Enable SSH access on a Hostgator shared hosting account

Hostgator always had the option to enable the SSH access to your shared hosting account. But only recently I've noticed how is to enable it. First time when I tried to activate the SSH access, they were requiring a scan your ID card with a clear photo on it. That proved to be too much for me.

Getting back to the subject, Hostgator provides free SSH access to a Jail Shell environment, but you have to explicitly enable this feature. Connect to gbclient.hostgator.com with your billing username and password, click on "View Hosting Packages" and then select the "Enable Shell Access" option. This will instantly enable the SSH access for your account. Now you can connect using your primary domain attached to your hosting package and the username and password you use to access cPanel.

Another thing to remember is that Hostgator uses the 2222 custom port for the SSH access. You can specify the custom port like this:

ssh -p 2222 user@domain.com
scp /local/path/file -P 2222 user@domain.com:/remote/path