KD0YTE's Ham Radio, Linux, and other stuff.

using ssh keys for passwordless login
29th December 2023

To enable passwordless ssh to machines on your network use ssh keys

generating keys

ssh-keygen will generate a new key
however if you already have a key it will overwrite it
ls -l ~/.ssh to verify that there are none

ssh-keygen -b 4096
generates a strong key
press enter for default location
enter a passphrase if you want one you can leave it blank to do away with passwords

To copy the key to the server you want to access

first try connecting to the server using a password.
if that works you can do
ssh-copy-id username@ipaddress

you will need to enter the password one last time

from then on you can connect without a password unless you entered a passphrase in the first command.

for more info watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33dEcCKGBO4

Tags: linux.