passwordless ssh

what is better: keys or passwords?

interesting thoughts on that topic can be found here. after all i thinks its good to know how to use it.

1. step: create keypair

ssh-keygen is the tool of choice. -t sets the prefered keytype and -b the size. some things to consider choosing the type are listed here. so after all

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 2048

does the trick. you'll be asked for passphrase (which you'll be asked for from time to time) and that's it. don't forget to check out the ssh-keygen manpage for all the gory details.

2. copy the public key to your destination host

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub user@remote-system

3. deny connection via password on the destination host (if you want to)

normally you just have to set the following sshd_config options:

# /etc/ssh/sshd_config
PasswordAuthentication no
ChallengeResponseAuthentication no
UsePAM yes

and don't forget to restart your sshd.

Tags: security, shell