Connect to the server using SSH

Obtain SSH credentials

Obtain SSH credentials from the Azure Marketplace

If you are using the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, you will have been presented with a choice of using either an SSH password or an SSH key pair at the time of deploying the server as shown below:

• Option 1: SSH key pair

  If you have copied and pasted your SSH key file during the deployment of the server, you can retrieve your key in the “Resource Group -> Deployments” section. Click on your deployment, you will see a summary with the related information:

  

• Option 2: SSH password

  The SSH password that you have entered during the server deployment is the same that you will use to access your server through an SSH client and to access the server through an SSH tunnel.

Connect with an SSH client

TIP: Refer to these instructions to learn how to obtain your SSH credentials.

NOTE: If you specified a custom username for SSH access when deploying your server, replace bitnami in the examples below with the correct username.

Connect with an SSH client on Windows using an SSH key

In order to access your server via SSH tunnel you need an SSH client. In the instructions below we have selected PuTTY, a free SSH client for Windows and UNIX platforms. To access the server via SSH tunnel using PuTTY on a specific port using an SSH tunnel, you need to have it configured in order to allow connections to your server.

• Step 1: Obtain PuTTY

  • Download the PuTTY ZIP archive from its website.
  • Extract the contents to a folder on your desktop.
  • Double-click the putty.exe file to bring up the PuTTY configuration window.

• Step 2: Convert your PEM private key to PPK format (optional)

  If your private key is in .pem format, it is necessary to convert it to PuTTY’s own .ppk format before you can use it with PuTTY. If your private key is already in .ppk format, you may skip this step.

  Follow the steps below to convert your .pem private key to .ppk format:

  • Launch the PuTTY Key Generator by double-clicking the puttygen.exe file in the PuTTY installation directory.

  • Click the “Load” button and select the private key file in .pem format.

    

  • Once the private key has been imported, click the “Save private key” button to convert and save the key in PuTTY’s .ppk key file format.

    

• Step 3: Configure PuTTY

  • Double-click the putty.exe file to bring up the PuTTY configuration window.

  • In the PuTTY configuration window, enter the host name or public IP address of your server into the “Host Name (or IP address)” field, as well as into the “Saved Sessions” field. Then, click “Save” to save the new session so you can reuse it later.

    

  • Obtain your SSH credentials in order to allow the authentication against the server. Refer to the FAQ to learn how to obtain your SSH credentials for your client.

  • In the “Connection -> SSH -> Auth” section, browse to the private key file (.ppk) you’ve previously obtained in the step above.

    

  • In the “Connection -> Data” section, enter the username bitnami into the “Auto-login username” field, under the “Login details” section.

    

  • In the “Session” section, click on the “Save” button to save the current configuration.

  • Select the session you want to start (in case that you have saved more than one session) and click the “Open” button to open an SSH session to the server.

    

    PuTTY will first ask you to confirm the server’s host key and add it to the cache. Go ahead and click “Yes” to this request (learn more).

    

You should now be logged in to your server. Here is an example of what you’ll see:

TIP: In case of difficulties using PuTTY, refer to the official documentation for troubleshooting advice and resolution for common error messages.

Connect with an SSH client on Linux and Mac OS X using an SSH key

Linux and Mac OS X come bundled with SSH clients by default. In order to log in to your server, follow the steps below:

• Open a new terminal window on your local system (for example, using “Finder -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal” in Mac OS X or the Dash in Ubuntu).

• Set the permissions for your private key file (.pem) to 600 using a command like the one below. Refer to the FAQ to learn how to obtain your SSH credentials.

    $ chmod 600 KEYFILE
  

• Connect to the server using the following command:

    $ ssh -i KEYFILE bitnami@SERVER-IP
  

  Remember to replace KEYFILE in the previous commands with the path to your private key file (.pem), and SERVER-IP with the public IP address or hostname of your server.

• Your SSH client might ask you to confirm the server’s host key and add it to the cache before connecting. Accept this request by typing or selecting “Yes” (learn more).

