Networking & Security

Properly configuring your network and security settings is essential for protecting your applications and data. This guide covers the two core security features of our platform: Security Groups and SSH Keys.

Security Groups (Firewall)

A Security Group acts as a virtual firewall for your Virtual Machines, controlling all inbound and outbound traffic. By default, all incoming traffic is blocked except for SSH access. You must explicitly add rules to allow other types of connections.

How Rules Work

• Inbound Rules: Control traffic coming into your VM from the internet or other servers.
• Outbound Rules: Control traffic going out from your VM. By default, all outbound traffic is allowed.
• Rules are stateful: If you allow an incoming request, the return traffic for that request is automatically allowed, regardless of outbound rules.

How to Add a Firewall Rule

Let's say you want to run a web server. You'll need to allow incoming HTTP traffic on port 80.

1. Navigate to the Virtual Machines section and click on the Security Groups tab.
2. Select the security group attached to your VM (e.g., default).
3. Under the Inbound Rules section, click "Add Rule".
4. Set the Port to 80 and the Source to 0.0.0.0/0 (which means "any IP address").
5. Save the rule.

Your VM will now accept web traffic on port 80.

SSH Keys

SSH (Secure Shell) keys are a pair of cryptographic keys that provide a secure, passwordless way to log into your servers. A key pair consists of a private key, which you keep secret on your computer, and a public key, which you upload to the platform.

How to Generate an SSH Key Pair

If you don't already have an SSH key, you can generate one on your local machine using the ssh-keygen command.

1. Open a terminal on your Mac, Linux, or Windows (using WSL or PowerShell).
2. Run the following command. The -t ed25519 argument specifies a modern and secure key type.

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"