# Cannot ssh into server after creating systemd link **URL:** \ **Category:** Operate a Stake Pool\ **Created:** [7 November 2021 17:05 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cannot-ssh-into-server-after-creating-systemd-link/83664 "2021-11-07T17:05:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Conchita](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/conchita/32/45877_2.png) [@Conchita](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Conchita)\ **Post date:** [7 November 2021 17:05 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cannot-ssh-into-server-after-creating-systemd-link/83664/1 "2021-11-07T17:05:09Z")
Hi guys, following the coincashew guide for mainnet, I use a vps that I ssh into. Node was happily running and all was fine. I then came to Chapter 7 and created the cardano-node.service according to the example. (i.e. copy paste) After copying it to /etc/systemd/system/cardano-node.service I wanted to “test” it. So I rebooted. Now I cannot ssh into the server anymore. Does anybody have an idea for me? 1- to get in again, without going to the vps site and reset the whole thing? 2 - how this could happen? And how to solve? I have a dummy server at home for test purposes (not running my mainnet BPN - but just an alternative test node for trail) and I wrote a similar service file. After reboot, I had huge trouble getting in again, but as it is physically located next to me, I can have direct access. (in this case I replaced the ${user} by a real username and hardlinked the WorkingDirectory instead of leaving the $NODE\_HOME from the example that made the vps close me out). Thanks a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Alexd1985](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/alexd1985/32/23759_2.png) [@Alexd1985](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Alexd1985)\ **Post date:** [7 November 2021 17:09 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cannot-ssh-into-server-after-creating-systemd-link/83664/2 "2021-11-07T17:09:05Z")
Did u changed the default ssh port 22? Perhaps in an previous step? ---
**Author:** ![Conchita](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/conchita/32/45877_2.png) [@Conchita](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Conchita)\ **Post date:** [7 November 2021 17:49 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cannot-ssh-into-server-after-creating-systemd-link/83664/3 "2021-11-07T17:49:07Z")
I use a different port yes, but that never was a problem. The problem came with the systemd file - unless the systemd file requires port 22. In that case, that would be the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Alexd1985](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/alexd1985/32/23759_2.png) [@Alexd1985](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Alexd1985)\ **Post date:** [7 November 2021 17:49 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cannot-ssh-into-server-after-creating-systemd-link/83664/4 "2021-11-07T17:49:55Z")
Nope, systemd is something else… should not affect the ssh process on your local node… now the ssh is working or not? I think the new ssh configurtion applied after u rebooted the server and u missed something ---
**Author:** ![Conchita](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/conchita/32/45877_2.png) [@Conchita](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Conchita)\ **Post date:** [7 November 2021 17:52 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cannot-ssh-into-server-after-creating-systemd-link/83664/5 "2021-11-07T17:52:56Z")
only for the local server. For the vps nothing. ssh -p #### user@x.x.x.x ssh: connect to host x.x.x.x port ####: Connection refused ---
**Author:** ![Alexd1985](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/alexd1985/32/23759_2.png) [@Alexd1985](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Alexd1985)\ **Post date:** [7 November 2021 17:55 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cannot-ssh-into-server-after-creating-systemd-link/83664/6 "2021-11-07T17:55:21Z")
hmm can u try ssh user@x.x.x.x -p XXXX ? Delete ur user from above comment ---
**Author:** ![Conchita](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/conchita/32/45877_2.png) [@Conchita](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Conchita)\ **Post date:** [7 November 2021 18:04 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cannot-ssh-into-server-after-creating-systemd-link/83664/7 "2021-11-07T18:04:27Z")
ok, for the local one, where I hardlinked these ${user} and workingdir, this works. For the vps still no result: Can it be that the ${user} or $NODE\_HOME are at fault? OR: Can it be that the vps does not allow this kind of script? Ideally I’d likethe vps to be the relay and the home server to be the BPN. ---
**Author:** ![Alexd1985](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/alexd1985/32/23759_2.png) [@Alexd1985](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Alexd1985)\ **Post date:** [7 November 2021 18:05 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cannot-ssh-into-server-after-creating-systemd-link/83664/8 "2021-11-07T18:05:55Z")
nope, it looks like the connection is refused… now do u have any other way to connect on server? Via VNC perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Conchita](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/conchita/32/45877_2.png) [@Conchita](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Conchita)\ **Post date:** [7 November 2021 18:07 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cannot-ssh-into-server-after-creating-systemd-link/83664/9 "2021-11-07T18:07:02Z")
