Connect to your DreamCompute Instance with SSH keys in Mac or Linux

Overview

You can connect to your DreamCompute instance over SSH using the instance's username and IP address.

• How to find the default user of an image
• Locating IP Address of your instance

Using Mac & Linux

First, create a key pair. You can create these within the DreamCompute dashboard, or on your local computer:

• Creating a new Key pair in the DreamCompute dashboard
• Creating a new Key pair in Mac OS X or Linux

If you created the Key pair in the DreamCompute dashboard

If you created the Key pair in the dashboard, a .pem file was automatically downloaded to your computer. Move that file into your ~/.ssh/ directory.

For example, let's say you named the Key pair dashboardkey when creating it in the panel. A file named dashboardkey.pem was downloaded.

1. Move the file from your /Downloads directory into your ~/.ssh directory:

   [local]$ mv ~/Downloads/dashboardkey.pem ~/.ssh

2. Change the permissions to 600

   [local]$ chmod 600 ~/.ssh/dashboardkey.pem

3. Run the following command to log in while specifying the file name:

   [local]$ ssh -i ~/.ssh/dashboardkey.pem USER@IP_ADDRESS

If you created the Key pair on your local computer

If you created the Key pair on your local computer, you now have a private and public key file in the ~/.ssh directory. For example:

[local]$ ls -la ~/.ssh
id_rsa
id_rsa.pub

You can now log in by running the following (make sure to change it to your IP address as shown above):

[local]$ ssh USER@IP_ADDRESS

What if I didn't name the Key pair id_rsa?

When you created the Key pair, you could name it anything you like. For example, let's say you named it dhc_key in step#1 by running the following:

[user@instance]$ ssh-keygen -t rsa

Generating a public/private rsa key pair.
Enter the file in which you wish to save they key 
(i.e., /home/username/.ssh/id_rsa):/home/username/.ssh/dhc_key/

You now must specify the name of the key while logging in. For example:

[user@instance]$ ssh -i ~/.ssh/dhc_key USER@IP_ADDRESS

How do I use a ~.ssh/config file to simplify logging in?

You can also create a 'config' file to simplify the ssh login process. For example, you can simplify your login to something like ssh dhc. 

Host dhc

HostName 208.113.167.187
User ubuntu
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/dashboardkey.pem

1. Create a config file in your ~/.ssh directory.
2. Edit the file to add the following:
   • Host: This is the shortcut name of your connection
   • HostName: This is the IP Address of your DreamCompute instance
   • User: This is the username of your DreamCompute instance
   • IdentityFile: This is necessary if your private key is named something other than id_rsa
3. Run the following command to log into your instance.

   [user@instance]$ ssh dhc