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Secure V-Server Setup

A step-by-step guide to securely setting up a Linux VPS — from the first SSH connection through hardened authentication to Nginx configuration and GitHub integration. Ideal as a personal reference for all future server setups.

Features​

  • SSH Key Authentication — Permanently disable password login
  • User Management — Create a new user with sudo privileges
  • Nginx — Install web server and host a custom HTML page
  • Alias Shortcuts — Connect via SSH with a short command
  • GitHub SSH Integration — Clone repos directly from the server

Tech Stack​

Linux SSH Nginx Bash GitHub

1. Set Up SSH Connection​

Generate SSH Key​

ssh-keygen -t ed25519

Connect to VPS​

ssh root@SERVER-IP

Create New User​

adduser username
usermod -aG sudo username
mkdir -p /home/username/.ssh
chmod 700 /home/username/.ssh
chown -R username:username /home/username/.ssh

Copy SSH Key to Server​

Windows:

type C:\Users\username\.ssh\id_ed25519.pub | ssh username@SERVER-IP "cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys"

Linux/Mac:

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub username@SERVER-IP

Set File Permissions​

sudo chown username:username /home/username/.ssh/authorized_keys
sudo chmod 600 /home/username/.ssh/authorized_keys
sudo chmod 700 /home/username/.ssh

Disable Password Login​

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

PasswordAuthentication yes → PasswordAuthentication no (remove comment from line)

sudo systemctl restart ssh.service
warning

From this point on, only SSH key login is possible. Make sure the key works before closing the session.

2. Set Up Nginx​

Installation​

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx -y
systemctl status nginx

Find IP Address​

ifconfig

eth0 inet shows the server IP.

Host a Custom HTML Page​

sudo mkdir /var/www/alternatives/
sudo touch /var/www/alternatives/alternate-index.html
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/alternatives

Nginx configuration:

server {
    listen 8081;
    listen [::]:8081;

    root /var/www/alternatives;
    index alternate-index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}
sudo service nginx restart

3. Create Alias Shortcuts​

cd /home/username
sudo nano .bashrc

Define alias:

alias dal_connect='ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 username@SERVER-IP'

Activate:

. ~/.bashrc
dal_connect   # Now connects directly

4. GitHub SSH Integration​

cat /home/username/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Add the copied key on GitHub: Settings → SSH and GPG Keys → New SSH Key

What I Learned​

  • SSH Hardening — Why password login on servers is a security risk and how to disable it
  • Linux User Management — Users, groups and file permissions on a real system
  • Nginx — Configuring a web server and running multiple sites on different ports
  • Bash Aliases — Making repetitive commands more productive with shortcuts