Troubleshoot SSH Connection
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This guide is designed to help you troubleshoot and restore SSH access to your Validator node when it was previously working but is now unreachable.
β Verify the username for the VPS you're connecting to
e.g.) nodeadmin
β Check your SSH key pair file names
Private key must match the server's authorized key.
β Confirm correct permissions
private key should be read-only: chmod 400
β Ensure the public key exists on the server in the correct location
β Confirm the private key file exists locally
Is it correctly referenced by your SSH command.
Many ISPs assign dynamic IP addresses to customer routers.
A change in your IP may cause your cloud providerβs firewall to block your SSH attempts.
Your SSH terminal or remote connection application sits idle and eventually shows Connection timed out
messages.
Terminal or remote terminal application will how a blank screen only
No password or key prompts appear
Not entering the SSH connection string and attempting to run commands locally instead of through your SSH tunnel.
π‘ Example:
Try connecting again after updating the rules.
Ensure the private key file:
Still exists in the expected location
Has not been renamed or moved
Is intact and not corrupted
Has the proper permissions
Important: Once resolved, create a backup of your SSH keys if you havenβt already.
If you can still access your VPS through your cloud provider's web console:
Re-Attempt to create an SSH connection to your node.
Visit your cloud providerβs main dashboard
Look for service alerts
If the console is also unreachable, check external outage reports
From the cloud console, check the status of your VPS instance
Ensure itβs running and not reporting hardware or OS-level errors
If you cannot connect to any external site or service, confirm your own network is online
Restart your router/modem if necessary and try again later
Refer to the .