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vServer Setup Guide

Welcome to the vServer setup guide!
This document will guide you through setting up SSH keys, configuring an Nginx web server, and connecting your server to GitHub.

Table of Contents​

  1. Setup SSH Key Connection
  2. Configure Nginx Web Server
  3. Connect to GitHub

1. Setup SSH Key Connection​

1.1 Create Project​

Create a separate folder for each project:

Bash

  mkdir ~/.ssh/project_folder

Powershell

  mkdir C:\Users\user\.ssh\subfolder

1.2 Generate a new SSH key:​

Bash

  ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "user@mail.com" -f ~/.ssh/project_folder/filename

Powershell

  ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "user@mail.com" -f C:\Users\user\.ssh\subfolder\filename
  • -t type of Key you can also choose another one
  • -C Comment to identify your key
  • -f specifies the file path and name for storing the key file

You do not need to enter a passphrase and can skip entering it by pressing Enter. It is recommended to increase security.

  Enter passphrase:

Now you have 2 new files in your folder

  • Private Key "filename" | ONLY for YOU
  • Public Key "filename.pub" | to share

1.3 Save the created key on the server​

Copy the desired key to the server.

Bash

  ssh-copy-id vserver-user@vserver_ipv4

Powershell

  1. Copy the key to your server in the home directory of the server user
  scp C:\Users\user\.ssh\subfolder\filename.pub user@vserver_ipv4:~
  1. Login on your vServer with
  ssh user@vserver_ipv4
  1. Write your public-key in authorized_keys flie
  cat filename.pub >> .ssh/authorized_keys
  1. Delete with remove your public-key file
  rm ~/filename.pub
  1. Print the contents of the file to check if everything worked.
  cat ~/ssh/authorized_keys
  ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZFFAA13645B23AAAAIFE7TXS31fHp+/MbA4YlX4cG2OTQStMtX3R6+TDssBk0 user@mail.com

1.4 Check Connection​

Test the login with the public keyn to connect on the server via sshkey.

Bash

  ssh -i ~/.ssh/subfolder/filename vserver-user@vserver_ipv4

Powershell

  ssh -i C:\Users\user\.ssh\subfolder\filename user@server_ipv4
  • -i identity file by the path to your private key

1.5 Setup a short alias for connection​

Create on your local machine a ./ssh/config file

 Host serverAlias
   HostName hostname or IPv4
   User user
   IdentityFile ~/.ssh/subfolder/filename

Now you can use Bash or Powershell to connect via alias

  ssh serverAlias

1.6 Update vServer connection rules​

Login with key & passphrase

  ssh serverAlias
  Enter passphrase for key 'C:\Users\user\.ssh\subfolder\filename':

Open the SSH configuration file with the text editor nano. You can only change the file if you have root rights. Confirm root rights, enter the user password.

  sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Find PasswordAuthentication

  #PasswordAuthentication yes

Change it to

  PasswordAuthentication no

Save file & Exit file in nano

  • Save file STRG + O
  • Exit file STRG + X

Make the changes effective, the service must be restarted.

sudo systemctl restart sshd

2. Configure Nginx Web Server​

2.1 Install Nginx​

Update your system and install Nginx:

  sudo apt-get Update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y
  sudo apt-get install nginx -y

Open your browser an navigate to "http://server_ipv4", you can see the nginx.defautl webpage.

nginx_page

2.2 Configure Nginx​

Remove the default folder & file:

  sudo rm -r /var/www/html/

Create a new project directory:

  sudo mkdir /var/www/my_page

Add an index.html file:

  sudo nano /var/www/my_page/index.html

Example content:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="de">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <title>MY_PAGE</title>
    <style>
      body {
        background-color: darkblue;
      }
      h1 {
        color: white;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Welcome to my-page</h1>
  </body>
</html>

Copy the default file to save the settings

  sudo cp /etc/nginx/sites-available/default /etc/nginx/sites-available/default_copy

Remove file link

  sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default

Rename the default file to my_page

  sudo mv /etc/nginx/sites-available/default /etc/nginx/sites-available/my_page

Open the my_page file with nano

  sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/my_page

Add your nginx webserver configuration

server {
        listen 8081;

        root /var/www/my_page;

        index index.html;

        server_name server_ipv4 hostname;

        location / {
                # First attempt to serve request as file, then
                # as directory, then fall back to displaying a 404.
                try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
        }
}

Save file & Exit file in nano

  • Save file STRG + O
  • Exit file STRG + X

Create a symlink to enable your configuration

  sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/my_page /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Test your nginx settings

  sudo nginx -t
  nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
  nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful

Adjust user rights for the project for nginx

  sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/my_page/

Restart Nginx service to apply the settings

  sudo systemctl restart nginx

Open your browser an navigate to "http://server_ipv4:8010", now you can see your webpage.

my_page

3. Connect to GitHub​

3.1 Install Git​

Install Git on your server

  sudo apt-get install git -y

3.2 Set Up GitHub SSH Key​

Generate a new SSH key for the server:

  ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "hostname"

Display the public key:

  cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Add the key to your GitHub account:

GitHub > Settings > SSH and GPG keys > New SSH Key

3.3 Configure Git​

Set up your Git username and email:

  git config --global user.name "Your Name"
  git config --global user.email "your_email@example.com"

Now you have full access to your GitHub account and can clone repositories, work on them and upload them again.

  git clone git@github.com:YourName/vServer_setup.git

Done!​

Your vServer is now configured with SSH, an Nginx web server, and GitHub integration.