VPS & Server
Connect to your server via SSH: first steps
Just ordered your ComputeBox server? Here is how to connect via SSH for the first time, work with the computebox user, and bring the system up to date.
by Moritz MöllerJune 18, 2026
Just ordered your ComputeBox server? Here is how to connect via SSH for the first time, work with the computebox user, and bring the system up to date.
Your new server is ordered and you want to log in. ComputeBox works a little differently from many providers: you do not log in as root, you log in as the user computebox. This guide gets you from zero to your first connection and an updated system in a few minutes.
Connect with ssh computebox@SERVER-IP, switch to root with sudo su when you need to, then update the system. That is the core of it.
When you ordered, you had two ways to log in later. Either you added an SSH key, in which case no password is emailed and password login is disabled from the start. Or you did not add a key, in which case you received a random password by email.
You can see the username in the panel under Overview as "Default User", it is computebox. The server IP sits right next to it.
An SSH key is safer and more convenient. Create one locally with ssh-keygen -t ed25519 and add the public part (the .pub file) in the panel under "SSH Keys", ideally right when you create or reinstall the server. No password is then emailed and password login is disabled automatically.
Open your terminal and connect. Replace the IP with the one from your panel:
The very first time, SSH asks whether you trust the server. Type yes and confirm. If you added a key, you are in right away. With password login, enter the password from the email now. The server then greets you:
The user computebox is deliberately not root. Direct root login over SSH is switched off for security. For admin commands you simply prefix sudo:
If you need a real root shell, sudo su takes you there without asking for a password again:
Work as computebox and use sudo only when a command requires it. A permanent root shell is handy, but a typo there has bigger consequences.
Give the computebox user your own password right at the start. This works in both cases with a single command, and you do not need an old password for it:
Enter the new password twice and store it safely, for example in a password manager.
If you logged in with an SSH key, you do not know any password yet. But you need one for later recovery through the VNC console, where you log in with username and password. If you logged in with a password, it was sent to you by email, and email is not a secure channel. In both cases you should set your own password now.
A fresh image is never fully up to date. Install all updates first. The right command depends on your operating system:
If a new kernel was installed, reboot the server once:
The connection drops during the reboot. Wait around 30 seconds, then reconnect with the same command as above.
Connection timed outPermission denied (publickey)Connection refusedThe panel always gives you a VNC console, a screen-level connection right in your browser. Even if SSH is ever unreachable, you can always get onto your server that way.
Root login over SSH is disabled by default at ComputeBox, which is safer. You use the computebox user and sudo instead, or sudo su for a root shell when needed.
Then you added an SSH key when ordering. In that case no password is sent and password login is disabled. Just log in with your key.
VPS on AMD EPYC with NVMe SSD, full control, hosted in Germany.
Configure your VPS
sudo apt updatesudo susudo passwd computeboxsudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -ysudo dnf upgrade --refresh -ysudo rebootWelcome to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (GNU/Linux 6.8.0 x86_64)
System load: 0.0 Memory usage: 4% Processes: 118
Usage of /: 2.1% IPv4: 91.108.80.108
computebox@server:~$