Note

SSH access is available only for runtime services and web servers. Database services, message brokers, and object storage are not accessible via SSH.

Prerequisites

Before establishing an SSH connection to your runtime service, you must first connect to the Zerops VPN.

Setting Up Your Connection

1. Configure VPN Access

The Zerops CLI (zCLI) comes bundled with the Zerops VPN client. To connect to your Zerops project:

1. Install and configure zCLI
2. Initialize the Zerops VPN connection

2. Establish SSH Connection

Once your VPN session is active, you can connect to any service using its hostname:

ssh <service hostname>

Example:

ssh app

When connecting for the first time, you may receive this security prompt:

bash

The authenticity of host 'app (x.x.x.x)' can't be established.
RSA key fingerprint is SHA256:5wdgRcp/...
This key is not known by any other names
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?

Type yes to trust the host and prevent future prompts.

Advanced Connection Options

Connecting to Specific Containers

To access a specific container instead of the service as a whole, use the container's hostname:

ssh <container hostname>

Example:

ssh node-id-1.runtime.app.zerops

Note

When using HA mode, connecting to the service hostname will route you to a random container within that service.

Container Naming Conventions

Each container in your project has a unique hostname following these patterns:

• Format 1: node-id-<number>.runtime.app.zerops
• Format 2: node<number>.runtime.app.zerops

When your application scales horizontally:

• New containers receive incremental hostnames
• Decommissioned container hostnames are not recycled
• You might see non-sequential container numbers (e.g., node-id-5 and node-id-12)
• Container hostnames may change as your service scales

Warning

Never connect to containers using their local IP addresses, as these addresses are dynamic and may change.

Important Considerations

Non-Persistent Changes

SSH connections should not be used for making persistent changes to your service:

• In HA mode, changes via SSH affect only the current container
• Container replacements or scaling events will deploy the original application version
• For persistent changes across all containers, use:
  • run.prepareCommands
  • run.initCommands