SSH and Root Access

Start with this beginner-friendly ssh tutorial to manage servers securely and confidently. You’ll learn what SSH is, how it works, and how to log in on macOS, Linux, or Windows. The guide covers generating and protecting SSH keys, creating strong passphrases, and using shell commands for real tasks. We also explain best practices like disabling root login, restricting access, and using Fail2ban, plus quick fixes for common errors.

If you are using the linux command line, there are several programs for you to use to edit files in SSH. This is a convenient way to modify files since you can quickly change them in terminal without using a separate text editor. Here at InMotion Hosting, our System Administration team primarily uses programs called Read More >

The root user is a sort of “superuser” that can perform advanced system administrative tasks on your system. If you have a VPS or Dedicated Server plan you can use the root user to perform tasks that other users (such as your cPanel user) do not have the privilege of performing. Is My Root User Read More >

Vim is the successor of the vi terminal text editor with a long list of powerful features. Short for “Vi IMproved,” Vim is sometimes pre-installed on popular, staple Linux distributions such as CentOS and Debian. For others including Linux Mint, you might instead have the original vi or vim.tiny, a slimmed down variant of Vim Read More >

MTR combines the purpose of ping and tracert/traceroute. MTR visualizes performance and latency issues across every machine, or hop, between your local machine and the destination. MTR can help answer the following questions: Is my server slow? If the issue isn’t my server, which hop is? Does a hop have intermittent packet loss? Do I Read More >

We recommend using Netcat / Ncat, or Nmap for multiple ports instead, as Telnet is NOT encrypted and therefore insecure. The Telnet command line tool tests port connections with your local network router, servers, and websites. For example, Telnet can help you see why the email is being rejected. Telnet is pre-installed on many Windows, Read More >

Closing unnecessary ports on your server is an important process for PCI compliance and server hardening in general. This reduces what information cyber attackers can easily gather about your web server and services to exploit. This also applies to Small Office / Home Office (SOHO) networks. To scan your local network, you need to know Read More >

You can use your local router’s internal IP address to test if a port is blocked by your local network, internet service provider (ISP), or virtual private network (VPN). Most operating systems (OSs) – Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD, etc. – with a graphical user interface (GUI) have pre-installed software that can give you this information. Read More >

As we continue our series on the cPHulk security features, we will show you the steps to blacklist and whitelist IP addresses via SSH. In the last guide we showed you how to blacklist and whitelist IP addresses in the Web Host Manager or WHM. But doing this with command line using SSH can save Read More >

In this tutorial, we will show you how to lookup a CNAME record using SSH. This can be an important step when troubleshooting redirect issues. Performing this test via SSH can save time, since it can be done right in a terminal. We also have a helpful guide on how to create a CNAME record. Read More >

This guide will show you the steps needed to install a basic LEMP stack on your Non-cPanel server running CentOS. All the commands shown will need to be run as root on your server via SSH. Installing LEMP Stack Connect to your server as the root user via SSH. Before installing we need to ensure Read More >

GitHub offers a convenient SSH key feature for accessing your repositories on the command line. Instead of using usernames and passwords every time you push to or pull from your repository, you can use your key. In this article we’ll learn how to add SSH keys to your GitHub account. Why use an SSH key? Read More >

In this article, we will show you how to use SCP for secure file transfer between your local computer and your InMotion Hosting server. SCP, or Secure Copy Protocol, uses SSH to make a secure connection between the local host and the server. This means that in order to complete a safe, secure file transfer, Read More >

You might be wondering what passphrases are, how they’re different from passwords, and how you can use them effectively. Most simply, passwords are used to secure credentials for most of the services and devices you log into regularly. These services can be anything from cPanel, AMP, or your favorite social media applications. In this article, Read More >

Secure Shell (SSH) access grants you command-line interface (CLI) access to your web server. One of the major advantages of SSH is a secure, remote connection to your server. The SSH program uses a password to connect, but it is more secure to use SSH keys, or SSH key pairs. This is a type of Read More >

Note that you will require root access in order to use these directions. This tutorial will go over how to use port knocking which will be considered an advanced guide and does require you to have root access and have CSF installed on your server. Port knocking is the act of opening ports on your Read More >

There are many different features found in Web Host Manager (WHM) that are useful in maintaining your dedicated server. However, not all of them are available to the default user you were given when you signed up. Determining what requires root access can be complicated. We take the guesswork out of that with the chart Read More >