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Set up SSH keys

In FASTPANEL® you can add SSH keys for users to simplify and secure server access.

SSH keys (Public Key Authentication) provide a secure and convenient way to access a server without using passwords, based on a pair of private and public keys. Instead of entering a password each time, the client uses the private key, while the server verifies it against the public key, improving both security and usability.

Key pair creation​

warning

Keep your private key safe and never share it with anyone.

First, you need to generate your private and public key pair.

macOS / Linux​

Open a terminal and run:

ssh-keygen

Press Enter to accept the default file location and set a passphrase if needed.
Your keys will be saved in ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 (private) and ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub (public).

Windows​

OpenSSH​

Open PowerShell and run:

ssh-keygen

Press Enter to accept the default file location and set a passphrase if needed.
Your keys will be saved in C:\Users\YourUser\.ssh\id_ed25519 (private) and C:\Users\YourUser\.ssh\id_ed25519.pub (public).

PuTTYgen​

  1. Download and install PuTTYgen.
  2. Launch PuTTYgen and click "Generate".

PuTTYgen generate ssh keys FASTPANEL

  1. Move your mouse cursor randomly over PuTTYgen window until generation process is finished.
  2. Save the private key (.ppk) and copy the public key text.

PuTTYgen generate ssh keys FASTPANEL

Add a public key to the panel​

Open FASTPANEL® and click on your username in the top-right corner of the screen. Then select "SSH Keys".

how to add ssh keys to FASTPANEL

Click the "Add SSH key" button.

how to add ssh keys to FASTPANEL

  • In the first field, paste your public key (it usually starts with ssh-ed25519 or ssh-rsa, depending on the algorithm you chose) from the previous section.

  • In the second field, you can add a description to help distinguish the key.

how to add ssh keys to FASTPANEL

After that, you can connect to your server via SSH using your site owner’s credentials, without entering a password.

Enable SSH access and manage existing keys​

If you need to manage other users’ keys or remove keys for the current user, go to "Management" → "Users". Click the three dots next to the user whose keys you want to manage.

how to add ssh keys to FASTPANEL

In the opened section you can:

how to add ssh keys to FASTPANEL

  1. Add a new key.
  2. Delete an existing key.
  3. Enable or disable SSH access for the user.