NOTE: THIS IS AN ARCHIVED KB ARTICLE THAT ONLY APPLIES TO OUR OLDER, LEGACY VPS PLANS THAT ARE NOW DISCONTINUED. IF YOU HAVE ORDERED A VPS IN 2025 OR LATER, CHANCES ARE THIS ARTICLE DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU. INSTEAD, PLEASE REVIEW THE CURRENT ARTICLES HERE: https://portal.incognet.io/knowledgebase/14/KVM-VPS-or-vDedi-Articles
One great thing about our control panel is the ability to manage and store SSH keys for passwordless access to your servers. The guide below will get you started.
Step 1: Login to your VPS Control Panel here: https://control.incogvps.com:4083
Step 2: Choose, "SSH Keys" from the sidebar menu. If you have none added, you will see a message stating this with the option to add one directly below it.
Step 3: Select, "Add SSH Key" from the page displayed. If you do not know what this is or how to do it, more information can be found here: https://www.ssh.com/academy/ssh/keygen .
Please take the liberty to search the web using your search engine of choice for guides catered towards generating a SSH keypair for your operating system or device. For example, Linux Mint users may find this helpful: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=how+to+generate+ssh+key+for+linux+mint whereas Windows users may find this helpful: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=how+to+generate+ssh+key+windows+10
The key that you are pasting into the displayed text box will being with ssh-rsa
Step 4: Click, "List VPS" from the sidebar menu. You are going to want to choose the VPS that you wish to add this new ssh key to here.
Step 5: Select, "Settings" and then go, "SSH Keys" from the displayed menu options.
Step 6: You'll receive a 'Success' message indicating the key has been added and will be active after the next reboot. Please reboot your VPS from the control panel at this time.
Step 7: Attempt to SSH into your VPS. If all goes well, you will not be prompted for a password and will gain access to your server using your SSH key.
Optional, but recommended Step 8: Modify your /etc/ssh/sshd_config to disable root access with a password (prohibit-password, or disable root login altogether), change your SSH port, and other common / basic SSH security settings. Here is an adequate guide: https://linuxhandbook.com/ssh-hardening-tips/
