Add an SSH key to a node

You can add an SSH key to a node while you create it, or any time after it is running. Creating a node has its own SSH Keys step where you pick saved keys or add a new one.

Attach a key you have already saved

Open the node’s Actions menu and choose Security, or open its Node Security tab: both let you pick one or more of your saved keys and attach them to the node. Once you confirm, you can connect to the node over SSH using that key’s matching private key right away.

If the node is locked, remove the lock first.

Removing a key later warns you that you will lose access through it once it is gone. Check you have another way in before you remove one.

Add a brand-new key from the node

To save a new key instead of choosing one you already have, use the Add SSH Key button on the node’s Node Security tab. The Actions menu’s Security option attaches keys you already have.

1. Open the node’s Node Security tab and click Add SSH Key.
2. Give the key a name: it starts with a letter, has no spaces, and is 50 characters or fewer.
3. Upload the key’s .pub file, or paste the key text, up to 1,000 characters.
4. Confirm. The key attaches to the node, and connecting over SSH afterward uses its matching private key.

The form takes the public key only, the half that sits on the node’s side. Keep your private key safe: if you lose it, you cannot get back into any node that uses it.

Manage keys for your whole account

In MyAccount, open Settings and then SSH Keys. This account-wide Manage SSH Keys page lists every key in your account, with the option to view or delete each one. You can also add a new key from there, but it only saves the key to your account. Attach it to a node separately, from that node’s Node Security tab. For the steps, see Manage SSH keys.

General Settings, also under Settings, lets you pick more than one SSH key as a default for future nodes. It also lets you turn off password-based login for new nodes. See Set your account defaults.

Windows nodes use a password instead; manage it through Change a node’s password.

If attaching or removing a key is blocked, or you have lost the key you need to get in, see Troubleshooting node security and access.