SSH and SFTP connections are one of the more reliable ways to connect to your MODX Cloud sites. Whether you are using the command line with SSH keys or user name and password combination, there may be circumstances where you're unable to connect.
Blocked Connections
The most common reason people are unable to connect to their server via SSH is that there has been a failed password entry. You will likely receive an error in your command line or client that says the connection has been closed.
For security purposes, we place a block after a certain number of failed retries. This block will expire in time. This is most frequently caused by an incorrect password placed into an SFTP client or MySQL client (connecting over SSH) that will attempt to connect multiple times if it first fails.
New SSH Standards
Recently, new versions of operating systems including Linux and macOS (Ventura) are shipping with a new configuration that no longer supports the configurations on our legacy platforms. They have upgraded to an OpenSSH that drops ssh-rsa from the default negotiated algorithms. Our legacy platforms require the ssh-rsa for connections.
If you find you can no longer connect to one of our legacy platforms—whether your own MODX Cloud Private server or one of our Public Platforms—you can add a configuration to your local computer's SSH config file. Alternatively, migrating your site(s) to one of our Gen2 platforms will also resolve this situation. All MODX Cloud customers will need to move sites to our Gen 2 platforms over the coming months. But, if you need to connect to your MODX Cloud site now, you'll need to do the following.
Update Your SSH Config for Legacy Platforms
Using the command line or your text editor of choice, open the add the following to your $HOME/.ssh/config (macOS/Linux) or %USERPROFILE%\.ssh\config (Windows 10+):
Host *
HostKeyAlgorithms +ssh-rsa
PubkeyAcceptedKeyTypes +ssh-rsa
If you still find you're unable to connect to your MODX Cloud site via SSH or SFTP, please use the Help button inside the MODX Cloud dashboard to contact support.