How to Add Your SSH Key at Checkout

Every RepublicNodes KVM VPS plan lets you set an SSH key right at checkout, so your VM is ready for key-based login the moment it's provisioned — no password-over-SSH step in between.

Why This Matters

Password authentication over SSH is a real attack surface — internet-facing VPS instances get scanned and brute-forced constantly. An SSH key pair is dramatically more secure (a private key is effectively impossible to brute-force) and more convenient once set up (no password to type or remember for every login).

Setting It Up at Checkout

1. On the VPS product's checkout page, look for the SSH Key field (shown when the product has checkout_ssh_key enabled, which all our KVM VPS plans do).
2. Paste your public key — never your private key — in standard OpenSSH format (starts with ssh-rsa, ssh-ed25519, or similar).
3. Complete checkout as normal. Once the VM provisions, that key is already authorized for the root user.

Don't Have a Key Pair Yet?

Generate one before checkout:

• Mac/Linux: ssh-keygen -t ed25519 in a terminal, then cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub to get the public key to paste.
• Windows: PowerShell supports the same ssh-keygen command on modern Windows, or use PuTTYgen if you prefer a GUI.

Keep the private key file safe and never share it — it's the thing that actually proves your identity, and the public key alone (the one you paste at checkout) is useless to an attacker on its own.

Connecting After Setup

ssh [email protected]

If your key is in the default location (~/.ssh/id_ed25519 or ~/.ssh/id_rsa), your SSH client finds and uses it automatically — no password prompt.

Didn't Set One at Checkout?

You're not stuck — full root access means you can add a key manually after the fact by appending your public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the server (via the VPS's built-in console, or an initial password login if you have one). You can also use the panel's password reset option to get a fresh root password for that first login if needed — see our VPS password reset guide.

Setting a key at checkout is the single easiest security improvement available on a fresh VPS — takes 30 seconds and it's genuinely worth doing every time.