Accessing a web hosting plan via SSH
Find out how to connect and use SSH access on an OVHcloud web hosting plan
Last updated 19th January 2022
Objective
OVHcloud web hosting plans provide you with access to a storage space you can use to put your website and application files online. You can access this space using an FTP or SSH user account and password.
Find out how to connect and use SSH access on an OVHcloud web hosting plan.
Requirements
- an OVHcloud web hosting plan with SSH access
- the login credentials required to connect to your storage space via SSH
- access to the
Web Cloudsection of the OVHcloud Control Panel
Instructions
Step 1: Ensure that SSH access is enabled
Log in to the OVHcloud Control Panel, go to the Web Cloud section, then click on Hosting. Select the name of the web hosting plan, and click on the FTP - SSH tab. The information associated with your storage space will now appear.
Find the table in the ‘SSH’ column to check if the SSH user (or ‘login’) concerned has SSH access enabled. A ‘Disabled’ label will be present if this is not the case.
If SSH access is disabled, click ... to the right of the user concerned, then Modify. In the window that pops up, enable SSH access, then confirm the modification. If you cannot enable it, ensure that your OVHcloud web hosting plan offers SSH access.
Step 2: Retrieve your connection information
To log in to your storage space via SSH, find the information you need in the FTP - SSH tab:
- Active SSH user: Locate it in the “Login” column of the table. As a reminder, the user’s SSH access must be enabled.
- SSH user password: If you have forgotten this password, you can change it by clicking
..., thenChange password. - SSH server address: Locate the “SSH server” comment.
- SSH server connection port: Locate the “SSH Port” comment
Step 3: Log in to your storage space via SSH
To log in via SSH, use a terminal to interact directly with your storage space via command lines.
This tool is installed by default on macOS, Linux, and Windows 10. With an older Windows environment, you will need to install a program like PuTTY, or add the OpenSSH feature.
There are now two ways of connecting to your storage space, depending on the method you use:
3.1 From a terminal.
There is no superuser (or root) access via SSH on our shared hosting plans.
Once you have opened the terminal, use the following command, replacing the ‘yourlogin’, ‘ssh.cluster000.hosting.ovh.net’ and ‘22’ elements with those corresponding to your SSH credentials.
ssh yourlogin@ssh.cluster000.hosting.ovh.net -p 22
When you run the command, you will be prompted to enter the SSH user password. Once you have connected, follow the next step: Interact with your storage space via SSH.
3.2 From a software application
Open your software application (e.g. PuTTY), and enter your SSH connection details. This action will vary depending on the application you choose to use, so we cannot go into further detail on this in the guide. As a reminder, you will need to enter the following information:
- SSH server: Enter the SSH server address you retrieved during step 2. Depending on which software you are using, the field may be labelled as "Server address" or "Host Name".
- Connection port: Enter the SSH connection port you retrieved during step 2.
- SSH login: Enter the SSH user. Depending on the software application you use, this field may be labelled as “Login” or “Username”.
- SSH user password: Enter the password associated with the SSH login. Depending on which software you are using, the field should be labelled as "Password".
Once you have connected, move on to the next step.
Step 4: Interact with your storage space via SSH
To interact with your storage space, you can use commands, which each have a direct meaning. Use the list below if you need to. Please note that this list is not exhaustive.
| Command | Meaning | Description |
|---|---|---|
| pwd | Print working directory | Displays the working directory you are in. |
cd arg |
Change directory | Enables you to change the working directory to the one entered, replacing arg. |
cd .. |
Change directory | Enables you to change the working directory, one level up in the tree-view of your directories. |
| cd | Change directory | If you do not specify an argument, you can move to the root of your storage space (home). |
| ls | List | Lists the contents of your working directory. Add the attributes to modify the result of the command (like ls -ulhG). |
chmod right arg |
Change mode | Change the rights of the file or directory mentioned as an arg argument. |
mkdir arg |
Make directory | Enables you to create a directory with the argument name arg. |
touch arg |
Touch | Creates an empty file with the name mentioned in the arg argument, if a file with this name does not already exist. |
rm arg |
Remove | Removes the file mentioned in the arg argument. |
rm -r arg |
Remove | Removes the directory mentioned as an arg argument, as well as all of its contents, recursively. |
mv arg1 arg2 |
Move | Renames or moves an element (specified as arg1) to a new area (specified as arg2). |
You can also run a command to launch a script using a specific PHP version. E.g. for PHP version 7.1, use the following command, and adapt the elements to match your details.
/usr/local/php7.1/bin/php myscript.php
Depending on the PHP version you want to use, the runtime environment may need to be modified to ensure that there are no compatibility issues. Please refer to our documentation.
Go further
Modifying the configuration of a Web Hosting plan
Configuring the .ovhconfig file of your Web Hosting plan
Join our community of users on https://community.ovh.com/en/.
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