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V-Server Setup

This page documents how I configured my very first cloud server instance in the Developer Akademie DevSecOps Course.

It describes the steps taken after the first login to a new Ubuntu server to set up secure SSH authentication, a basic web server configuration, and GitHub access via SSH.

TOC​

team-collaboration/version-control/githubGithub Tip

URL: https://github.com/Ozinho78/v-server-setup

1. Server access via SSH key (instead of password login)​

1.1 Check or create the SSH key on the local system, i.e. your Windows host​

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "USER@LOCALHOST"

1.1.1 The key is stored by default under, (i.e. under Windows C:\Users\USERNAME.ssh)​

~/.ssh/vserver_id_ed25519        (private key)
~/.ssh/vserver_id_ed25519.pub    (public key)

1.2 Copy the public key to the server​

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/your_key.pub USER@SERVER-IP-ADDRESS

1.2.1 Example​

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/vserver_ed25519.pub firstname-lastname@12.34.56.789

1.3 Test login​

ssh -i ~/.ssh/vserver_ed25519 USER@SERVER-IP-ADDRESS

1.4 Deactivate password login on the server, to do this open the file containing the sshd configuration​

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

1.4.1 Please make sure that following values are set​

PasswordAuthentication no
PubkeyAuthentication yes
PermitRootLogin no

1.4.2 Restart SSH service​

sudo systemctl restart ssh

2. Nginx Installation and Basic Configuration​

2.1 Installation​

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx -y

2.2 Check if default site is reachable​

http://YOUR-SERVER-IP-ADDRESS/

2.3 Alternative site on port 8081, create directory and index.html​

sudo mkdir /var/www/alternatives
sudo nano /var/www/alternatives/alternate-index.html

2.3.1 Example configuration​

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>Hello, Nginx!</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Hello, Nginx!</h1>
    <p>I have just configured our Nginx web server on Ubuntu Server!</p>
</body>
</html>

2.4 Open nginx configuration file​

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/alternatives

2.5 Configure nginx server block​

server {
    listen 8081;
    listen [::]:8081;

    root /var/www/alternatives;
    index alternate-index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

2.6 Restart nginx​

sudo systemctl restart nginx

2.7 Check nginx status, it should be active and running and look like this​

➜  ~ sudo systemctl status nginx
● nginx.service - A high performance web server and a reverse proxy server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Fri 2025-10-31 23:37:02 CET; 1 day 14h ago
       Docs: man:nginx(8)
    Process: 9547 ExecReload=/usr/sbin/nginx -g daemon on; master_process on; -s reload (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 6468 (nginx)
      Tasks: 3 (limit: 4538)
     Memory: 4.6M (peak: 6.7M)
        CPU: 3.166s
     CGroup: /system.slice/nginx.service
             ├─6468 "nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx -g daemon on; master_process on;"
             ├─9549 "nginx: worker process"
             └─9550 "nginx: worker process"

2.8 Check if the alternative site is reachable​

http://YOUR-SERVER-IP-ADDRESS:8081/

3. Activate https by installing Let's Encrypt / Certbot (optional)​

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y
sudo certbot --nginx -d subdomain.your-website.tld

3.1 Check renewal of generated certificate​

sudo certbot renew --dry-run

4. Setting up ssh access to GitHub on your server​

4.1 Generate ssh key for GitHub​

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_github_mail_address@domain.com"

4.2 Show public key​

cat ~/.ssh/github.pub

4.3 Copy public key to github​

GitHub → Settings → SSH and GPG keys → New SSH key Adding Public Key in GitHub

4.4 Configure ssh on your server with your new key​

sudo nano ~/.ssh/config

4.4.1 Example configuration, please adjust if necessary​

Host github.com
    HostName github.com
    User git
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/github

4.5 Check connection​

ssh -T git@github.com

4.5.1 Check successful output​

Hi <GitHub-Username>! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

🎉 Congratulations!​

Your server is now securely configured and ready for use.
You’re all set for deploying projects, managing code via GitHub, and continuing your DevSecOps journey. Great job!