How to SSH-Login to your Shared Hosting Account using ‘SSH Access’ Utility in cPanel?

I tried setting up SSH Access from cPanel first time last week and it worked seamlessly without any issue. I was able to login and execute some commands to check higher CPU usage and memory issue.

Last week at Crunchify, LLC we were debugging higher CPU issue and wanted to have login access to our hosting server. We are hosted at Squidix web hosting and so far it’s working very well. By the way, as of now, higher CPU issue is resolved.

It was related to Disqus and you could find all detailed information here on Github official Issue #118 page.

In this tutorial we will go over step by step how to setup SSH on your Macbook or Desktop correct way to access your VM (Virtual Machine) /Physical host.

This tutorial also works if you have any of below questions

• What is SSH Access in cPanel?
• Can I login to my Shared Hosting VM using SSH Access?
• cPanel and SSH Access process
• Login to your hosting account using cPanel’s SSH Access option
• How to access hosting account via SSH

Let’s get started:

Step-1

• Login to cPanel and click on SSH Access icon under Security Panel
• Click on Manage SSH Keys button
• Click on Generate a New Key button

• Make sure you choose these settings
• Key Name: id_rsa
• Key Password: Provide strong password
• Key Type: RSA
• Key Size: 2048
• Click on Generate Key

Step-2

• Your Key will be generated successfully and it will be saved under your cPanel account under /home/crunchify/.ssh/ folder.
• Click on Go Back link.

Step-3

• By default Public Key wont be authorized.
• You need to Authorize Key by clicking Manage button and then Authorize button in next screen.

Step-4

• Now Download your Private Key id_rsa.
• It will download your key to ~/Downloads/ folder on Macbook pro (I’m using Mac).

Step-5

• Now copy id_rsa private key from /Users/appshah/Downloads folder to ~/.ssh folder
• SSH to your host using command ssh crunchify@45.56.17.128
  • crunchify is my cPanel username (modified)
  • 45.56.17.128 is a cPanel IP
• You will be asked to add host. RSA key fingerprint will be added to known_hosts.
• Provide your cPanel Password and you should be in 🙂
• Try executing below few commands
  • top – to check memory and CPU
  • uptime – to check load average on VM

NOTE: Below SSH and RSA information has been modified already for security reason. Try executing each commands in sequence.

// Open Terminal App on Mac

bash-3.2$ pwd   // You are here
/Users/appshah/Downloads

bash-3.2$ cp id_rsa ~/.ssh     // Copy file

bash-3.2$ cd ~/.ssh   // Go to .ssh folder

bash-3.2$ ls -ltr    // list files
total 16
-rw-r--r--  1 appshah  appshah  2220 Aug 12 14:39 known_hosts
-rw-r--r--@ 1 appshah  appshah  1743 Aug 16 12:26 id_rsa

bash-3.2$ ssh crunchify@45.56.17.128     // SSH to your hosting account
The authenticity of host '45.56.17.128 (45.56.17.128)' can't be established.
RSA key fingerprint is SHA256:aVZRglGWYnV1sdfsd#$@#@WvK9fsqmjuBIE7Vek.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes

crunchify@45.56.17.128's password: 

crunchify@squidix1.xyz.com [~]# 
crunchify@squidix1.xyz.com [~]# top // just execute some commands and you will see stats
crunchify@squidix1.xyz.com [~]# uptime // check load average on server

You will now be logged into your account via SSH. This works across any hosting provider and any plan you are on. This is a universal method to login to your hosting account using SSH.