Adding a user to a server

Overview

The following describes how to add a new username to your server and then your website.

Adding a user to a server

To add a new website user:

  1. Navigate to FTP Users & Files page in your panel.
    Create User button
  2. On the top right, click the Create User button.
    A popout appears:
    Create User
  3. Enter the following:
    • Username — A username for the new user.
    • Server — Click the down arrow and select the server on 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.

Adding a user to a domain

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

What if I own more than one website at DreamHost?

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.

You can configure the account so that a user only has access to one subdirectory on a DreamHost website.

Why does it say my name is already taken?

The "namespace" for DreamHost usernames is shared across a fairly large cluster of machines. As a result, all the usernames created for FTP/SFTP/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 user to ensure it is unique.

Difference between SFTP and Shell users

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

Deleting a user

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

How do I share website access with another user?

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

Changing an FTP/SFTP user into a Shell user

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.

Logging into your server

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

See also

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