How to create an SSH key and add it to your dashboard

Logging in with an SSH key is both safer and quicker than typing a root password. The key comes in two halves: a private half that never leaves your computer, and a public half that you upload here. This guide covers making the pair, adding the public half to your account, and getting it onto a server.

1. Create the key pair

On macOS or Linux, open Terminal. On Windows 10 or later, open PowerShell or Windows Terminal — the same command works, no extra software needed. Run:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]"

Press Enter to accept the default location. You will be asked for a passphrase: this encrypts the private key on your own disk, so that someone who copies the file still cannot use it. Leaving it empty works, but a passphrase is strongly recommended.

This creates two files in the .ssh folder of your home directory:

• id_ed25519 — the private key. Never share this, never upload it, never paste it into a support ticket.
• id_ed25519.pub — the public key. This is the one you upload.

2. Copy the public key

Print it and copy the whole line:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

On Windows PowerShell use Get-Content $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_ed25519.pub.

It is a single line that starts with ssh-ed25519 (or ssh-rsa for an older key) and usually ends with your email address.

Three things that are easy to paste by mistake:

• A line beginning SHA256: is a fingerprint, not a key. Your terminal prints one the first time you connect to a new server, so it is often the nearest key-looking text on screen — but it will be rejected.
• Anything beginning -----BEGIN is the private key. Do not upload it. If you already have, delete that key pair and generate a new one.
• A key broken across several lines will not work. It must be one unbroken line.

3. Add it to your myPandos account

1. Sign in at https://dash.mypandos.io.
2. Open Profile, then the Security tab.
3. Find the SSH Keys card.
4. Give the key a name you will recognise later — for example work-laptop — paste the public key, and save.

Name keys after the machine they live on. When you replace a laptop, you then know exactly which entry to remove.

4. Get the key onto a server

Adding a key to your profile stores it on your account. Which servers it reaches depends on when they were created:

• New orders — every VPS or Cloud Hosting server you order from now on is built with your saved keys already installed. Nothing more to do.
• Servers you already own — open the server under Services and use Install SSH Keys on its page. A new key does not appear on an existing server by itself, because the keys are written when the server is first built.

Installing on a running server takes a few seconds and does not require a reboot. Existing access is left alone: the key is added alongside what is already there, so an open session stays connected and your root password keeps working.

5. Connect

ssh root@your-server-ip

SSH finds the matching private key automatically. If you set a passphrase you will be asked for it — that is unlocking the key on your own machine, not a server password. If you are still prompted for the root password, the key did not arrive: check you pasted the .pub file and that you ran Install SSH Keys on that server.

Removing a key

Deleting a key from the SSH Keys card stops it being installed on future servers. It does not remove it from machines where it is already installed — nothing goes back to take it off. To withdraw access from a server that already has it, remove the line from ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on that server, or open a support ticket and we will help.

If you get stuck

Keep your root password to hand until key login is confirmed working — it stays valid, so you are never locked out while setting this up. If a key is rejected, open a ticket from the dash and include the first 20 characters of your public key and the server name. Never send the private key or its passphrase.