Managing Connection Profiles

Last updated: April 2026

Connection profiles store all the parameters needed to establish an SSH session, letting you connect to frequently used hosts with a single click. This article covers creating, organizing, editing, and duplicating profiles, as well as using Quick Connect for one-off sessions.

Creating a New Profile

To create a connection profile, open the Connection Manager by selecting File > Connection Manager or pressing Ctrl+Shift+P. Click New Profile and fill in the following fields:

Field	Description	Example
Display Name	A friendly label shown in the Connection Manager and tab title. Does not affect the connection itself.	`core-rtr-01 (Nashville)`
Hostname / IP	The FQDN or IP address of the remote host. Both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are supported.	`10.0.1.1` or `core-rtr-01.lab.example.com`
Port	The TCP port for the SSH connection. Defaults to `22`.	`22`, `2222`, `8022`
Username	The remote user account to authenticate as.	`admin`, `root`, `netops`
Authentication Method	Choose between Password, Key File, or Key File + Passphrase. When set to Password, RockTerm will prompt at connection time (passwords are never stored).	—
Key File Path	Absolute path to the private key file. Shown only when using key-based authentication. Supports OpenSSH, PEM, and PuTTY PPK formats.	`C:\Users\admin\.ssh\id_ed25519`

Click Save to store the profile. It will appear immediately in the Connection Manager list.

Organizing Profiles with Groups

When you manage dozens or hundreds of connections, groups keep the Connection Manager navigable. To create a group, click New Group in the Connection Manager toolbar and enter a name. Drag and drop profiles into groups, or assign a group when creating or editing a profile.

Groups can be nested up to three levels deep. Common organizational strategies include:

By environment: Production, Staging, Development, Lab
By project: Project Alpha, DC Migration, PCI Remediation
By client: useful for MSP engineers managing multiple customer environments
By datacenter or region: Nashville DC1, Chicago DC2, AWS us-east-1
By device type: Routers, Switches, Firewalls, Linux Servers, Jump Hosts

You can combine strategies using nested groups. For example:

Production
  ├── Nashville DC1
  │   ├── Routers
  │   ├── Switches
  │   └── Firewalls
  └── Chicago DC2
      ├── Routers
      └── Switches
Staging
  └── Lab Rack 3
Development
  └── AWS us-east-1

To rename or delete a group, right-click the group name in the Connection Manager. Deleting a group does not delete the profiles inside it; they are moved to the top level.

Editing and Deleting Profiles

To edit a profile, select it in the Connection Manager and click Edit, or simply double-right-click on it. Update any field and click Save. Changes do not affect sessions that are already connected; they apply to new connections only.

To delete a profile, select it and click Delete, or press the Delete key. You will be prompted to confirm. Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone, so consider exporting your profiles as a backup before bulk cleanup.

Duplicating Profiles

Duplicating is the fastest way to create similar profiles. Right-click a profile and select Duplicate, or select the profile and press Ctrl+D. The new profile is created with the same settings and a display name appended with (Copy). Edit the duplicate to change the hostname, port, or any other fields as needed.

This is particularly useful when onboarding a new rack of devices that share the same credentials and port but differ only by IP address.

Quick Connect

For one-off sessions where you do not need a saved profile, use Quick Connect. Press Ctrl+Shift+Q or select File > Quick Connect. Enter the hostname, port, and username, then click Connect. RockTerm will prompt for a password or key file as needed.

Quick Connect sessions are not saved to the Connection Manager. If you find yourself reconnecting to the same host frequently, create a profile instead.

You can also invoke Quick Connect from the command bar by typing a connection string in the format:

user@hostname:port

For example:

admin@10.0.1.1:22

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