Create SSH Keys Mac/Linux:

This is pretty simple. The first step is to create a key pair on your local machine or your work station. Open a Command line and type:

ssh-keygen -t rsa

Once you have entered the ssh-keygen command, you will go through with these questions.

Enter file in which to save the key (/home/name/.ssh/id_rsa):

You can use the default name and destination if this is your first ssh key. 

Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):

If you would like an of extra layer security, you may go ahead and key in your passphrase (make sure you safe keep your passphrase!)

Once you are done, id_rsa.pub is the key that you need to upload to send us so you will be able to gain access to your server after provisioning. 

Your public SSH key is commonly located here: 

/home/yourname/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

You can view the contents of your key with the following command: 

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Create SSH Keys on Windows using puTTY

Create an SSH Keypair

Since PuTTY uses SSH keys to securely connect to the server, we will need to create a pair of them.

Open PuTTYgen which will look like this:

You can change the parameters for your key, even though the default ones are just fine. When you’re ready, click Generate.

In order to create a random key, you will be asked to move the cursor around a small empty area on the window. This randomness is called entropy and is used to create keys in a secure way that cannot be reproduced by others.

After a few seconds, once the keys are ready, you will be presented with this view:

First, click the Save private key button, name it whatever you like and choose a secure location to save the key with the extension ".ppk".

Next, repeat the same thing after clicking on Save public key. This time, make sure to give it an extension like ".txt", so you can open it later in a regular text editor.

On the previous screen, copy the content of the public key (from the PuTTy app) then send it to us.