SSH Key Management

Piora uses SSH key pairs to securely connect to and manage your VPS servers. Each Piora account automatically generates a dedicated key pair named piora-cloud-ssh-key.

Key Overview

Item	Description
Key name	piora-cloud-ssh-key
Key type	Ed25519 (or RSA 4096)
Private key storage	Piora platform, encrypted
Public key	Must be installed on your VPS

Security

Piora uses industry-standard encryption to store your SSH private keys. The private key is only used when executing management operations and is never stored or transmitted in plaintext.

Setting Up the SSH Public Key

Method 1: Through Your VPS Provider’s Dashboard

Most VPS providers support importing SSH public keys when creating a server:

1. Log into the Piora dashboard and copy your SSH public key
2. In your VPS provider’s control panel, find the “SSH Keys” settings
3. Add a new key and paste the Piora public key
4. Select that key when creating a new VPS

Method 2: Manual Installation on an Existing Server

If you already have a VPS, manually add the public key:

# SSH into your VPS
ssh root@your-server-ip

# Create the .ssh directory (if it doesn't exist)
mkdir -p ~/.ssh

# Append the public key to authorized_keys
echo "ssh-ed25519 AAAA... your-piora-public-key" >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

# Set correct file permissions
chmod 700 ~/.ssh
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Method 3: Using ssh-copy-id

If you have access to the Piora public key file locally:

# Copy the public key to the remote server
ssh-copy-id -i piora-cloud-ssh-key.pub root@your-server-ip

Verifying the Connection

When you add a server in the Piora dashboard, the platform automatically tests the SSH connection. If the connection fails, check the following:

1. Is the public key installed correctly — Confirm ~/.ssh/authorized_keys contains the Piora public key
2. Are file permissions correct — .ssh directory should be 700, authorized_keys should be 600
3. Is the SSH service running — Run systemctl status sshd to verify
4. Is the firewall open — Confirm port 22 is accessible

# Check SSH configuration
cat ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
ls -la ~/.ssh/
systemctl status sshd

Key Rotation

If you need to regenerate SSH keys (e.g., suspected key compromise):

1. Generate a new key in the Piora dashboard under “Security Settings”
2. Install the new public key on all connected VPS servers
3. After confirming the new key works, remove the old public key

Important

After rotating keys, make sure to update the public key on all connected servers, otherwise Piora will be unable to manage those servers.

Troubleshooting

Permission denied (publickey)

This error usually means the public key is not installed correctly. Check the following in order:

# Verify the authorized_keys file exists and contains the correct key
cat ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

# Verify permissions
ls -la ~/.ssh/
# Expected: drwx------ (700)

ls -la ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
# Expected: -rw------- (600)

# Verify SSH config allows public key authentication
grep "PubkeyAuthentication" /etc/ssh/sshd_config
# Should be: yes

Connection Timeout

If the connection times out, it’s usually a firewall or network issue:

• Verify your VPS security group or firewall allows inbound connections on port 22
• Confirm the VPS has a public IP accessible from the internet
• Try pinging the VPS IP from your local machine to confirm connectivity