Prepare and Upload Your SSH Key

Before SQLitePilot can reach a remote SQLite file it needs the same SSH private key you use from your own computer. The steps below assume you may have a brand-new droplet (or any fresh server) that still needs the public key installed.

This guide assumes you are working from a Unix-like workstation (Linux or macOS) with OpenSSH available in the default terminal.

What you need

• A desktop or laptop with an existing SSH key pair such as ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 or ~/.ssh/id_rsa.
• The ability to log in to your server (or at least its root password if you need to bootstrap SSH access once).

Step 1: Create or locate your key pair

1. On your computer, open a terminal.
2. Run cd ~/.ssh && ls to check whether id_ed25519 or id_rsa already exists.
3. If you see one of those files, you already have a private key.
4. If you do not, create a new pair with ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 (or use id_rsa if you prefer). Press Enter to accept the defaults. If you need more help generating SSH key follow Generate an SSH Key on Any OS.

Step 2: Add the public key to the fresh server

1. Use ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub user@server (swap in your username/host) to append the public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the server.
2. If ssh-copy-id is unavailable, print the public key with cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub, copy it, and paste it into ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the server manually (create the file if it does not exist).
3. Make sure the server has correct permissions: chmod 700 ~/.ssh and chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys.
4. Test ssh user@server to confirm you can now log in without a password. Do not continue until this works.

Step 3: Copy the private key contents (for SQLitePilot)

1. Still on your computer, display the private key with cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 (or id_rsa).
2. Highlight everything from -----BEGIN ... PRIVATE KEY----- down to -----END ... PRIVATE KEY-----.
3. Copy it to your clipboard without changing any characters or line breaks.

Step 4: Store the key in SQLitePilot

1. Open Keys in SQLitePilot.
2. Click Add new key.
3. Name the key so you remember where it is used (for example “Fresh droplet – orders app”).
4. Paste the private key text exactly as you copied it.
5. Hit Save.

On the free plan you can keep one key at a time. Remove an older key or upgrade if the button is disabled.

Step 5: Confirm everything is ready

1. Check that the key now appears in the list with today’s timestamp.
2. Go to Connections and start creating your first connection; the SSH Key dropdown should list the entry you just saved.
3. If saving fails, copy the message shown in the dialog and share it with support—they can help you resolve it quickly.

With the private key stored in SQLitePilot and the matching public key on your fresh server, you can create a connection and begin browsing the remote database from the dashboard.