How to Connect to Your Server via SSH

SSH (Secure Shell) gives you direct command-line access to your dotCanada hosting account. It's one of the most powerful tools available to developers, letting you manage files, run scripts, and configure your server environment.

What You'll Need

• Your cPanel username and password
• Your domain name or server hostname
• A terminal application (Mac/Linux) or PuTTY (Windows)

Connecting on Mac or Linux

1. Open your Terminal application.
2. Type the following command, replacing the values with your own: ssh username@yourdomain.com
3. When prompted, enter your cPanel password.
4. You're in! You'll see a command prompt for your account.

Connecting on Windows

1. Download and open PuTTY (a free SSH client).
2. In the Host Name field, enter yourdomain.com.
3. Make sure the port is set to 22 and the connection type is SSH.
4. Click Open, then enter your cPanel username and password when prompted.

Enabling SSH Access

SSH access may need to be enabled on your account. Log in to cPanel, navigate to Security > SSH Access, and confirm it is active. If you're unsure whether SSH is included in your plan, contact our support team and we'll get you sorted.

Once connected, you'll have access to tools like Composer, WP-CLI, Git, and more - all available on dotCanada's hosting platform.