Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions for SSH access.

Permission denied (publickey)

Permission denied (publickey).

Causes:

• SSH key not added to the dashboard
• Using the wrong SSH key
• SSH key not loaded in agent

Solutions:

1. Verify your key is added to the dashboard

   • Go to Settings → SSH/SFTP in your dashboard
   • Check that your public key is listed

2. Check which key you're using

   ssh -v [email protected] 'echo test' 2>&1 | grep "Offering"

   This shows which keys SSH is trying.

3. Load your key into the agent

   ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
   ssh-add -l  # Verify it's loaded

4. Specify the key explicitly

   ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 [email protected] 'echo test'

Command not allowed

Error: Command 'bash' is not allowed.
Allowed commands: ls, cat, git, wp, composer, scp, rsync, sftp

Cause: You tried to run a command that isn't whitelisted.

Solution: Only the listed commands are available. If you need to run something else, consider:

• Using WP-CLI (wp eval 'your_php_code();')
• Uploading a script and running it via WP-CLI
• Contacting support for specific needs

Connection timeout

ssh: connect to host ssh.myscalablesite.com port 22: Connection timed out

Causes:

• Network/firewall blocking outbound SSH
• DNS resolution issues

Solutions:

1. Check if you can resolve the hostname

   nslookup ssh.myscalablesite.com

2. Try connecting to the IP directly

   ssh mysite-staging@<ip-address> 'echo test'

3. Check your firewall

   • Ensure outbound connections on port 22 are allowed
   • Try from a different network (e.g., mobile hotspot)

Host key verification failed

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@    WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!     @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Cause: The server's host key changed (this can happen after infrastructure updates).

Solution:

# Remove the old key
ssh-keygen -R ssh.myscalablesite.com

# Connect again (you'll be prompted to accept the new key)
ssh [email protected] 'echo test'

Wrong username format

record not found

Cause: The username format is incorrect.

Solution: The username must be {slug}-staging where:

• {slug} is your site's slug (shown in the dashboard URL)
• Always use -staging suffix (production doesn't have SSH access)

Example: If your dashboard URL is dashboard.urumi.ai/stores/mysite, your username is mysite-staging.

SCP/Rsync not working

Received message too long

Cause: Usually happens when there's output before the file transfer starts.

Solution: This shouldn't happen with the current setup. If you see this error, contact support.

SFTP connection issues

If SFTP connects but you can't navigate:

1. You start in /var/www/html - That's the WordPress root
2. Use relative paths - cd wp-content/plugins/ not /wp-content/plugins/

Still stuck?

If none of these solutions work:

1. Enable verbose mode to see what's happening:

   ssh -vvv [email protected] 'echo test'

2. Contact support at [email protected] with:

   • Your site slug
   • The exact command you're running
   • The full error message
   • Output from the verbose command above