Adding a user to a server

The following describes adding a new username to your server and website.

To add a new website user:

1. Navigate to SFTP Users & Files page in your panel.
2. On the top right, click the Create User button.
3. Enter the following in the pop-up that appears:
   • Username — A username for the new user.
   • Server — Click the down arrow and select the server to which the user will have access.
   • Password (Generate strong password) — Enter a password or click the button to have the panel create a strong password for you.
   • Secure Shell Access (SSH) — If unselected, an SFTP user without Shell access is created. Toggle this on to enable SSH access.
4. When finished, click the Create User button.

View the following article for instructions on adding your new username to a domain. 

• Moving a domain to a new user

Every website hosted with DreamHost is "owned" by exactly one user. However, a single user may own more than one website. In that case, each site would have its own directory under the user's root directory. View the One user per domain policy article for details.

The "namespace" for DreamHost usernames is shared across a large cluster of machines. As a result, all the usernames created for SFTP or Shell users must be unique across the whole group. Typically, common user names such as “admin” have already been taken, so users may need to add extra characters to their username to ensure it is unique.

View the following article for information on the difference between SFTP and Shell users:

• Difference between SFTP and Shell users

See the following article for further information on how to delete a website user:

• Deleting a website user and all of its data

Unfortunately, this is not possible. View the One user per domain policy article for details.

If you need to log into your server via SSH, your username must be configured as a Shell user. View the following article for instructions on how to enable a shell user:

• Creating a user with Shell (SSH) access

Once a user has been created, you can log in using an SFTP client or SSH (SSH users only). View the following articles for further information:

• FTP overview and credentials
• SSH overview