How to Use Command-Line Tools with Kamatera Servers

Leveraging command-line tools will help you gain more control and flexibility over your servers, making it easier to integrate Kamatera services into larger automation frameworks. This is mainly used by DevOps, system administrators, and anyone who wants to use cloud resources programmatically. By using command-line tools, you can:

Automate server management tasks such as configuration and scaling.
Easily integrate with other applications.
Improved efficiency because you can quickly execute commands to check the status of servers.
Manage servers remotely.

In this article, we will go through all the steps to use SSH for Linux server management and Windows.

1. SSH for Linux

SSH (Secure Shell) provides a secure way to remotely access and manage Linux servers.

First, install an SSH Client:

On Linux/macOS: SSH is pre-installed, so you can directly use the terminal.

On Windows: Use tools like PuTTY, or OpenSSH (which is built into modern versions).

On Linux:

2. Otherwise, connect to the server:

Using Password

Open the terminal and type the below command

Command: ssh root@<server_ip>

Note: Replace server_ip with your actual Server IP Address.

When asked, type the password that you got from Kamatera and press Enter.

Using SSH Key

If Kamatera gave you a special key file, then type the below command

Command: ssh -i /path/to/key-file root@<server_ip>

Note: Replace server_ip with your actual Server IP Address.

1. After connecting, you can use these simple commands in Ubuntu terminal.

Check Server status

To know the name of the currently logged-in user

Command: whoami

To see who has logged in

Command: who

To check Disk space

Command: df –h

To see all running processes:

Command: ps aux

5. Memory usage:

To show memory usage

Command: free –h

6. Manage Files and Folders:

To list files in current directory

Command: ls –l

Create a text file

Command: touch /path/to/directory/myfile.txt

Delete a file

Command: rm /path/to/file/myfile.txt

Create a folder

Command: mkdir /path/to/directory/my-folder

Delete a folder and its contents

Command: rm -r /path/to/folder/my-folder

Change directory

Command: cd /path/to/directory

7. Update server

Update package lists and update packages

Command: sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade –y

Clean up necessary packages and files

Command: sudo apt autoremove -y && sudo apt autoclean

Install software

Install software using apt

Command: sudo apt install <software-name>

Note: For demo purposes, in place of software-name, Flameshot is entered (which is an open-source tool to take screenshots).

Secure your server

Change SSH port

Open SSH configuration file

Command: sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Find line Port 22.

Modify the line to Port 2222.

Save and exit the file (press Ctrl+o to save the file, and Ctrl+X to exit the file).
Now, restart SSH service by running the below command

Command: sudo systemctl restart ssh

Setup Firewall

First enable UFW

Command: sudo ufw enable

Allow new SSH port

Command: sudo ufw allow 2222/tcp

Check UFW rules and status

Command: sudo ufw status

2. SSH for Windows:

In the start menu, type Windows PowerShell and select Run as Administrator.
After connecting, you can use these simple commands.

Check Server status

To know the name of the currently logged-in user

Command: whoami

To see who has logged in

Command: query user

To check Disk space

Command: Get-PSDrive

To see running processes

Command: Get-Process

To show memory usage

Command: Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem | Select-Object @{Name=”TotalPhysicalMemory(GB)”;Expression={[math]::round($_.TotalVisibleMemorySize/1MB,2)}}, @{Name=”FreePhysicalMemory(GB)”;Expression={[math]::round($_.FreePhysicalMemory/1MB,2)}}

3. Manage Files and Folders:

To list files

Command: Get-ChildItem

To create a text file

Command: New-Item -Path “C:\path\to\directory\myfile.txt” -ItemType “File”

To delete a file

Command: Remove-Item “C:\path\to\file\my-file.txt”

To create a folder

Command: New-Item -Path “C:\path\to\directory” -Name “my-folder” -ItemType “Directory”

To delete a folder and its contents

Command: Remove-Item “C:\path\to\folder\my-folder” -Recurse

To change directory

Command: Set-Location “C:\path\to\directory”

4. Update Server:

The below commands require PSWindowsUpdate module. So, first install this module by running the below command.

Command: Install-Module -Name PSWindowsUpdate -Force -Scope CurrentUser

Check for updates

Command: Get-WindowsUpdate

Install updates

Command: Install-WindowsUpdate -AcceptAll –AutoReboot

5. Install software

To install software on Windows using PowerShell, you can use Chocolatey (a package manager for Windows). First, you need to install it by running the below command:

Command: Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString(‘https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1’))

Once installed, you can install software by running the below command

Command: choco install <software-name>

6. Secure your Server

Open PowerShell in the start menu and select Run as Administrator.
To check OpenSSH Server feature is available or not, run the below command.

Command: Get-WindowsCapability -Online | Where-Object Name -like ‘OpenSSH*’

If it says OpenSSH Server is not present, the install OpenSSH Server. Then install it by running the command below.

Command: Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name OpenSSH.Server~~~~0.0.1.0

Verify the installation by running the below command.

Command: Get-WindowsCapability -Online | Where-Object Name -like ‘OpenSSH*’

Start the OpenSSH Service by running the below command.

Command: Start-Service sshd

Set-Service -Name sshd -StartupType Automatic

To know the status of OpenSSH Service, run the below command.

Command: Get-Service -Name sshd

Ensure that Port 22 is open on Windows Firewall.

Command: New-NetFirewallRule -Name sshd -DisplayName “OpenSSH Server (SSH)” -Enabled True -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 22 -Action Allow

Test the SSH port by running the below command

Command: ssh localhost

If successful, you will see a login prompt. Enter your credentials, then you will see a new screen.

Now, you are in shell.

7. Setting up a firewall

Windows does not use SSH by default for remote administration. However, if you’re using OpenSSH Server on Windows, you can change the SSH port by modifying the SSH Server configuration file and update your firewall settings.

Locate the sshd_config file by running the below command.

Command: C:\ProgramData\ssh\sshd_config

Select Notepad and click OK.

Find #Port 22.

Now, uncomment the line and change the port to 2222. Save and close the file.

After changing the port, you need to update the Windows firewall to allow traffic on new port.

Command: New-NetFirewallRule -Name sshd-2222 -DisplayName “OpenSSH Server (Port 2222)” -Enabled True -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 2222 -Action Allow