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SSH Keys

In this guide, we will talk about what you can create and add SSH Keys and use those to access your deployed instances/pods

You must submit a valid SSH key into the portal before you can deploy an instance.

Create an SSH Key

This guide shows how to create an SSH key using ssh-ed25519 and submit the public key in the portal.

SSH keys have two parts:

  • Private key: stays on your computer. Never share this.
  • Public key: safe to share. Submit this in the portal.

1. Create a new ssh-ed25519 key

Replace your_email@example.com with your email address:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"

When prompted for the file location, press Enter to use the default:

~/.ssh/id_ed25519

When prompted for a passphrase, either enter a secure passphrase or press Enter to leave it empty.

2. Add the key to the SSH agent

Windows PowerShell

Get-Service ssh-agent | Set-Service -StartupType Automatic
Start-Service ssh-agent
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

macOS and Linux

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

3. Copy your public key

Submit the Public key file:

~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Do not submit the private key file:

~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Windows PowerShell

Show the key:

Get-Content ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Copy to clipboard:

Get-Content ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | Set-Clipboard

macOS and Linux

Show the key:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Your public key should look like this:

ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIExampleKeyTextHere your_email@example.com

Copy the entire line, starting with ssh-ed25519.

4. Submit the public key in the portal

  1. Sign in to the portal.

  2. Go to Deployments -> SSH Keys.

  3. Select Add SSH Key.

  4. Paste your public key.

  5. Add a recognizable name, such as:

    Work Laptop

  6. Save or submit the key.

5. Verify the key

After saving, confirm that the key appears in the portal.

It should begin with:

ssh-ed25519

Security notes

  • Never share your private key.
  • Never upload or paste id_ed25519.
  • Only submit id_ed25519.pub.
  • If your private key is exposed, delete the key from the portal and create a new one.

Troubleshooting

ssh-keygen is not recognized on Windows

Enable OpenSSH Client:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Go to Apps → Optional Features.
  3. Install OpenSSH Client if it is missing.
  4. Open a new PowerShell window and run the key generation command again.

Permission denied

Make sure the public key in the portal exactly matches your local public key:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

On Windows PowerShell:

Get-Content ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Key not found

Check your .ssh folder:

ls ~/.ssh

You should see:

id_ed25519
id_ed25519.pub

Using an SSH Key

ssh - Terminal access of your Deployed Pod

  1. Go to the Deployments page of the portal
  2. Choose the Deployed Pod you want to access and click Connection button in the card.
  3. You'll find your SSH Connection details looking like this:
ssh -i /path/to/private-key -p 65xxx root@ssh.hexgrid.cloud

If your SSH key is already loaded into the ssh-agent, you can skip using "-i /path/to/private-key" option in the ssh command above.

scp — Copy data to your deployed pod from your local machine

Use scp to securely transfer files, model assets, or configuration data from your local machine to the deployed pod. This is useful when you need to upload custom scripts, datasets, or checkpoints before running your LLM deployment.

scp -r /path/to/local/file-or-folder -p 65xxx root@ssh.hexgrid.cloud:/path/to/remote/destination

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