Getting started

Connect to your server with SSH from Windows, macOS or Linux

How to log in to a LiteKeep Linux server over SSH from Windows PowerShell, the macOS Terminal or a Linux terminal, what the first-connection prompt means, and what to do if it fails.

Last updated 27 October 2026

Open a terminal and run ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP, using the IPv4 address on your server’s Overview. Windows 10 and 11, macOS and Linux all include an SSH client, so there is nothing to install. Log in with your SSH key or the root password you saved.

Find the address

Open Servers and your server. Under Connect the Overview shows the IPv4 address and the full SSH command, ready to copy.

From Windows

Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal from the Start menu.
Paste the command, for example ssh [email protected], and press Enter.
Type yes at the first-connection prompt, then enter the root password if you chose one. Nothing appears while you type a password; that’s normal.

From macOS or Linux

Open Terminal (on macOS, press Command and Space and type Terminal) and run the same command. If your key isn’t in the default place, point to it: ssh -i ~/.ssh/my_key [email protected].

The first-connection prompt

The first time, SSH says the authenticity of the host can’t be established and shows a fingerprint. That is SSH meeting your new server; type yes. If you later delete the server and get a new one at the same address, SSH warns that the host key changed. Remove the old entry with ssh-keygen -R 203.0.113.10 and connect again.

If it fails

Permission denied (publickey): the key you are offering isn’t the one on the server. Our tutorial on this error walks through every cause.
Connection timed out: check the server is running (Start it from its page) and that you copied the right address.
Windows Server images are used with Remote Desktop rather than SSH.