Log in with an SSH private key on Linux and macOS

This article demonstrates how to use a private key to log in to a Linux速server by using a private key with a Terminal session on macOS速. However,you can follow the same process to use a private key when using anyterminal software on Linux.

Forcing key authentication allows you to disable password authentication which in effect prevents brute force attacks; Steps to setup key-based authentication on a Linux computer. Generate SSH Key Pair on the client machine On the client machine run the following commands to generate SSH keys. The purpose of ssh-copy-id is to make setting up public key authentication easier. The process is as follows. Generate an SSH Key. With OpenSSH, an SSH key is created using ssh-keygen. In the simplest form, just run ssh-keygen and answer the questions. The following example illustates this. # ssh-keygen Generating public/private rsa key pair.

Note: For information about using Secure Shell (SSH) private keys on Microsoft速 Windows速 operating systems, see Logging in with an SSH Private Key on Windowsand Generate RSA keys with SSH by using PuTTYgen.

Prerequisites

Server

To complete this process, you need the following software applications:

Create New Ssh Key

Ssh
  • SSH client software that is installed on your Linux or macOS operating system by default.
  • Your favorite text editor. This example uses the vim text editor.
  • Your private key. For more information about generating a key on Linux or macOS, see Connect to a server by using SSH on Linux or Mac OS X.

Generate Client Private Ssh Key From Server Download

Log in with a private key

  1. Using a text editor, create a file in which to store your private key. This example uses the file deployment_key.txt.

  2. To edit the file in vim, type the following command:

  3. /free-windows-10-product-key-generator.html. After the editor starts, press i to turn on insert mode.

  4. Paste your private key, such as the one in the following image, into the file.Be sure to include the BEGIN and END lines.

  5. To save your changes, press Esc.

  6. Type :wq to write the file and return to the command line.

  7. Run the following command to change the file permissions to 600 to secure the key. You can also set them to 400.This step is required:

  8. Use the key to log in to the SSH client as shown in the following example, which loads the key in file deployment_key.txt, and logs in as user demo to IP 192.237.248.66:

  9. When you are prompted to confirm the connection, type yes and then press Enter.

  10. If your SSH key requires a password, enter it when prompted to complete the connection.

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Ssh Keygen Generate Public Key From Private

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