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Symplax talks to your servers over SSH: to install and update the agent, to stream logs, and to open the console. This page explains which keys it uses and what the SSH Keys list in your settings does.

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Your managed key

The first time you connect a server with a password, Symplax creates an SSH key pair for your account called Symplax Default Key. It then:
  1. Adds the public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys for the SSH user you connected with.
  2. Stores the private key encrypted, and uses it for that server from then on.
Every later server you connect with a password gets the same key. In lists, it is marked Symplax Managed or MANAGED. Symplax always tries the key before the password. That matters because Fail2Ban, which Symplax installs, bans addresses after repeated failed logins. Trying an out-of-date password first would count against Symplax.
Once you have a managed key, you can connect new servers without a password. Copy the managed key’s public key from Settings > SSH Keys, add it to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the new server, then connect with SSH Key and pick Symplax Default Key. The connect form selects it for you by default.

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Connecting with your own private key

On the connect form, choose SSH Key, then pick Paste a custom private key… and paste the private key, including the BEGIN and END lines. Symplax stores it encrypted for that server only. It isn’t added to your account’s key list.
Paste the private key, not the .pub file. The public key alone can’t log in.

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Keys in your settings

Go to Settings > SSH Keys to see the keys on your account. Each shows its type, a shortened fingerprint and the date it was added. You can also see and add keys from a server’s Settings tab, under Connection Details.

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Add a public key

1

Open the form

Click Add New Key.
2

Fill it in

Enter a Key Name such as MacBook-Work, and paste your Public Key, for example the contents of ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub.
3

Save

Click Add Key.
Adding a public key here saves it to your account. Symplax doesn’t copy it to your servers. To log in with that key yourself, add it to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on each server, for example from the console:
A key you add this way has no private half stored in Symplax, so you can’t pick it on the connect form to log in.

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Remove a key

Click the trash icon next to a key and confirm. Removing a key deletes it from your Symplax account only. It stays in authorized_keys on any server it was added to. To revoke access, delete that line from ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on each server. Servers already connected keep working after you remove the managed key, because each one has its own stored copy. The next server you connect with a password gets a new managed key.

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Servers you bought

A Symplax-provisioned server gets its own key, created for that server when it is set up. You log in yourself as root with the password you chose when buying it, or add your public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys as above.

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Security

  • Private keys are encrypted at rest and never returned by the API or shown in the dashboard.
  • Removing the key Symplax uses from a server’s authorized_keys cuts Symplax’s SSH access to it. The console and anything else that needs SSH stop working until Symplax can log in again.