The handover email contains four things: the host address, the SSH port, the screen sharing port, and the administrator account with its initial password. The same details are on the service detail page.
1. Connect over SSH
In a terminal:
ssh -p <ssh-port> <username>@<host>The first connection asks you to confirm the host fingerprint. Type yes to continue.
2. Connect over screen sharing
Use the Screen Sharing app that ships with macOS, or any VNC client, with:
vnc://<host>:<screen-sharing-port>From Windows or Linux, RealVNC Viewer and TigerVNC both work well.
3. Two things to do straight away
First, change the password. The initial one was generated by us; once you change it we no longer know it. Run passwd in a terminal, or change it in System Settings.
Second, install your own SSH public key and consider disabling password authentication altogether. This alone stops almost all automated scanning. Append your key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys.
4. About permissions
You hold an administrator account, so sudo works. Homebrew, the Xcode command line tools and software needing kernel extensions all install normally. We keep a separate out-of-band path used only for power operations and reimaging; we do not log into your desktop session.
5. If you cannot connect
Check that the service detail page shows Active. If the status is fine but the connection is not, try a reboot from the portal. If that does not help, open a ticket and include your network location and a traceroute — it saves a round trip.