I recently had to setup a server for some scheduled jobs (a scraper for nextgenenergyjobs.com. I did it already once before. And before this once at work. And nevertheless i struggled again and had issues configuring this all. Since i am just getting familiar with using the command line and linus more and more i got problems in different areas. This is why i decided to write this down as a blog post for someone who struggles with this setup often and i have to think and document through each step. So this post is about setting up a new digitalocean server (droplet), create a new user, and grant it github access.

Prerequisites

A Digital Ocean (DO) account (go to https://www.digitalocean.com/ and create one)
SSH keys added to DO account (you will be prompted when you create the droplet)
Basic command line knowledge (if you want to improve have a look at your missing cs semester

1. Creating the droplet

Go to your project (or create one if you do not have one). Click 'Create' on the topbar, and choose 'Droplets'. Choose a region, 'Ubuntu' as the OS, 'Shared CPU', 'Regular' and '$4/mo' and 'SSH Key' for the authentication method (add one if not yet added - click 'New SSH Key' for guidance if needed), click 'Add improved metrics monitoring and alerting (free)' and 'Create Droplet'. It takes some seconds and then you have a running server. Copy the IP address (or ipv4), you will need this for the connection afterwards.

2. Initial SSH setup

Ensure your ssh agent has loaded your keys:

ssh-add

Then connect to your droplet as root:

ssh root@your.ip.address

3. Create a Secure User Account

For security reasons, we don't want to work as root. Let's create a new user account ('deployer' in my case) with sudo privileges.

# create new user (you'll be prmpted for new password - user infos like name, etc. can be left empty)
adduser deployer

# grant sudo privileges
usermod -aG sudo deployer

4. Setting up SSH access for New User

There are two ways to do it: Step by Step or the Shortcut

4.1 Step by Step

# create and configure .ssh directory
mkdir -p /home/deployer/.ssh
chmod 700 /home/deployer/.ssh

# set up authorized_keys file
touch /home/deployer/.ssh/authorized_keys
chmod 600 /home/deployer/.ssh/authorized_keys

# copy your public key you used on digital ocean (run this on your local machine)
cat ~/.ssh/ssh-key-used-in-do.pub

# add your key to authorized_keys (on the droplet)
echo "COPIED_PUBLIC_KEY" >> /home/deployer/.ssh/authorized_keys

# set correct ownership
chown -R deployer:deplyer /home/deployer/.ssh

4.2 Shortcut

Update with your infos and run this from your local machine:

cat ~/.ssh/ssh-key-used-in-do.pub | ssh root@your.ip.address "mkdir -p /home/deployer/.ssh && cat >> /home/deployer/.ssh/authorized_keys && chown -R deployer:deployer /home/deployer/.ssh && chmod 700 /home/deployer/.ssh && chmod 600 /home/deployer/.ssh/authorized_keys"

4.3 Check Configuration

Try to connect to the server:

ssh deployer@your.ip.address

If this connects to your server, you are good to go.

5. Securing SSH Access

We disable root login for better security (Claude said so):

# connect to server with new user
ssh deployer@your.ip.address

# edit ssh configuration
sudo vim /etc/ssh/sshd_config

# find and modify to
PermitRootLogin no

# restart the ssh service
sudo systemctl restart ssh

# 6. Settung Up GitHub Access
If you plan to work with github repositories (what else would you do?), follow these steps:
- Generate new ssh key pair
```bash
ssh-keygen

Display and copy your public key

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub # or whatever key you chose

Add thi key to your github account:
- go tot github settings -> ssh and gpg key
- click 'New SSH key'
- Paste your public key

Notes

if you need the root password you can get it through the password reset option in the DO dashboard (there is no other way)
consider adding your droplet to your ssh config file for easier access