Connect an existing server

Before you start

A fresh server: nothing installed or running. A web server, database or control panel already on it can conflict with the packages CloudPloy installs and degrade performance. CloudPloy asks you to confirm this before it connects.
Ubuntu 22.04, 24.04 or 26.04 LTS, or Debian 12 or newer, with a public IP address.
SSH reachable from the internet on the port you enter (22 by default).
An SSH user that is root or has passwordless sudo.
A server size your CloudPloy plan allows. CloudPloy checks vCPU and memory before it installs anything.

Connect steps

1

Open Connect existing server

In CloudPloy, go to Servers, choose Add server, then Connect existing server.
Open CloudPloy
2

Enter the server details

Give the server a short lowercase name, then enter its IP address, SSH port and SSH username. Confirm the server is fresh, with nothing installed or running.
3

Choose how CloudPloy signs in

Add a CloudPloy key (recommended): CloudPloy shows a public key. Add it to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys for that user, then choose Connect. Use my private key once: paste the private key for that user. CloudPloy signs in once, installs its own key and discards yours. Your key is never stored.
4

Watch it connect

CloudPloy signs in over SSH and runs its setup script, which creates the ploy user, installs Docker and opens ports 80 and 443 plus your SSH port in the firewall. The progress page shows each step. When it finishes, deploy apps to the server like any other. If it cannot sign in, fix the key or SSH access and choose Retry connection on the server page.

AI agents

Connect with MCP

Ask the human to confirm the server is fresh, then call connect_server with the hostname, IP address, SSH port, username and fresh_server_confirmed: true. It returns a public key: add it to the server, then call connect_server again with the returned server_id. Agents never handle private keys; the one-time key option is only on the CloudPloy screen.