To setup an SSH login on your Linux machine that does not require a password and uses SSH host keys instead, follow this simple guide.
Firstly, generate a set of keys for your SSH login.
ubuntu ~/Documents $ ssh-keygen Generating public/private rsa key pair. Enter file in which to save the key (/home/ubuntu/.ssh/id_rsa): /home/ubuntu/Documents/id_rsa Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): Enter same passphrase again: Your identification has been saved in /home/ubuntu/Documents/id_rsa. Your public key has been saved in /home/ubuntu/Documents/id_rsa.pub. The key fingerprint is: 51:da:f2:4a:b0:45:3d:5c:97:67:22:c1:52:6b:df:df ubuntu@darkstar The key's randomart image is: +--[ RSA 2048]----+ | .o.++... | | . += ooo o| | . = .oo. + | | + + . . . | | . S . . .| | . . o| | . E| | | | | +-----------------+ |
Then copy the contents of the id_rsa.pub file into the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file on the server that you wish to be able to access.
cat id_rsa.pub >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys |
After this logging into the SSH server using only the keys for access should work. This is how easy it is to set this up.
jason@localhost ~ $ ssh -i ServerWOPR.pem ubuntu@192.168.1.144 -p 22 |
This option in the /etc/ssh/sshd_config configuration file will allow you to disable password authentication once the key configuration is verified as working.
# Change to no to disable tunnelled clear text passwords
PasswordAuthentication no |
And now the SSH configuration on your server will be more secure, just make sure the keys are not stolen.
