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How To Connect to a Vultr VX1™ Cloud Compute Instance Using SSH

Updated on 21 November, 2025

Connect to your Vultr VX1™ Cloud Compute instance using OpenSSH with either default user credentials or SSH keys for secure access.

OpenSSH is a secure protocol used to connect to remote servers through encrypted SSH sessions. Vultr VX1™ Cloud Compute instances include OpenSSH by default, allowing you to log in and manage your server securely.

Follow this guide to connect to a Vultr VX1™ Cloud Compute instance using SSH on your workstation.

Connect to an Instance Using the Default User Credentials

  1. Open your instance's management page in the Vultr Customer Portal.

  2. Note the default credentials within the Overview tab and copy the user password to your clipboard.

  3. Open a new terminal or command prompt application on your workstation.

  4. Connect to your Vultr VX1™ Cloud Compute instance using SSH.

    console 
    $ ssh username@SERVER-IP

  5. Enter yes and press ENTER when prompted to add the instance's public key to your known hosts.

    The authenticity of host '192.0.2.18 (192.0.2.18)' can't be established.
ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:gTAOuCiCa3Us4tpVaVHVk9d3qOjKrsqXPOsAFQbB8xw.
This key is not known by any other names
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?

  6. Enter your instance user's password when prompted and press ENTER to log in.

    username@SERVER-IP's password:

  7. View the active user in your SSH session.

    console 
    $ whoami

Connect to an Instance Using SSH Keys

Note
Generate an SSH key on your workstation and add it to your instance during deployment. Adding an SSH key using the Vultr Customer Portal after deployment will result in data loss and wipe your instance to install the new key.

  1. Open a new terminal or command prompt application on your workstation.

  2. Connect to your Vultr VX1™ Cloud Compute instance using a specific SSH key on your workstation.

    console 
    $ ssh -i /path/to/private/key username@SERVER-IP

  3. Enter yes and press ENTER when prompted to add the instance's public key to your known hosts.

    The authenticity of host '192.0.2.18 (192.0.2.18)' can't be established.
ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:gTAOuCiCa3Us4tpVaVHVk9d3qOjKrsqXPOsAFQbB8xw.
This key is not known by any other names
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes

  4. View the active user in your SSH session.

    console 
    $ whoami

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