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

Connecting via Windows (PuTTY)

On Windows, the recommended tool is PuTTY.

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

Step A: Conversion with PuTTYgen

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

Step B: Configuring PuTTY

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

Connecting via a Unix terminal (macOS and Linux)

Use your system's native SSH client by opening a terminal.

The syntax is as follows:

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

Parameter details

• [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 like "UNPROTECTED PRIVATE KEY FILE", secure your key with the following command: 
chmod 400 [key_path]

Default user list

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

Note: The user is always the one defined by default by the distribution's publisher.

Switching to Administrator (Root) Mode

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

To obtain full system privileges, run:

sudo -i

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