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Connecting over SSH

Opening a terminal on your server from Windows, macOS or Linux, with the errors you are most likely to hit on the first try.

SSH is how you get a terminal on a Linux server. Nothing to install on the server, nothing to buy: the client is already on your machine, whichever system you use. This page is the short version. The hardening pass comes right after.

Running Windows on the server? SSH is not the way in, use Remote Desktop instead.

What you need ​

ItemWhere to find it
The IP addressIn the delivery email, and on the service page in the client area
The userroot on a fresh Linux install
The passwordIn the delivery email, or the one you set during a reinstall

Windows ​

Windows 10 and 11 ship with an SSH client. Open PowerShell or Terminal and type the command, replacing the address with yours:

powershell
ssh root@203.0.113.10

If you prefer a graphical client, PuTTY works too: put the IP in Host Name, leave the port on 22, click Open, then enter root and the password.

macOS and Linux ​

Open Terminal and use the same command:

bash
ssh root@203.0.113.10

The first connection ​

The first time, the client asks you to confirm the server's identity:

The authenticity of host '203.0.113.10' can't be established.
ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:4v3...
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?

Type yes and press Enter. The password is then asked for, and nothing appears as you type it, not even dots. That is normal, type it and press Enter.

Good to know

Paste rather than retype the delivered password. In PowerShell and in Terminal, a right click pastes; in PuTTY, a right click pastes as well.

Stop typing the password ​

A key is shorter to use and far harder to break than a password. Generate one on your machine, once and for all:

bash
ssh-keygen -t ed25519            # press Enter three times
ssh-copy-id root@203.0.113.10    # asks for the password one last time

On Windows, ssh-keygen works the same way in PowerShell. If ssh-copy-id is missing, copy the key by hand:

powershell
type $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_ed25519.pub | ssh root@203.0.113.10 "mkdir -p ~/.ssh && cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"

The next ssh root@203.0.113.10 opens without asking for anything.

Copying files ​

bash
scp report.pdf root@203.0.113.10:/root/       # from your machine to the server
scp root@203.0.113.10:/var/log/syslog .       # from the server to your machine

For a whole tree, rsync -av folder/ root@203.0.113.10:/srv/folder/ resumes where it stopped, which scp does not. Graphical clients such as FileZilla or WinSCP connect to the same port with the same credentials: pick SFTP, not FTP.

When it does not work ​

MessageWhat it means
Connection timed outNothing answered. Wrong IP address, server powered off, or a firewall on your side blocks the outgoing port 22
Connection refusedThe machine answers but nothing listens on that port. The system may still be booting, or SSH was moved to another port
Permission denied (publickey,password)The user or the password is wrong. Check that you are using root and the latest password
REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGEDThe server was reinstalled, so its key is new. Run ssh-keygen -R 203.0.113.10 and connect again
The prompt hangs after the passwordAlmost always a disk or a service problem on the server. Open the console to see what it is doing

Still nothing? The machine may be unreachable rather than broken. The out-of-band console answers when the network does not, and the looking glass shows the path from our network to yours.

Next ​

Reviewed on September 14, 2026