Preparations

If you have done everything so far:

• The PowerShell window is open.
• The server text file you made is open.
• The Nightly browser is minimized with your server account displayed in it.

Sometimes, you may need or want to reload the server. If you use backup or snapshots, you can possibly keep the IP previously assigned. If you do reload the server, you need to delete the known_hosts file. It is located on your computer at C:\Users\YourUsername\.ssh\. This will allow you to log into the server again for a 'first' time according to your computer.

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Login to the Ubuntu Server

Go to the server text file and copy the line ssh root@Your-IP.

Click one time anywhere inside the PowerShell window. It should become the focus. Keep your cursor over the window and simply right-click. Voila! The line you copied is now in PowerShell after the PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>. Press Enter on your keyboard.

If you have been moving quickly through the tutorial, the Ubuntu server you created may still be loading and updating. If so, your connection may be refused. You can wait or you can open Server Console to follow the installation and see when the server is ready. To do so, look ahead on this webpage to get instructions on how to open the Server Console.

The first time you connect to a server, you will see a challenge in the PowerShell window. Type yes and press Enter.

If you delay too long, you may see a Connection closed... message. No worries, just press the UP ARROW key on your keyboard and the original line you pasted, ssh root@Your-IP, will be there. Press Enter again. You will see a line with root@Your-IP's password:.

The password the server is looking for is one that was automatically created when Ubuntu was installed for you by your VPS host. You previously copied and saved it to your server text file. Copy it. Remember it is just after ssh root@Your-IP.

Go back to the PowerShell window and click the top border, then place your mouse cursor anywhere inside the PowerShell window and right-click. It will seem like nothing happened, but immediately press Enter and you will see the Ubuntu greeting window. That is, you will see it if everything went well.

Do not get discouraged if this process fails. It takes some time to get used to the steps you must take to use the PowerShell, but once you learn them, you'll be flying through it like nobody's business!

Troubleshooting PowerShell
If you get hung up, close PowerShell and start over by reopening it. You can close it in two ways. The first is by simply typing exit and pressing Enter on your keyboard. The other way is to just press the X in the top of the PowerShell window and it will close.

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A D V E R T I S E M E N T

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After You Log Into the Ubuntu Server

When you successfully log in, you will see a screen similar to this one:

Note my real data is hidden. Yours will be there.

Type reboot and press the Enter key. The connection will be closed because the server is rebooting somewhere out there in Serverland. You will see this line, PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>, indicating the PowerShell is awaiting commands.

This is a good time to tell you about the Server Control Panel. If you refocus on your server account page in the Nightly browser, look in the left column. You will see many links. Click on VPS control. You will see many options to control your server. We will discuss them as we need to use them.

Go back to the PowerShell and type exit. The window will close. Sign out of your Contabo account and close the browser window. It's time to move on to the initial Ubuntu server configuration. But take a break first!

Next task: Initial Ubuntu Server Configuration

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