Adding a server

A server here is a machine you control, reachable over SSH. You can connect an existing one or create one at a supported cloud provider.

What we need

• A public IP address or a host name that resolves to one.
• A login that can administer the machine: the root user, or a sudo user. If your provider only gives you a sudo user, we can enable root with the same password after you confirm it, and you can turn that off again.
• Outbound port 25 open if the server will send mail. Many providers block it by default; ask them to open it.

How we log in

You choose how:

• Password. You can let us keep it so you don't need to retype it for a version change. It is stored encrypted and is decrypted only inside our workers. Each use is logged and visible to you.
• Key. Give us a public key to add, or let us generate one for your account and show you the line to add to authorized_keys.

The first time we connect we record the server's host key. If it ever changes, connections stop until you confirm it again.

Checks before anything is installed

We test the login first and reserve nothing until it works. Then we read the system: operating system, memory, disk, installed mail software, listening ports, public IP addresses and reverse DNS. You see the results, with anything that needs fixing, before you confirm.

Failed logins

If the login fails we tell you why and what to check (the password, the user, the port, a firewall). We try once per connection. After repeated failures we stop and wait, so a wrong password cannot lock you out or hammer your server. The wait grows with each failure, up to a day. The addresses we connect from are listed in the dashboard so you can allow them in your firewall.

Removing a server

Removing a server deletes the credentials we stored for it. It does not uninstall anything from the machine.