How to connect to your hosting account via SSH using PuTTY, Pageant, and SSH keys (requires Pageant) | iBuild.PH Knowledgebase

SSH (Secure Shell) allows you to securely access and manage your hosting account through a command-line interface (CLI). This is useful for website administration, file management, Git deployments, Composer, WP-CLI, Drush, and other development tasks.

This guide explains how to connect to a hosting account using SSH key authentication with PuTTY and Pageant on Windows. Unlike other SSH setup methods, this guide requires Pageant to be used as the SSH authentication agent.

---

Requirements

Before starting, make sure you have the following:

• PuTTY
• PuTTYgen
• Pageant
• SSH access enabled on your hosting account
• Your hosting server hostname or IP address
• Your cPanel username

Note

This tutorial specifically uses Pageant as part of the authentication process. If you prefer to manually select your private key within PuTTY each time you connect, refer to a separate guide that does not require Pageant.

---

What is Pageant?

Pageant is an SSH authentication agent included with the PuTTY suite.

Instead of manually loading your private key for every SSH session, Pageant keeps your SSH key loaded in memory after you enter its passphrase. PuTTY can then automatically use the key when connecting to servers.

Typical workflow:

1. Start Pageant
2. Load your private key
3. Enter your passphrase
4. Open PuTTY
5. Connect to your server
6. Enter your hosting account username

---

Step 1. Generate an SSH key using PuTTYgen

1. Open PuTTYgen.
2. Click Generate.
3. Move your mouse randomly inside the blank area until the key generation process completes.
4. Configure the following:
   • Key type: RSA
   • Key size: 2048 or 4096 bits
   • Key passphrase: we recommend using password generators such as 1Password

5. Click Save private key.
6. Save the .ppk file in a secure location.

7. Copy the text shown under:

• • Public key for pasting into OpenSSH authorized_keys file

You will need this public key in the next step.

---

Step 2. Upload the public key in cPanel

1. Log in to your hosting account.
2. Navigate to:
   • cPanel → SSH Access → Manage SSH Keys

3. Click Import Key.

4. Enter a key name.
5. Paste the copied key into the Public Key field.
6. Leave the Private Key field blank.
7. Click Import.

Important

Only upload the public key.

Never upload your .ppk private key to the server. Your private key should remain securely stored on your local computer.

---

Step 3. Authorize the SSH key

After importing the key:

1. Return to Manage SSH Keys.

2. Locate the imported key.
3. Click Manage.

4. Click Authorize.

Important

Importing a key does not automatically activate it.

The key must be authorized before SSH authentication will work.

---

Step 4. Load the SSH key into Pageant

1. Open Pageant.
   • You can find the Pageant icon in the system tray at the bottom-right corner of your taskbar. If it’s hidden, click the small arrow (˄) to show hidden icons, then look for the Pageant icon there and right-click.
2.  Click Add Key or load your .ppk file.
3. Select the private key generated earlier.
4. Enter your SSH key passphrase when prompted.

The key is now stored in memory and available for SSH authentication.

---

Step 5. Connect using PuTTY

1. Open PuTTY.
2. Enter:
   • Host Name: your server hostname or IP address
   • Port: usually 22
3. Ensure Pageant is running with your SSH key already loaded.

Click Open.

Because the key is already loaded into Pageant, PuTTY will automatically attempt SSH key authentication.

---

Step 6. Log in

When prompted:

Username:

• Your cPanel account username

You should not need to manually select your key because Pageant is already handling the authentication.

If prompted for a passphrase, verify that your key is properly loaded in Pageant.

---

Verifying your SSH connection

After a successful login, you should see a command prompt similar to:

username@server [~]$

You can now manage files and run commands on your hosting account.

---

Useful Linux commands

Command	Description
pwd	Show current directory
ls	List files and directories
ls -la	List all files including hidden files
cd foldername	Change directory
cd ..	Go up one directory
mkdir foldername	Create a directory
mkdir -p folder/subfolder	Create nested directories
touch filename	Create an empty file
cat filename	Display file contents
nano filename	Edit a file using Nano
cp source destination	Copy a file
cp -r source destination	Copy a directory recursively
mv oldname newname	Move or rename a file
rm filename	Delete a file
rm -rf directoryname	Force delete a directory and its contents
find . -name “filename”	Search for a file by name
grep “text” filename	Search for text within a file
grep -r “text” .	Search recursively in files
chmod 755 filename	Set file permissions
chmod -R 755 foldername	Set permissions recursively
chown user:user filename	Change file ownership
chown -R user:user foldername	Change ownership recursively
df -h	Show disk space usage
du -sh	Show current folder size
du -sh *	Show sizes of files and folders
ps aux	List running processes
top	Monitor system processes
kill PID	Stop a process
kill -9 PID	Force stop a process
history	Show command history
clear	Clear terminal screen
wget URL	Download a file
curl -I URL	Show HTTP headers
curl -O URL	Download a file
tar -cvf archive.tar folder	Create TAR archive
tar -xvf archive.tar	Extract TAR archive
tar -czf archive.tar.gz folder	Create compressed TAR archive
tar -xzf archive.tar.gz	Extract compressed TAR archive
zip -r archive.zip folder	Create ZIP archive
unzip archive.zip	Extract ZIP archive
tail -f error_log	Monitor a log file in real time
ssh username@hostname	Connect to a remote server
exit	End SSH session

Common command options

Option	Description
-a	Include hidden files
-f	Force operation
-h	Human-readable format
-i	Interactive mode
-l	Long listing format
-n	Specify number of lines
-O	Save file using original filename
-p	Preserve attributes or create parent directories
-r	Recursive operation
-R	Recursive operation (uppercase variant)
-s	Summary output
-v	Verbose output
-x	Extract archive
-z	Use gzip compression

---

Common SSH issues

Authentication failed

Possible causes:

• Public key was not imported
• SSH key was not authorized
• Wrong username
• Wrong private key loaded in Pageant

Server refused our key

Possible causes:

• Key not authorized
• Incorrect public key uploaded
• Different private key loaded in Pageant

Connection timed out

Possible causes:

• Wrong hostname
• Wrong port
• Firewall restrictions
• SSH access disabled by hosting provider

---

Security recommendations

• Use a strong passphrase on your private key
• Never share your private key
• Never upload your private key to the server
• Remove unused SSH keys from hosting accounts
• Use SSH key authentication instead of password-only authentication whenever possible

---

Summary

1. Generate an SSH key using PuTTYgen.
2. Save the private .ppk key.
3. Upload the public key to cPanel.
4. Authorize the key.
5. Load the private key into Pageant.
6. Open PuTTY and connect to the server.
7. Log in using your hosting account username.
8. Begin managing your hosting account via SSH.