🚉First Time Connection Guide

How to connect to a brand new VPS created by using one of the Constellation Network VPS build guides.

Prerequisites

• VPS IP address ( https://www.whatismyip.com )

  • These examples will use a ficitious 13.13.13.13

• SSH username on the VPS (e.g. ubuntu, root, or other)

• Know your local path to your private key on your local machine

  • e.g. Windows C:\Users\Alice\.ssh\node_private_key

  • e.g. Macintosh /Users/alice/.ssh/node_private_key

  • e.g. Linux /home/alice/.ssh/node_private_key

Assumptions

• You are using Debian Ubuntu as your distribution. If you are not, please substitute ubuntu for root throughout this document.

• The username alice or Alice should be replaced with your actual local username on your Windows or Macintosh system.

• We are using an ed25519 SSH key pair ( replace with rsa otherwise )

---

💻 Windows, Macintosh or Linux

1

Open Terminal

Windows

🪟 Launch Windows Terminal and select a PowerShell tab (or Command Prompt if you prefer).

You may also decide to use remote access applications tools such as Termius or PuTTy

Termius: https://www.termius.com/

PuTTy: https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html

Macintosh

🍎 Press ⌘ Space, type Terminal and hit Enter.

Linux

🐧 From the GUI launch a terminal app.

If on the command line, no action needed.

2

Remote Connection to your VPS

This step assumes root as the default username created by the cloud provider for first time access. Depending on the cloud provider this username may be different. You may need to try all three options through process of elimination to gain initial access.

Possibility	Description
root	Digital Ocean or Hetzner may use this as the default.
ubuntu	AWS may use this as default.
admin	Debian 12 users may need to use the admin username as the default for initial connections.

Remember we are using generic names, locations and IP address for your SSH key and VPS external IP address.

Windows

ssh -i C:\Users\Alice\.ssh\node_private_key ubuntu@13.13.13.13

Macintosh

ssh -i /Users/alice/.ssh/node_private_key ubuntu@13.13.13.13

Linux

ssh -i /home/alice/.ssh/node_private_key ubuntu@13.13.13.13

3

The host-key fingerprint prompt

We should now be remotely connected to our VPS.

On FIRST connect you will see a message similar 👇

The authenticity of host '13.13.13.13 (13.13.13.13)' can't be established.
ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOpQrStUvWxYz1234567890+=.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?

4

Verify the fingerprint

• Retrieve the expected fingerprint from your VPS provider’s dashboard or control panel (most clouds show it when you create the instance).

• Compare that value against what your SSH client displays.

In most cases, because you are manually making this connection, you can be confident you’re connecting to the correct host. However, when handling remote connections, always exercise extra caution.

5

Accept the fingerprint

If everything matches from step 4, you may type in the full word yes and hit enter.

The authenticity of host '13.13.13.13 (13.13.13.13)' can't be established.
ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOpQrStUvWxYz1234567890+=.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes

6

Confirm your connection

Once authenticated, your local system prompt should change to your remote system prompt.

ubuntu@your-vps-name:~$

7

Update your VPS

Just to make sure everything is nicely updated on your Linux VPS, we will perform some updates and upgrades.

During the upgrade process, you may encounter a PURPLE dialog box asking you to select a few options. Since our node doesn’t require any special Debian configuration, just keep the default settings.

If you receive a purple box, on your keyboard hit the tab to move to the OK or CONTINUE, or CONFIRM options and then press Enter.

sudo nodectl update && sudo nodectl upgrade

8

Reboot

Restart your VPS to apply any necessary updates that may require a reboot.

9

Reconnect

Repeat the steps above to reconnect to your VPS, verify connectivity, confirm the upgrade was successful, and ensure everything is in order.

---

🎶 Tips & Best Practices

• Keep your private key secure: Never share it, and use a strong passphrase.

• Use Keychain (macOS) or ssh-agent (Windows) to avoid re-entering the passphrase each session. ( Out of scope of this document ).

• Regularly update your local OpenSSH client and your VPS’s OpenSSH server to the latest stable versions.