This guide details the procedure for establishing your first SSH connection on an Infomaniak Cloud VPS or VPS Lite.

Connection via Windows (PuTTY)

On Windows, the reference tool is PuTTY.

Your private key must be converted to .ppk format to work.

Step A: Conversion with PuTTYgen

1. Launch PuTTYgen.
2. Click on Load to load your current private key.
3. Click on Save private key to generate your .ppk file.

Step B: PuTTY Configuration

1. In Session enter the server's IP address in "Host Name".
2. In Connection > SSH > Auth click on Browse to load your .ppk file.
3. Click on Open.
4. A window opens: enter your username.

Connection via a Unix terminal (macOS and Linux)

Use the native SSH client of your system by opening a terminal.

The syntax is as follows:

ssh -i [key_path] [user]@[server]

Details of the parameters

• [key_path]: Path to your private key file (generated or imported during the command).
• [user]: Username (see the table of distributions below).
• [server]: IPv4 address of your VPS, available in the Manager.

Note on permissions: If you get an error of type "UNPROTECTED PRIVATE KEY FILE", secure your key with the following command:
chmod 400 [key_path]

List of default users

Use the identifier corresponding to the Linux distribution installed on your server:

Note: the user is always the one defined by default by the publisher of the distribution.

Switching to Administrator (Root) mode

For security, the initial connection is not made directly as root.

To gain full control over the system, run:

sudo -i

This command loads the complete root user environment (system variables and personal directory).