Setting up SSH keys for cPanel hosting

Before proceeding with this guide, you need to whitelist your IP Address for SSH Access. Follow our enabling SSH access in cPanel guide to do that first.

Once you’ve done that, you can follow these steps to create a new SSH Key in cPanel.

1. Login to cPanel.
2. Navigate to SSH Access, then click Manage SSH Keys.
3. Click Generate New Key.
4. Set a strong password for the key, and save it in a secure place (Tip: Use the Password Generator).
5. Leave the other settings as their default, then click Generate Key.
6. Lastly, you need to Authorize the key by clicking Manage next to the key under Public Keys. Then click Authorize.

Next, if you’d like to download the key in .ppk format for use in Putty or any other SSH client, you can follow these steps to do so:

1. Navigate to SSH Keys > Manage SSH Keys.
2. Under Private Keys click View/Download
3. Scroll down to where it says Convert the “id_rsa” key to PPK format.
4. Input the password you saved earlier.
5. Click Convert.
6. Click Download.

To import and use the SSH Key in PuTTY, you can add it under Connection > SSH > Auth > Under “Private Key File For Authentication”, click Browse and select the .ppk file.

If you want to use any other SSH client to connect, please consult the documentation for that client for instructions on how to use the key.