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SSH Keys

The SSH Keys page lets you manage the public keys associated with your account. These keys are injected into VMs during deployment for secure access. Navigate to Account → SSH Keys to manage them.

Viewing Keys​

All SSH keys on your account are listed with their labels and key fingerprints.

Adding a New Key​

  1. Click + Add on the SSH Keys page.
  2. Enter a label to identify the key (e.g., work-laptop or deploy-key).
  3. Paste your public SSH key (e.g., the output of ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub).
  4. Click Submit.

The key is now available for selection when deploying new VMs.

Tip: If you don't have an SSH key yet, generate one:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your@email.com"

Updating a Key​

Update an existing key while preserving its ID. This is useful when the key ID is referenced in API calls, Terraform configurations, or other build automation. The ID stays the same after the update, so existing references continue to work.

  1. Navigate to Account → SSH Keys.
  2. Click the key you want to update.
  3. Replace the public key contents with the new key.
  4. Click Save.

Deleting a Key​

Deleting an SSH key removes it from the portal and prevents it from being used in future deployments. However, deleting a key does not remove it from VMs that were already provisioned with it. Those VMs retain the key in their authorized_keys file.

  1. Navigate to Account → SSH Keys.
  2. Click the delete action on the key you want to remove.
  3. Confirm deletion.

Using SSH Keys When Deploying VMs​

When you deploy a new VM, you select which SSH keys to inject. The selected keys are written to the VM's authorized_keys file during provisioning, giving you immediate SSH access after deployment.

API and Automation​

SSH key IDs are referenced in API calls when deploying VMs programmatically. You can list your keys via the API:

curl -X GET "https://api.netactuate.com/api/v3/ssh-keys" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN"

See the API v3 Reference for full details on SSH key endpoints.

Need Help?​

Contact support@netactuate.com or open a support ticket from the portal.