Will try - I’ll be back with news, positive or negative. Ok, the answer is: IF the links ${USER} and $NODE\_HOME do not link correctly to the right destinations, the systemd link will not be able to start well: this does not work: sudo systemctl reload-or-restart cardano-node and if that does not work, the vps is caught in a neverending cycle and that’s it. When this DOES work, the whole link works. So, don’t reboot to early before checking. In my case the $NODE\_HOME referred to another directory as I had tried to set up a node several times before succeeding. error message: /etc/systemd/system/cardano-node.service:12: WorkingDirectory= path is not absolute: ${NODE\_HOME} > > > And in this very case, I had to start all over again. ---
**Author:** ![mcrio](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/mcrio/32/40017_2.png) [@mcrio](https://forum.cardano.org/u/mcrio)\ **Post date:** [7 November 2021 20:46 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cannot-ssh-into-server-after-creating-systemd-link/83664/10 "2021-11-07T20:46:13Z")
Did you enable the firewall maybe and forgot to open the new SSH port? ---
**Author:** ![Conchita](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/conchita/32/45877_2.png) [@Conchita](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Conchita)\ **Post date:** [7 November 2021 20:55 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cannot-ssh-into-server-after-creating-systemd-link/83664/11 "2021-11-07T20:55:41Z")
no, that was all good and tested. IT started when I made the service file. - cardano-node.service - Cardano node service Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/cardano-node.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled) Active: activating (auto-restart) (Result: exit-code) since Sun 2021-11-07 20:50:10 UTC; 2s ago Process: 1978701 ExecStart=/bin/bash -c /home/user/cardano-my-node/startRelayNode1.sh (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE) Main PID: 1978701 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE) And there still is an error here ---
**Author:** ![Alexd1985](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/alexd1985/32/23759_2.png) [@Alexd1985](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Alexd1985)\ **Post date:** [7 November 2021 20:58 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cannot-ssh-into-server-after-creating-systemd-link/83664/12 "2021-11-07T20:58:16Z")
journalctl -e -f -u cardano-node ---
**Author:** ![Conchita](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/conchita/32/45877_2.png) [@Conchita](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Conchita)\ **Post date:** [7 November 2021 21:17 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cannot-ssh-into-server-after-creating-systemd-link/83664/13 "2021-11-07T21:17:42Z")
Hi Alex, thanks - that helped! Because now I know for sure that this: #!/bin/bash DIRECTORY=$NODE\_HOME PORT=6000 HOSTADDR=0.0.0.0 TOPOLOGY=${DIRECTORY}/${NODE\_CONFIG}-topology.json DB\_PATH=${DIRECTORY}/db SOCKET\_PATH=${DIRECTORY}/db/socket CONFIG=${DIRECTORY}/${NODE\_CONFIG}-config.json /usr/local/bin/cardano-node run +RTS -N -RTS --topology ${TOPOLOGY} --database-path ${DB\_PATH} --socket-path ${SOCKET\_PATH} --host-addr ${HOSTADDR} --port ${PORT} --config ${CONFIG} needs to be: #!/bin/bash DIRECTORY=~/cardano-my-node PORT=6000 HOSTADDR=0.0.0.0 TOPOLOGY=${DIRECTORY}/mainnet-topology.json DB\_PATH=${DIRECTORY}/db SOCKET\_PATH=${DIRECTORY}/db/socket CONFIG=${DIRECTORY}/mainnet-config.json /usr/local/bin/cardano-node run +RTS -N -RTS --topology ${TOPOLOGY} --database-path ${DB\_PATH} --socket-path ${SOCKET\_PATH} --host-addr ${HOSTADDR} --port ${PORT} --config ${CONFIG} apparently the server “forgets” the set $-values when using the service file. I could leave the $-values when I manually start with ./startRelayNode1.sh but when I use sudo systemctl start cardano-node it cannot find the $-values. Does that make sense? Ha - this is because I made the file with nano instead of cat ---
**Author:** ![Conchita](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/conchita/32/45877_2.png) [@Conchita](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Conchita)\ **Post date:** [7 November 2021 21:46 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cannot-ssh-into-server-after-creating-systemd-link/83664/14 "2021-11-07T21:46:21Z")
is it normal that the node needs to start syncing all over again after reboot? Does it not have all the info in the /db folder? ---
**Author:** ![Alexd1985](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/alexd1985/32/23759_2.png) [@Alexd1985](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Alexd1985)\ **Post date:** [7 November 2021 21:51 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cannot-ssh-into-server-after-creating-systemd-link/83664/15 "2021-11-07T21:51:11Z")
It’s something normal… the processes were stoped during the reload. But will not start downloading all the db again ---
**Author:** ![Conchita](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/conchita/32/45877_2.png) [@Conchita](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Conchita)\ **Post date:** [7 November 2021 22:01 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cannot-ssh-into-server-after-creating-systemd-link/83664/16 "2021-11-07T22:01:34Z")
hmm, they did - and the cpu usage is much higher now with the service link =\> syncing is much slower.