Guides tagged “ssh”
Step-by-step MdmHost guides about ssh, sorted A-Z.
54 guides · page 1 of 3
Change the root password and hostname of a VPS in Virtualizor
Reset a forgotten VPS root password and change the server hostname from the Virtualizor panel, or do it inside Linux, and avoid common problems after the change.
Change the root password on a cPanel server safely (root guide)
Change the server root password from WHM or SSH, choose a strong password, update tools that use it, and move to SSH keys and API tokens instead of the root password.
Change the SSH port safely without locking yourself out
Move SSH to another port in the right order: firewall first, SELinux and Ubuntu socket activation handled, both ports tested, then port 22 closed.
Check banned IPs and unban an address in Fail2ban
See which IP addresses Fail2ban has banned, find out why, unban an address in one command and whitelist it so it does not happen again.
CloudLinux CageFS explained: what it does for your hosting account
What CloudLinux CageFS is, how it isolates each cPanel account in its own file system, what you can and cannot see over SSH, and common CageFS questions.
Configure Fail2ban jails: bantime, findtime and maxretry in jail.local
Set up Fail2ban properly with a jail.local file. Tune bantime, findtime and maxretry, enable incremental bans, whitelist your own IP and pick the right log backend.
Connect MySQL Workbench, HeidiSQL or DBeaver to your VPS over SSH
Manage the MySQL or MariaDB database on your VPS from a desktop client through an SSH tunnel, without opening port 3306 to the internet.
Connect to a Linux VPS with PuTTY on Windows
Install PuTTY on Windows, connect to your Linux VPS by IP address and port, accept the host key safely, log in, save the session and adjust the font and colours.
Connect to your Linux VPS with SSH from Windows, Mac or Linux
Find your login details, connect over SSH from Windows, macOS or Linux, confirm the host key, save a shortcut and fix the most common first-login errors.
Convert keys between PuTTY (.ppk) and OpenSSH formats
Use PuTTYgen to convert a PuTTY.ppk private key to OpenSSH format and back, understand PPK version 2 and 3, generate a new Ed25519 key and load it in PuTTY.
Create a sudo user on Ubuntu, Debian, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux
Add a personal admin account with sudo rights, give it your SSH key, and test it properly before you stop logging in as root.
Create an SFTP-only user limited to one folder
Give someone file access over SFTP without a shell, locked inside one folder. Configure internal-sftp with a Match block, set the chroot ownership right and test with WinSCP.
Customise the login message (MOTD) on Ubuntu and Debian
Change the message you see when you log in over SSH. Edit /etc/motd, trim or add update-motd.d scripts, switch off Ubuntu news and show disk and load at a glance.
Deploy from GitHub Actions to your VPS over SSH
Create a dedicated deploy user, store its SSH key as a GitHub secret and run a workflow that ships your code to the VPS on every push.
Disable root login and password authentication over SSH
Stop brute-force attempts by switching off root and password logins with a small SSH drop-in file, then verify the change from a second session.
Disable Weak SSH Ciphers and MAC Algorithms on a Linux VPS
Edit sshd_config to allow only modern ciphers, MACs and key exchange algorithms, then verify the negotiation and keep a fallback session open.
Edit files on a Linux server with nano and vim
Open, edit, save and quit configuration files on your Linux VPS with nano for simple edits and vim for power users, with the key shortcuts you actually need.
Enable SSH access and use the SSH Terminal in Plesk
Turn on SSH for a Plesk subscription with a chrooted or full shell, add SSH keys, use the browser SSH Terminal and connect from your computer safely.
Essential Linux commands cheat sheet for VPS owners
A practical cheat sheet of the Linux commands you use most on a VPS: files, permissions, processes, services, disk, network, packages and logs, grouped by task.
Fail2ban not banning? Common causes and fixes
Fail2ban is running but attackers are never banned. Work through the usual causes, from the wrong log backend and log path to a ban action that does not fit your firewall or a custom SSH port.
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