In some of our advanced tutorials, you'll notice we ask you to SSH in to your server.
SSH, or secure shell, is a process of using the command line to securely access your cloud server and manually enter commands to edit its files and folders.
SSH commands are secured in many ways. For example, both ends of the client-server connection use public key cryptography for connection and authentication through digital certificates and encrypted passwords.
SFTP, short for SSH file transfer protocol, gives you the security of SSH but with a graphical interface, so you can manage the files on your server similar to the way you use Windows File Explorer or MacOS Finder.
Most of the time you will be using SSH as the system user your app belongs to.
To SSH in to your server, first open a terminal and enter the following command, where 12.34.56.78 is your server's IP address and SYSUSER is the name of the system user your app belongs to:
ssh SYSUSER@12.34.56.78
Press Enter.
Then, type in the password for your system user.
You are now SSH'd in to your server and can navigate and edit your server through the command line.