However, this method requires password-based SSH access to your server.įor this step, type and execute: ssh-copy-id _host The ssh-copy-id tool exists by default in the operating system and copies the public key pair on the server. However, if it is not available, you can either copy manually or copy via password-based SSH. The method is simple and highly recommended. The quickest way is to use a utility called ssh-copy-id. There are several ways to perform this step. Next, head over to the server machine to use your SSH login. Thus, we have now successfully generated the RSA key-pair to authenticate the machine. While the public key is saved in /your_home/.ssh/id_rsa.pub. This command saves the identification in /your_home/.ssh/id_rsa. It is recommended to add a secure passphrase for an additional layer of security. Next, you will be asked to add a secure passphrase. If there exists a pair of RSA key-pair, then you will get a confirmation message asking to overwrite the existing key pair. To install SSH, execute the following command: sudo apt install openssh-server Before setting up the SSH key, we will set up the SSH server and start the server. The next step is to install the SSH server. This ensures that all the required packages are up-to-date for the current installation. The first step is to update all the installed packages using the apt update command. You can also be a root user to access the machines. We will need a client and server machine with sudo privileges for this tutorial. We will also cover how to connect using those SSH keys. In this article, we will cover how to set up SSH Keys for Debian 11 machines. Learning how to set up SSH Keys on Debian is essential for remote communication. On Debian machines, system administrators utilize SSH to communicate with the servers. SSH protocol is a widely used protocol for secure administrator and communication with the servers. Disable password-based login to Set Up SSH Keys on Debian 11 Authenticate Debian Server Using SSH Keys Copy Public Key Manually to Set Up SSH Keys on Debian.Copy Public Key Using SSH to Set Up SSH Keys on Debian.Make sure to set the correct file permissions: chmod 700 /home/username/.ssh & chmod 600 /home/username/.ssh/authorized_keysĬhange the ownership to the user: chown -R username:username /home/username/. One of the reasons for this is due to file permission on ssh file. Now, if your end-users tried to connect to a remote server then they might come across a permission denied error or something like this “r “sign_and_send_pubkey: signing failed: agent refused operation Permission denied (publickey)”. Now add the public key of the user in /home/user_name/.ssh/authorized_keys file vim /home/username/.ssh/authorized_keys Now, create new directories and files in the end user’s home directory so that you can add the public key of the end user that you have asked for in the previous step. Using the following command combination cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub | ssh 'cat > ~/.ssh/authorized_keys' For example, copy the content of your ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub to the server’s ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file. Manually append your public key to the remote ssh server’s key to the authorized_keys file. In this process, you need to ask the end-user to provide their pubic key at first.
![ssh copy id manually ssh copy id manually](https://miro.medium.com/max/1280/1*UKQvdrt5BxjSKKEkEUoJ0g.png)
This method is useful when your server doesn’t allow you ssh login via password. In another method, we can manually copy the ssh key to the server. Manually copy the public ssh key to the server If you want to use another public key rather than the one in the default location, use the -i option. ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub is the default location for the public ssh key. Your public key should be copied to the remote server. The authorized_keys file is in the ~/.ssh/ ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub prompted, enter the password for your user account at the remote server. In this process, we will copy the personal computer’s public key to the list of the authorized keys on the remote server. In this very first method, we will copy the ssh public key to the server using ssh-copy-id tool. Copy ssh public key to remote server using ssh-copy-id: