SSH

Like other Linux distributions, StartOS allows you to go “under-the-hood” via Secure Shell Protocol (SSH).

Warning

Accessing your server via SSH is considered advanced. Please use caution, you can cause permanent damage to your server, potentially resulting in loss of data.

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User and privileges

The SSH user is start9, not root. Root login is disabled. The start9 user has sudo privileges, so commands requiring root should use sudo. There is no need to run sudo -i or sudo su.

Using your StartOS Master Password

Open a terminal on your client device and enter:
```
ssh start9@SERVER-HOSTNAME
```
Replace SERVER-HOSTNAME with your server’s your-server-name.local address.

The first time you connect, you will see something like this:

The authenticity of host 'your-server-name.local (192.168.1.175)' can't be established.
ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:BgYhzyIDbshm3annI1cfySd8C4/lh6Gfk2Oi3FdIVAa.
This key is not known by any other names.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?

Type yes and hit Enter to start trusting the server’s SSH public key.

Enter your StartOS master password.

Using SSH Keys

Create an SSH key

If you don’t already have an SSH key pair on your laptop or desktop, open a terminal and run:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519

Press Enter to accept the default file location, and optionally set a passphrase. Your public key will be at ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub.

Add your key to StartOS

Copy your public key to clipboard:
```
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
```
In the StartOS UI, go to System > SSH
Click Add Key, paste in your key and click Save
Open a terminal on your client device and enter:
```
ssh start9@SERVER-HOSTNAME
```
Replace SERVER-HOSTNAME with your server’s your-server-name.local address.
Enter your key’s passphrase (if any)

Connecting via PuTTY on Windows

For Windows, following the command above will work. But if you prefer a GUI tool, BrewsBitcoin has created a guide for connecting via SSH using PuTTY on Windows

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