First SSH login to your Linux VPS

A By-Hoster Linux VPS is a virtual machine reserved for you, with its own operating system, its own public IP address and full administrative access. Everything is driven from the command line, over SSH.

Where do I find the IP address and password of my VPS?

The IP address, the user name and the password are sent by e-mail when the server is delivered, and remain available at any time on the VPS page under Client area > My services.

The "Your VPS is ready" e-mail carries the three items you need:

• the IP address of your VPS;
• the user, which is root on our Linux images;
• the password you chose when ordering.

You can find them again at any time in Client area > My services, on the VPS page. The available distributions are Debian, Ubuntu, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux and CentOS Stream; the commands below note the variants where it matters.

Right after ordering, the page shows "Installation de votre VPS en cours…" and refreshes on its own. Installation usually takes a few minutes. While that screen is displayed, SSH is not answering yet — that is expected, do not re-run anything.

How do I connect to my Linux VPS over SSH?

It takes a single command, ssh root@ADRESSE_IP, followed by the administrator password you received at delivery.

On Linux or macOS, open a terminal. On Windows 10 or 11, open PowerShell or Windows Terminal: the SSH client is included.

ssh root@IP_ADDRESS

On first connection your client shows the host fingerprint:

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

Answer yes. The fingerprint is stored in ~/.ssh/known_hosts and becomes your reference point: if it changes later without you having reinstalled the machine, stop and find out why.

Then type the password. Nothing appears while you type, not even asterisks: that is normal SSH behaviour.

If you prefer a graphical client on Windows, PuTTY works well: enter the IP address, port 22, then Open.

What should I do right after my first login to the VPS?

Five things: update the system, check disk space and memory, look at which ports are open, create an unprivileged user, then move to SSH keys.

1. Update the system.

   apt update && apt upgrade      # Debian, Ubuntu
   dnf upgrade                    # AlmaLinux, Rocky, CentOS Stream

2. Check disk space and memory.

   df -h
   free -h

3. Look at what is listening on the network. Every open port is a door; if a service is of no use to you, remove it.

   ss -tulpn

4. Create an unprivileged user for daily work and keep root for administration only.

   adduser martin
   usermod -aG sudo martin        # Debian, Ubuntu
   usermod -aG wheel martin       # AlmaLinux, Rocky, CentOS Stream

5. Move to SSH keys and stop depending on a password: see the SSH keys guide.

What are the tabs of my VPS in the client area for?

Four tabs are useful from day one: Graphs, Console, Access & Security and History.

The service page gives access to several tabs that are useful from day one:

• Graphs: CPU, memory, network and disk usage over the last hour, day, week or month.
• Console: the screen of the machine, essential when SSH stops answering.
• Access & Security: where you store your public SSH keys and change the administrator password.
• History: the list of actions performed on the VPS, and who performed them.

The Start, Reboot and Stop buttons sit at the top of the page. Be careful: Stop cuts the machine off immediately, like pulling the power. Prefer shutdown -h now over SSH while the system still answers.

A new server is attacked within minutes. Bots keep trying port 22 with common passwords. Do not leave root password access in place longer than necessary.