Stupid question - installation step 1

[HeneryH]

I feel very stupid now. I have done all kinds of VMs and use ssh often. LXC/LXD on Ubuntu, Different VMs on Windows, Proxmox.

What does step 1 mean?

• Add your SSH keys to your VPS root

[omega8cc]

Hmm, that's rather surprising indeed. But jokes aside, do you really always use password for root? BOA turns that off once installed, so you will be locked out if you don't add your SSH keys to root. Here's a short how-to:

boa/aegir/tools/bin/barracuda

Line 219 in 759ef0b

echo "ERROR: Please add and test your SSH (ed25519) keys for root account"

[HeneryH]

Ok, this means add my public key to the authorized keys for the root user on the machine?

…

On Sun, Feb 8, 2026 at 2:01 PM BOA Dev Team ***@***.***> wrote: *omega8cc* left a comment (omega8cc/boa#1922) <#1922 (comment)> Hmm, that's rather surprising indeed. But jokes aside, do you really always use password for root? BOA turns that off once installed, so you will be locked out if you don't add your SSH keys to root. Here's a short how-to: https://github.com/omega8cc/boa/blob/759ef0b3ed45c50550574deec165cab72bd69fe0/aegir/tools/bin/barracuda#L219 — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1922 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAJMR76GT3G73YHLWQABKYT4K6BZPAVCNFSM6AAAAACUM2CBRKVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTQNRXHE4TEOJSG4> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[omega8cc]

Yes, standard stuff, nothing fancy. Perhaps we should rewrite the instructions to avoid confusion.

[HeneryH]

I could be the idiot for not knowing what that meant. Thank you for clarifying.

…

On Sun, Feb 8, 2026 at 2:06 PM BOA Dev Team ***@***.***> wrote: *omega8cc* left a comment (omega8cc/boa#1922) <#1922 (comment)> Yes, standard stuff, nothing fancy. Perhaps we should rewrite the instructions to avoid confusion. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1922 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAJMR76SJUWYEHAUWCDRHLT4K6CL7AVCNFSM6AAAAACUM2CBRKVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTQNRYGAYDCOJUGM> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>