You should now be logged in to your server. Here is an example of what you’ll see:

Connect with an SSH client on Windows using an SSH password

In order to access your server via SSH tunnel you need an SSH client. In the instructions below we have selected PuTTY, a free SSH client for Windows and UNIX platforms. To access the server via SSH tunnel using PuTTY on a specific port using an SSH tunnel, you need to have it configured in order to allow connections to your server.

• Step 1: Obtain PuTTY

  • Download the PuTTY ZIP archive from its website.
  • Extract the contents to a folder on your desktop.
  • Double-click the putty.exe file to bring up the PuTTY configuration window.

• Step 2: Configure PuTTY

  • In the PuTTY configuration window, enter the host name or public IP address of your server into the “Host Name (or IP address)” field, as well as into the “Saved Sessions” field. Then, click “Save” to save the new session so you can reuse it later.

    

  • In the “Connection -> Data” section, enter the username bitnami into the “Auto-login username” field, under the “Login details” section.

    

  • In the “Session” section, click on the “Save” button to save the current configuration.

  • Select the session you want to start (in case that you have saved more than one session) and click the “Open” button to open an SSH session to the server.

    

    PuTTY will first ask you to confirm the server’s host key and add it to the cache. Go ahead and click “Yes” to this request (learn more).

    

  • Enter the SSH password when prompted. Refer to the FAQ to learn how to obtain your SSH credentials for your client.

You should now be logged in to your server. Here is an example of what you’ll see:

TIP: In case of difficulties using PuTTY, refer to the official documentation for troubleshooting advice and resolution for common error messages.

Connect with an SSH client on Linux and Mac OS X using an SSH password

Linux and Mac OS X come bundled with SSH clients by default. In order to log in to your server, follow the steps below:

• Open a new terminal window on your local system (for example, using “Finder -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal” in Mac OS X or the Dash in Ubuntu).

• Connect to the server using the following command:

    $ ssh bitnami@SERVER-IP
  

  Remember to replace SERVER-IP with the public IP address or hostname of your server.

• Your SSH client might ask you to confirm the server’s host key and add it to the cache before connecting. Accept this request by typing or selecting “Yes” (learn more).

• Enter your SSH password when prompted. Refer to the FAQ to learn how to obtain your SSH credentials for your client.

You should now be logged in to your server. Here is an example of what you’ll see:

Forward your key using SSH Agent

With key forwarding, you can connect to a host using an SSH key and then make the key available for subsequent SSH connections from that host. Key forwarding lets you connect to a host (host A) with your SSH key, and then connect to another host (host B) from host A using the same key.

Forward your key using SSH Agent on Windows

To forward your SSH key using PuTTY, you must first have SSH access to your server. Please check the SSH instructions for Windows section for more information on this.

Once you have your SSH client correctly configured, enable SSH Agent forwarding. To do so, follow these steps:

• In the “Connection -> SSH -> Auth” section, activate the “Allow agent forwarding” checkbox.

  

• In the “Session” section, save your changes by clicking the “Save” button.

• Click the “Open” button to open an SSH session to the server. The SSH session will now forward your key for subsequent SSH sessions starting from the same server. You can check this by running the following:

    $ ssh-add -L
  

TIP: In case of difficulties using PuTTY, refer to the official documentation for troubleshooting advice and resolution for common error messages.

Forward your key using SSH Agent on Linux and Mac OS X

NOTE: If you specified a custom username for SSH access when deploying your server, replace bitnami in the examples below with the correct username.

Follow the steps below.

• Open a new terminal window on your local system (for example, using “Finder -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal” in Mac OS X or the Dash in Ubuntu).

• Ensure that you have the following information:

  • IP address of the host which will forward the key.
  • Private SSH key (.pem key file) for the host which will forward the key.

• Run the following command on your local system to add the SSH key to the agent. Remember to replace KEYFILE with the path to your private key:

    $ ssh-add KEYFILE
  

• Connect to the host using the -A option. Remember to replace SERVER-IP with the public IP address or hostname of your host.

    $ ssh -A bitnami@SERVER-IP
  

• The SSH session will now forward your key for subsequent SSH sessions starting from the connected host. You can check this by running the following command:

    $ ssh-add -L