Custom containers don’t ship with a graphical management surface — the way you get inside one is over SSH. The Stack Harbor PaaS offers two paths: through the platform’s SSH Gateway with key-based authentication (the recommended path), or directly through a public IP attached to the container with password authentication.
Before reaching for SSH, check whether the dashboard already covers what you need:
- Container configurations edit variables, volumes, links, run options, and exposed ports without touching the container.
- File manager opens the container’s filesystem with full root access, no shell needed.
- CLI / API automates every dashboard action — useful for repeated operations and lifecycle scripting.
If those don’t cover the task — installing a package interactively, debugging a process, running an ad-hoc shell command — SSH is the right next step.
Access through the SSH Gateway (recommended)
The SSH Gateway is a managed jump host that fronts every container in the platform. Authentication is by SSH key, and the gateway routes you to the right container without exposing each container directly to the internet.
The flow:
- Generate an SSH keypair on your workstation if you don’t already have one (
ssh-keygen -t ed25519). - Add the public key to the dashboard. Open your account profile, paste the public key into the SSH keys section, save.
- Connect with
ssh {gateway-user}@{gateway-host} -p {gateway-port}. The dashboard surfaces the exact command, including the user/host/port for your region.
Once authenticated against the gateway, you can drop into any container in your account using the in-gateway routing — the SSH Gateway documentation covers the details.
The gateway approach has two main advantages: containers don’t need a public IP to be reachable, and access is keyed to your account, so revoking access is a single action (remove the key from the dashboard) rather than a per-container password rotation.
Direct SSH through a public IP
If you don’t want to use SSH keys — for example, a quick one-off check — you can attach a public IP to the container and connect with username and password.
- Attach a public IP to the container through the layer’s settings. Stack Harbor surfaces the cost in the topology wizard; the new IP is wired up in a few minutes.
- Open a terminal.
- Connect with
ssh {username}@{hostname}, where{username}is the login emailed to you at container creation and{hostname}is the public IP (also in that email). - Enter the password from the email.
Once you’re in, the account has full root permissions inside the container.
If the connection refuses, two common causes:
- The container has firewall rules that block port 22. Check the layer’s firewall settings.
- The container image isn’t running
openssh-server. The platform’s base templates start it by default, but a custom image may need to enable it explicitly.
Reset the container password
If you lose the email with the credentials, generate a new password through the dashboard:
- Hover over the container, expand the Additionally menu (the gear icon).
- Pick Reset password.
A fresh password is sent by email. The reset can be applied to a single container or to a set of containers at once.