cPanel offers a feature to manage SSH access to the server. The SSH stands for Secure Shell. It’s a protocol used to access Linux/Unix systems. The SSH will allow you to access the web server via Command Line Interface (CLI). It will establish a secure session to the remote server where you can manage the server with commands. The traffic over SSH is secured because the communication will be encrypted. SSH is also used for file transfer. SCP (Secure Copy) is an example for this. The cPanel provides a section where you can manage SSH connection to the server.
How to connect using SSH?
There are different ways to connect to SSH. The common method is using Password Authentication. The server will ask for a password when you try to connect using SSH. There is another way which is more secure to establish an SSH connection. It is key-based authentication. A public and private key pair will be used to create an SSH session.
The steps to manage SSH connection on the cPanel are described below.
1) Login to cPanel
You can login to the cPanel from a web browser. Please follow the instructions to enter the cPanel URL into the address bar.
or
2) Go to SSH Access
Now, you need to go to the “SSH Access” under the section Security. You could refer the below screen-shot for clarification.
The next page will give you a short description of the SSH protocol and a button to manage SSH Keys. You need to click on this button to proceed.
3) Generate a new Key Pair
On the next page, you will have two options. You can generate a new key pair and also import an existing key pair. We will see both of the options. First, we are going to see the “Generate a New Key” button.
To generate a new key pair, you need to choose the following options.
1) The Key Name
2) A strong password
3) Key Type
4) Key Size
These details are needed to generate a new key pair as shown in the below screen-shot. You can refer the screenshot for any clarification.
This will generate a new key pair and you can use this keys to connect to the server via SSH.
4) Importing a Key Pair
Rather than generating a new Key Pair, you can import an existing key pair using the same interface. You need to click on “Import Key” button on the previous page.
This button will lead you to the next page where, you can provide the Key name, public key and private key and you can import the key as shown in the below screenshot.
To import an existing public, private key pair, you can provide the key name and paste the private key and public key into the appropriate fields and click on the button “Import” to finish. This is how you can manage the SSH from cPanel.
If you need any further help please do reach our support department at [email protected]