How to Add a Server to ServerPanel (Password, Key, Groups) and What the Free Plan Allows

TL;DR

Enter a name, host, port and username, choose a password or private key, and optionally a group, icon and colour. The free plan manages up to 3 servers; Premium removes the limit. Credentials are kept in this device's Keychain.

The problem

You manage a handful of machines: a VPS, a home lab box, a staging server. Their addresses, ports and credentials live in a password manager, a notes file and your shell history. When something breaks you spend the first two minutes finding the right login, on a phone, with a tiny keyboard.

What to enter

Under General:

  • Name: whatever helps you recognise it (“prod-api”, “homelab”).
  • Host / IP and Port (22 by default).
  • Username
  • Group (optional): servers with the same group name are listed together, such as “Client A” or “Staging”.

Under Appearance, pick an icon and colour so cards are recognisable at a glance.

Under Authentication, choose:

  • Password, or
  • Private key: paste a key, or pick one from your SSH key library.

You can also set login scripts, port forwards and alert thresholds for the server from the same screen.

Steps

  1. Tap add on the Servers tab.
  2. Fill in the details and choose how you authenticate.
  3. Save, then open the server. Monitoring starts over SSH.

The free limit

You can manage 3 servers for free. Trying to add a fourth shows the Premium paywall. If you reach the limit, remove a server you no longer use, or upgrade: Premium lifts it entirely.

Good habits

  • Use a dedicated user with only the permissions you need rather than root. Monitoring doesn’t require root.
  • Prefer keys to passwords when you can.
  • Group by client or role from the start. A flat list of 12 servers gets hard to scan.
  • Duplicate an existing server when setting up a similar one, then change the host and name.

If it won’t connect

Check the host and port, that the user can log in with that method, and that the phone can reach the server (VPN, firewall, security group). ServerPanel makes ordinary SSH connections, so anything that blocks SSH from your phone blocks it too.

FAQ

How many servers are free? Up to 3. Adding a fourth shows the Premium paywall.

Which key types work? Ed25519, ECDSA and RSA. Ed25519 and RSA can be passphrase-protected; encrypted ECDSA keys are not supported yet.

Where is my password stored? In the iOS Keychain on this device only. It is not part of the server record and is not synced.

Can I copy a server? Yes. Servers can be duplicated, which is handy for similar hosts.

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