Give root a new password
A server ordered with E-mail me the root password starts with a root password, which you see once through the link in the e-mail (see SSH keys and signing in). A server built with SSH keys only starts without a password. For SSH a key is all you need. The console is a screen, though, and a key does not work there: to log in on it, root needs a password.
Here you set a new one, for instance when the link in the e-mail ran out or when you want a password on a server that has keys only.
Set it
- Open the server in the console and choose Settings.
- Choose Reset root password, then Set a new password.
- Copy the password and store it somewhere safe. You see it once; we do not keep it.
The server has to run. It takes up to a minute. Your SSH keys keep working as before.
When it does not work
The password is set by a small program inside the server, the guest agent. We install it on the first boot of every server built from 23 September 2026, from the package sources of its system, so the server has to reach those on its first boot. On an older server, install it over SSH first (apt install qemu-guest-agent or dnf install qemu-guest-agent), or set the password yourself over SSH with sudo passwd root.
Through the API
With an API token that may write, POST /servers/{id}/actions/reset-password sets a new password and gives it back once in the answer, as username and password. We do not keep it. A read-only token cannot, and you can ask for it at most five times an hour. Keep the answer out of logs and scripts that others can read.