Tutorials / SSH

Connect to a VPS with a Password or SSH Key

beginner15 minLast reviewed: 2026-07-15Target OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Written by uNode Engineering; reviewed by uNode Operations.

OpenSSH password, key-file, username, host-key, and verbose-diagnostic paths reviewed without exposing customer credentials.

SSH access fails most often because the username, key, or copied password does not match the image. Start with the server record in the console and keep the private key on your own device.

Ubuntu images normally use ubuntu or root depending on template policy. Other distributions may use root, debian, almalinux, rocky, or another image-specific account. The create flow and credential delivery are authoritative for your server.

Illustration for How to Connect to a VPS with SSH

Prerequisites

  • A running VPS with a public IPv4 address.
  • The initial password or the private half of an SSH key that was installed at creation.
  • The image name shown in the uNode console.
Open console server deploy

Recommended plans

Starter

1 vCPU, 3 GB RAM, 20 GB NVMe SSD, 10 TB transfer

Standard

2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 30 GB NVMe SSD, 10 TB transfer

Step 1

Verify the server state and credentials

Confirm that the VPS is running, copy its current IPv4 address, and read the delivered username exactly. Do not assume root if the image uses an unprivileged cloud user.

Step 2

Connect with a password

Open PowerShell, Terminal, or another OpenSSH client. Accept the host fingerprint only after confirming the IP. Password input is intentionally invisible.

ssh <username>@<server-ip>

Step 3

Connect with an SSH key

Point the client at the private key file. Never upload or send the private key to support.

ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 <username>@<server-ip>
ssh -i $HOME\.ssh\id_ed25519 <username>@<server-ip>

Step 4

Capture useful diagnostics

If authentication fails, add verbose logging and send support the request reference, server ID, username tried, and the lines around 'Offering public key'. Do not send passwords or private keys.

ssh -vvv -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 <username>@<server-ip>

What's next

Fix rejected SSH authenticationSecure UbuntuOpen the console