect to Instances with SSH

Validated on 24 July 2023 - Last edited on 24 July 2023

FibaCloud Instances are managed using a terminal and SSH. You will need to have an SSH client and, optionally, an SSH key pair. Clients generally authenticate either using passwords (which are less secure and not recommended) or SSH keys (which are very secure and strongly recommended).

Connect to Instance with SSH​

To log in to your Instance with SSH, you need three pieces of information:

  • The Instance IP address
  • The default username on the server
  • The default password for that username, if you are not using SSH keys

To get your Instances IP address, visit the FibaCloud Control Panel. The IP address is displayed in the IP Address column after your Instance has been created.

Instances IP Address

The default username is root on most operating systems, like Ubuntu and CentOS.

If you uploaded SSH keys to your account and selected Add SSH Keys when creating the Instance, you can connect to the Instance using your preferred SSH client or command line. If you did not use the SSH option, the platform will automatically generate a password. You can access the password from Instance Manager.

Once you have your Instance IP address, username, and password (if necessary), follow the instructions for your SSH client. OpenSSH is included on Linux, macOS, and Windows Subsystem for Linux. Windows users with Bash also have access to OpenSSH. Windows users without Bash can use PuTTY.

How to Connect to your Instance with OpenSSH​

To connect to your Instance, you will need to open a terminal. How you do this varies between operating systems and window managers, but generally:

  • Linux: Search Terminal or press CTRL+ALT+T.
  • macOS: Search Terminal.
  • Windows: Search PowerShell. If OpenSSH is not installed on your machine by default, see MicroSoft documentation on how to do this, or use PuTTY instead.

Once the terminal is open, enter the following SSH command. Substitute in your Instance IP address after the @.

ssh root@216.9.225.0

If you have multiple SSH keys, you may need to specify the path of your private key using the -i flag, as in ssh -i /path/to/private/key [email protected].

The very first time you log in, the server is not identified on your local machine, so you will be asked if you are sure you want to continue connecting. You can type yes and then press ENTER.

The authenticity of host '216.9.225.0 (216.9.225.0)' can not be established.
ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:IcLk6dLi+0yTOB6d7fsdx1GMgExamplewZ2BuMn5/dsI5Jvo.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes

Next, a host key fingerprint is saved to your local machine and you will receive this confirmation:

Warning: Permanently added '216.9.225.0' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts.

The next part of the connection process is authentication. If you have added SSH keys, you will connect to the Instance immediately (or after entering the passphrase for your key pair).

If you have not added SSH keys, you will be prompted for your password:

root@216.9.225.0's password:

When you enter your password, nothing is displayed in the terminal, so it can be easier to paste in the initial password. Pasting into text-based terminals is different from other desktop applications and is also different from one window manager to another:

  • For Linux Gnome Terminal, use CTRL+SHIFT+V.
  • For macOS, use SHIFT-CMD-V or the middle mouse button.
  • For Bash on Windows, right-click on the window bar, choose Edit, then Paste.

Once you have entered the password, press ENTER.

When you have successfully logged in, you will receive an operating system-specific welcome screen. Your command prompt changes to display the username you have logged in as, separated by the @ symbol from the hostname of the Instance, like [email protected]:~#.

How to Connect to your Instance with PuTTY​

PuTTY is an open-source SSH and Telnet client for Windows. It allows you to securely connect to remote servers from a local Windows computer.

If you do not have PuTTY installed, visit the PuTTY website and choose the Windows installer from the Package files list. Once PuTTY is installed, start the program.

Configuring PuTTY​

The following steps guide you through configuring a profile to connect to your Instance.

Add the Droplet IP and Connection Details​

On the PuTTY Configuration screen, fill in the field labeled Host Name (or IP Address) with your Instance IP address, which you can find in the control panel. Confirm that the Port is set to 22 and that the Connection type SSH is selected.

Putty Configuration

Verify the SSH Protocol​

Next, click on SSH in the left sidebar (under Connection). Make sure 2 is selected for SSH protocol version.

Putty SSH Protocol

Specify an SSH Key If Needed​

If you will use a username and password to connect to your Instance, skip this step.

If you previously created an SSH key pair, uploaded the public key to your account, and specified the key when you created the Instance, open the Auth subcategory.

In the Private key file for authentication section, click the Browse button.

Putty SSH Auth

Search for the private key file, which ends in .ppk, and click Open in the file window.

Putty SSH PPK

Add the Username​

Next, in the Connection subheading in the Data configuration section, enter your server is username in the Auto-login username field. For the initial setup, this should be the root user, which is the administrative user of your server.

Putty SSH User

Save your Preferences​

Finally, you can save these preferences to avoid typing them manually in the future. Click on Session in the left sidebar, then add a name in the text box under Saved Sessions and click Save on the right.

Putty Save Preferences

Once your preferences are saved, you are ready to connect to the Instance.

Connecting​

Once you have a session saved, you can recall these values at any time by returning to the Session screen, selecting the session you would like to use in the Saved Sessions section, and clicking Load to recall the settings. This auto-fills all of the fields with the values you initially selected.

Once you have loaded your preferences, click the Open button to connect to your Instance.

Putty Connect

The first time you connect to the Instance, PuTTY asks you to confirm that you trust the server. Choose Yes to save the server identity in PuTTY is cache or No to connect without saving the identity.

Putty Connect

After PuTTY starts, type in the root password that you chose when you created the Instance. If you uploaded SSH keys, you are either connected directly or prompted for the password you set on your key.

When you have successfully authenticated, you are connected to your new Instance.