GalaxyGate Docs

Appearance

Passwords & reset ​

Passwords come up in three places: password login instead of a key, resetting a server's root password, and resetting your account password.

Password login vs. keys ​

You can log into a server with a password. When a server is created from an official template, a root password is set on it, so ssh root@your-server-ip and typing that password does work.

It is not the way we recommend. An SSH key is far safer than a password, for a few concrete reasons:

  • A password can be guessed or brute forced. Servers on the public internet get thousands of automated login attempts a day, and a weak password eventually falls.
  • A password travels every time you log in. A key proves who you are without ever sending the secret half over the wire.
  • A password is one shared string. A key is unique to your machine, so you can add or remove trust for one computer without changing anything else.

Use a key, keep the password as a backup

Set up a key first and log in with that day to day. Keep the root password for the one situation a key cannot help you with: getting in through the console when SSH itself is broken.

If you have not made a key yet, do that before anything else.

Generate an SSH key

Reset the root password on a server ​

If you have lost the root password, or you are logged out of a server and need a known password to get back in through the console, you can have the panel generate a new one. Open the instance, click Advanced in the top right, and choose Reset Password.

The instance Advanced menu with Reset Password circled
Reset the root password from the instance Advanced menu (Reset Password, circled).

You do not choose or type the password yourself. The panel first confirms ("Do you want to reset the root password for this instance?"), then generates a new random root password and shows it once in a dialog titled "Password Reset in Progress" that reads "New root password is" followed by the generated password. Copy it right then, because that is the only time it is shown. Resetting the password does not touch the disk or your data, so it is safe to use.

Pair it with the console

Resetting the password is most useful when you cannot reach the server over SSH at all. In that case, run the reset here, copy the new password the panel shows you, then open the Terminal tab (the VNC console) and log in with it directly on the machine's own screen.

Open the VNC console

Reset your account password ​

The two resets above are about servers. If you have forgotten the password to your account itself, you handle that from the sign-in screen, not from inside the panel.

Go to the sign-in page and select the Reset Password link below the login form. You will get an email with a link to set a new account password. Once you are signed back in, your servers, keys, and workspace are exactly as you left them.