Create an SSH user in ISPConfig and connect to it

Procédure

You can set up secure command-line access for your website directly from your server’s administration panel. The SSH (Secure Shell) protocol is an encrypted communication protocol that allows you to take remote control of a server and execute system commands securely. This guide shows you how to create a shell user account in ISPConfig, configure your access, and successfully make your first connection.

The steps

1. Access the VPS management

   Log in to your LWS customer area, go to the list of your servers, and click Manage next to your ISPConfig VPS.

   

2. Open the ISPConfig panel

   In the Server Administration section, click Administration Panel to launch the ISPConfig web interface.

   

3. Open SSH user management

   In the top menu, click Sites, then in the side panel under Command Line, click SSH/SFTP-User.

   

4. Add a new shell user

   In the list of shell accounts, click the green Add new Shell-User button to open the creation form.

   

5. Fill in the shell account settings

   Select the relevant site in Site, enter a name in Username, then define a strong password or paste your public key in SSH-RSA / ED25519 Public-Key. Choose your environment in Chroot Shell (for example Jailkit), make sure the Active box is checked, then click Save.

   

6. Note the full account username

   Check that your new access appears with the Yes status in the table and note the full username shown in the Username column.

   

7. Check the server firewall

   Before starting the connection, make sure in your customer area that your server’s firewall does indeed allow incoming connections on the SSH port.

8. Establish the SSH connection from your terminal

   Open your computer’s terminal and run the connection command, replacing it with your information: ssh defaultdemo@203.0.113.10 (fictitious example IP address). Confirm with your password or your key passphrase.

9. Manage your files and leave the session

   Check your session with whoami, locate your folder with pwd and list the files with ls. To create or edit a document, use the nano fichier.txt command (save and exit with the Ctrl+X combination, then confirm with O), copy or compress your items as needed, then type exit to disconnect.

Common commands in an SSH session

Here are the basic commands to manage your files once connected to your hosting account:

• whoami — displays the name of the currently logged-in user
• pwd — shows the absolute path of the folder you are in
• ls — lists the files and directories present in the current folder
• nano — interactive text editor in the console for editing your files
• cp and tar — respectively allow you to copy files and create compressed archives
• exit — cleanly closes the remote shell session

Frequently asked questions

Useful links

• Official ISPConfig website
• Official OpenSSH website