If you use MacOS® X, you don’t need to install a third-party client like PuTTY to connect to your cloud server by using Secure Shell (SSH). Terminal is a terminal emulation program included with MacOS X that you can use to run SSH.

Note: For the corresponding steps for an OnMetal server, see Create OnMetal Cloud Servers.

Connect to the server#

These instructions are for users who are connecting to a new Cloud Server for the first time. If you’re connecting as a non-root user, replace root in the instructions with your username.

Go to Applications > Utilities, and then open Terminal.

A Terminal window displays the following prompt:
```
 user00241 in ~MKD1JTF1G3->$
```
Establish an SSH connection to the server by using the following syntax:
```
ssh root@IPaddress
```
The following code block uses an example value:
```
 MKD1JTF1G3->$ ssh root@166.76.69.51
```
Note: You can find the command that you use to connect to your server via SSH in the right sidebar of the Server Details page of the Cloud Control Panel.

The first time that you connect to your server, a message asks you if you want to continue connecting. This message appears because your server has an RSA key that’s not stored in your system registry. As a result, the identity of the key can’t be verified.
```
 The authenticity of host '198.61.208.131 (198.61.208.131)' can't be established.
 RSA key fingerprint is 47:ff:76:b4:211:0f:11:15:21:bd:92:2f:44:0a:d9:0a.
 Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?
```
Type yes and press Enter. This action adds the RSA key to the list of known hosts so that you don’t see this warning again when you make future connections.
Enter the root password for the server. The password does not echo to the screen.
```
MKD1JTF1G3-$ ssh root@198.61.208.131
root@198.61.208.131's password:
```
If you entered the correct password, a shell prompt is returned:
```
 [root@yourservername ~]#
```

Change the root password#

After your first login, change the root password by using the following steps:

At the shell prompt, enter the following command:
```
passwd
```
Change your password by entering a new one at the following prompts:
```
Enter new UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
```
If the passwords that you enter match, you receive the following confirmation that the authentication tokens have updated successfully:
```
Passwd: password updated successfully
```
The password does not echo to the screen.

Use the new password with the root user when you connect to your server.

Next steps#

The next article shows you how to use Rescue Mode to connect to your Cloud Server. Rescue Mode is useful when you’re troubleshooting and when your server becomes unresponsive.