This article explains how to set up and use SSH (Secure Shell) to establish a secure connection to your web hosting account. SSH allows you to access your server, manage files and execute commands over an encrypted connection.
Setting up SSH on the server
You need the following to use SSH:
- An SSH client: The OpenSSH client comes pre-installed on modern operating systems. Simply open the command line (“cmd.exe” for Windows, “Terminal” for Linux or macOS). If the ssh command works, then a corresponding client is installed.
- Your hosting username (also referred to below as the “main account”)
- The corresponding password or an SSH key pair.
Once you have everything needed, proceed as follows to set up SSH:
- Log into the Hostpoint Control Panel using your Hostpoint ID.
- Open your web hosting or Managed Flex Server.
- In the “Server Overview”, under “Identity” at the bottom right, you’ll find the required name for the account you need to connect to. For Managed Flex Server, the hostname is displayed at the top right next to “SSH”.
- In the menu on the left, under “Advanced” > “SSH Access”, make sure that SSH access is enabled. Our recommendation for the “Active Shell” is to just use the default “bash”.
- You can set a password for your hosting account under “Advanced” > “Password Change”. This is not the password for your Hostpoint ID, but a separate password for SSH, SQL and FTP access with the hosting’s main account.
→ SSH has been set up. You can now connect to your web hosting/server via SSH.
Establishing an SSH connection
When establishing a connection via SSH, there are two ways to log in:
- With username and password
- With username and SSH key
Info: Note: To learn how to create and use an SSH key, see the instructions in “Generate an SSH Key”. The following article describes how to establish an SSH connection with your main account and password.
- Start the terminal and enter the following data:
ssh MainAccount@MainAccount.ssh.cloud.hostpoint.chInfo: Note: Always replace the username MainAccount with your own details from the Hostpoint Control Panel. SSH login only works with the hosting username and not with the Hostpoint ID or additional FTP accounts.
If you are using the Windows 11 SSH client, you must specify the option -m hmac-sha2-512 in the command for the connection to be established correctly. The command then looks like this:
ssh -m hmac-sha2-512 MainAccount@MainAccount.ssh.cloud.hostpoint.ch
- When you connect to a server for the first time using SSH, you may be asked whether you want to trust the “fingerprint”.
For security, you can compare the IP address in the message with the IP address in your DNS zone. You can then establish the connection by entering “yes”. You can find out how to have our fingerprints checked automatically in our article “What are common problems in accessing with SSH?”. - Enter the password specified in section 1 for your main account.
→ If a connection has been successfully established, the following page is displayed:
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