About SSH Keys

You will need an SSH key before you can access any newly provisioned machine from Joyent. Once you have used your SSH key to access your machine , you can revert to using a login name and password if you prefer. You may also roll this credentialing information into a custom script that is accessible through the Joyent Cloud Public API to make those changes on provisioning.

Adding more SSH Keys on SmartMachines

Once you have your initial key uploaded to your Joyent Cloud account, you can add more keys from other computers. Any SSH keys added to your Joyent Cloud account will allow access to all of your Joyent Cloud SmartMachines.

To provide access to a single machine, generate the key on the new computer and add it to the authorized_keys file belonging to the user you wish to provide access to your SmartMachine. For example, to add a new key just for the "admin" user, you would update the authorized_keys file here.

You can use any key associated with your Joyent Cloud account to access any SmartMachine you create. Keys added on a single machine will only provide access to that machine. The keys in your Joyent Cloud account allow SSH access to the admin and root POSIX user accounts.

Changing SSH Keys on a Virtual Machine

Before you change your SSH key on your local computer, you will need to log into your Virtual Machine with your old key first.

Add your new key and remove your old key from the authorized_keys file. For example, the location of the authorized_keys file for the "root" user is: