Purchasing and Connecting to a Contabo VPS via SSH

Overview

This tutorial provides a complete walkthrough on how to select, configure, purchase, and connect to a Contabo Cloud VPS server. The lesson begins by exploring the pricing tiers on the Contabo website, explaining hardware specifications including vCPU cores, RAM, and the differences between NVMe and SSD storage types. After finalizing server parameters such as datacenter region, operating system image (Ubuntu), and setting a root password, the guide demonstrates customer registration and completing checkout using a credit card. Finally, it covers retrieving connection credentials from Contabo confirmation emails, installing the PuTTY SSH client on a Windows desktop, and successfully logging into the remote Linux server terminal as the root user.

Introduction and Navigating to Contabo Cloud VPS

00:00

The presenter introduces the tutorial and navigates to the official Contabo website to explore available Cloud VPS hosting plans.

• Navigate to contabo.com in a web browser.
• Locate the Cloud VPS category under the hosting options.
• Review entry-level pricing tiers available for new deployments.

Selecting Term Length, Storage, and Operating System

00:17

The configuration page allows choosing the contract term, region, disk type (NVMe vs SSD), and operating system image.

• Select the billing interval (1 month, 6 months, or 12 months).
• Choose between NVMe storage (faster I/O) and SSD storage (higher capacity).
• Select the base OS image, such as Ubuntu 24.04, or other available distributions.

Configuring Networking, Add-Ons, and Root Password

01:24

Settings for network allocation, server management levels, SSL options, and setting the root administrative password are configured.

• Stick with the standard free IPv4 address unless additional IPs are required.
• Choose unmanaged server management to avoid additional monthly management fees.
• Decline optional paid SSL certificates if planning to use free Let's Encrypt certificates.
• Define a secure root password meeting the complexity requirements.

Customer Registration and Payment Details

02:35

The user fills out account profile information, selecting private individual status, and completes billing with a credit card.

• Select private individual or business account status.
• Input personal contact information including address, country, and email address.
• Select payment method (Credit Card or PayPal) and authenticate through 3D Secure/OTP verification.

Order Review and Order Placement

03:17

Contabo prompts for an automated backup upsell, which is declined before completing the order review and final payment submission.

• Review optional add-on prompts like Auto Backup and choose whether to add or protect data manually.
• Review final invoice amounts, one-time fees, and server specs.
• Click 'Order & Pay' to finalize the server deployment request.

Reviewing Setup & Login Emails

04:07

After order processing, Contabo delivers several confirmation emails containing order confirmation, customer control panel access, and the server IP address.

• Check your registered email inbox for Contabo communications.
• Locate the email containing 'Your login data' which includes the server IPv4 address.
• Note the default administrative username ('root') and port (22).

Downloading and Installing PuTTY

04:55

To connect to the VPS via SSH on Windows, the user downloads and installs the PuTTY SSH and Telnet client.

• Search for PuTTY and navigate to putty.org or chiark.greenend.org.uk.
• Download the 64-bit Windows Installer (.msi).
• Run the installer setup wizard and finish the installation.

Connecting to the VPS Terminal via PuTTY

05:32

The user launches PuTTY, inputs the VPS IP address, accepts the server host key, and logs in using the root credentials.

• Paste the server IPv4 address into PuTTY's 'Host Name (or IP address)' field with Port 22.
• Accept the SSH host key security alert upon initial connection.
• Enter 'root' as the login user.
• Type or paste the root password specified during checkout to reach the bash prompt.

login as: root