The SSH key you pick on the deploy page is the key you log in with, so the private half has to be on the computer you connect from. DeployGPU creates one key for you at signup, and you can add or generate as many more as you need on the SSH Keys page in the sidebar.

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The key created at signup

At signup the platform generates an Ed25519 key pair called Default Key. Its private half is offered for download once, in the 10 minutes after signup. If you did not save it then, it cannot be downloaded again: add or generate another key instead. The signup key cannot be deleted, and on the deploy page it is labelled “(from signup)” so you can tell it apart from your own keys.

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Add a key you already have

  1. Open SSH Keys in the sidebar and click Add SSH Key.
  2. Enter a key name, for example the name of your laptop.
  3. Paste the public key, the contents of a file such as ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub.
  4. Click Add Key.
Ed25519, RSA and ECDSA public keys are accepted. QuantaCloud installs only RSA and Ed25519 keys, so a launch on QuantaCloud whose only key is ECDSA fails with SSH_KEY_MISSING. To create an Ed25519 key on your own computer:

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Generate a key pair in the dashboard

Click Generate Key, enter a key name and confirm. The pair is generated on the server, and the private key downloads straight away as a .pem file named after the key. Set its permissions before you use it:
The private key is shown only until you dismiss it or leave the page. DeployGPU does not keep a copy you can download later. If you lose it, generate another key.

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The key list

Each key on the SSH Keys page shows its name, its fingerprint, the date it was added and, once it has been used, the date of its last deploy. The fingerprint is the reliable way to match a key in the list with a file on your computer:
Click the delete button next to a key you added to remove it. Deleting a key does not change running deployments that were launched with it. It only stops the key from being offered for new ones.

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Choosing a key when you deploy

The deploy page attaches one SSH key per launch. It pre-selects the key you used most recently, and among keys you have not used yet, your own keys come before the signup key. Check the selected key before you click Deploy: launching with a key whose private half you do not have means a machine you cannot log in to. Through the API, the keys listed in ssh_key_ids are installed, or every key on your account if you leave it out. See SSH keys in the API reference.
DeployGPU also keeps an encrypted platform-managed key for each account. It is installed on Verda VMs and used as a fallback on some providers when a launch carries no key. You log in with your own key either way.
If a login fails, the connect over SSH guide and Permission denied (publickey) cover the usual causes.