# Add SSH keys to your account

> Save your public SSH keys in the panel so they are ready for new servers at launch. Which key types work, and how to check fingerprints.

Source: https://vpsnine.com/help/manage-ssh-keys-in-the-panel · Updated: 2026-10-10

Save your public SSH keys in your account and, from launch, you pick which ones go on each new server as it's created. You need at least one: servers start with key login for root and no root password. You can add keys today.

If you don't have a key yet, [Use SSH keys instead of a password](https://vpsnine.com/help/ssh-keys) shows how to make one.

## Add a key

On your computer, print the **public** key:

```bash
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
```

(In Windows PowerShell: `type $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_ed25519.pub`.)

Then log in at [my.vpsnine.com](https://my.vpsnine.com), open **keys**, and paste the whole line, starting with `ssh-ed25519`, into **Public key**. The **Name** is optional; leave it blank and we use the comment at the end of the key, often your email or `you@laptop`. Choose **add key**.

It shows up in the list with its type, fingerprint and the date you added it.

One warning, and the panel enforces it: never paste the private key (the file *without* `.pub`). If it looks like a private key, we refuse it and don't store or echo it back. If you've pasted a private key anywhere else by accident, consider it leaked and make a new one.

## Which keys work

Ed25519 (`ssh-ed25519`) is what we recommend. ECDSA (`ecdsa-sha2-nistp256`, `nistp384` or `nistp521`) works, and so does RSA (`ssh-rsa`) at 2048 bits or more.

One key per paste. You can keep up to 50, and each key only once.

## Check a fingerprint

The panel shows each key's SHA256 fingerprint. Compare it with the one on your computer:

```bash
ssh-keygen -lf ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
```

The `SHA256:` part should match exactly.

## Deleting a key

Choose **delete** next to it. Do this when a laptop is lost or retired, or you replace a key.

Deleting a key from your account doesn't remove it from servers that already have it. It was copied into `~/.ssh/authorized_keys` on each one, so take it out there as well:

```bash
nano ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
```

Delete the line ending in that key's comment and save. Then check you can still log in from a second terminal before closing the first.

If you'd rather script all this, the same keys are in the API at `/api/v1/ssh-keys`. See the [API quickstart](https://vpsnine.com/help/api-quickstart).