There are many reasons you might want to create a key pair on Linux, more specifically on Ubuntu.

For more information about key pairs, see this.

Creating a private/public key pair on Ubuntu. There are many reasons you might want to create a key pair on Linux, more specifically on Ubuntu. For more information about key pairs, see this. (Perhaps the one you currently use is regular username and password ssh login). Key pairs are generally more secure than password logging in. Copy the entiree key content and paste into /.ssh/authorizedkeys file you create on the remote host. Step 3: Disable SSH Password Authentication Now that you know SSH key authentication works, you can now disable password authentication to enable enhanced SSH security.

Step 1: Generate a SSH Key Pair. If you’re using another Linux computer to connect to the server, then generaing SSH key pair and exporting it to the server should be a bit easier than a non Linux host To generate a SSH key pair, run the commands below from the Linux client machine. If you are using Putty, Enter your Ubuntu 18.04 server IP address under Host Name (or IP address) as shown below. Then, click on Connections - SSH - Auth from the left pane tree view as shown below and select the private key you created above under Private key file for authentication. Finally, click on open to connect to your Ubuntu 18.04. In this guide, I will explain to you how to set up SSH keys on Ubuntu 18.04. SSH is an acronym for Secure Shell. Secure Shell (SSH is a cryptographic network protocol, and it is responsible for encrypting the information between a user and the remote machine. It allows users to perform secure network services.

If your server is an Amazon EC2 Server Instance, you might want to look at more specific information here

Key pairs are just one way to log into a system. (Perhaps the one you currently use is regular username and password ssh login). Key pairs are generally more secure than password logging in.

One thing you have to keep in mind is that using key pairs is a two-way method: you'll need to create a private key and a public-key.

Personally, I use them so I can use git remotely. Another very common use of public/private key pairs is when you want to, for example, scp a file from your local server into a remote server without needing to type the ssh password lots of times. Another good reason to use this is to disable anyone from logging into your server, which reduces the chance someone will break into your server.(I'm not an expert on security so do you own research before securing your web server, as it's a very important step.)

Ok so let's start: Ubuntu has a very handy way to accomplish this:

Bulletstorm product key generator free download. Create yourself a .ssh directory if you don't already have one.

Then type this command to create the key per se:

(you'll be prompted for a passphrase. It adds another layer of security still. You can choose one or leave it blank.)

cd to your home folder to check the key has been created:

You should see two files: id_rsa and id_rsa.pub.

Now you'll need to transfer the public key (the .pub file) to your remote server. Again, Ubuntu has a simple command to do this:

If the last step was successful, you should be able to log into your server with no password (only from this machine, of course!. Ubuntu will use the private key wev'e just created to authenticate.)

et voilà

troubleshooting: if a command isn't working, try issuing that command again with sudo.

see also: official ubuntu docs

Introduction

Establishing an SSH (Secure Shell) connection is essential to log in and effectively manage a remote server. Encrypted keys are a set of access credentials used to establish a secure connection.

This guide will walk you how to generate SSH keys on Ubuntu 18.04. We will also cover setting up SSH key-based authentication to connect to a remote server without requiring a password.

• A server running Ubuntu 18.04
• A user account with sudo privileges
• Access to a terminal window / command line (Ctrl-Alt-T)

If you are already running an Ubuntu 18.04 server, you can skip this step. If you are configuring your server for the first time, you may not have SSH installed.

1. Start by installing the tasksel package:

The system will first ask for confirmation before proceeding:

2. Next, use tasksel to install the ssh-server:

3. Load the SSH server service, and set it to launch at boot:

On your client system – the one you’re using to connect to the server – you need to create a pair of key codes.

To generate a pair of SSH key codes, enter the commands:

This will create a hidden directory to store your SSH keys, and modify the permissions for that directory. The ssh-keygen command creates a 2048-bit RSA key pair.

For extra security, use RSA4096:

If you’ve already generated a key pair, this will prompt to overwrite them, and those old keys will not work anymore.

The system will ask you to create a passphrase as an added layer of security. Input a memorable passphrase, and press Enter.

This process creates two keys. One is a public key, which you can hand out to anyone – in this case, you’ll save it to the server. The other one is a private key, which you will need to keep secure. The secure private key ensures that you are the only person who can encrypt the data that is decrypted by the public key.

Step 2- Copy Public Key to the Ubuntu Server

First, get the IP address of the Ubuntu server you want to connect to.

In a terminal window, enter:

The system’s IP address is listed in the second entry:

On the client system, use the ssh-copy-id command to copy the identity information to the Ubuntu server:

Replace server_IP with the actual IP address of your server.

If this is the first time you’re connecting to the server, you may see a message that the authenticity of the host cannot be established:

Type yes and press Enter.

The system will check your client system for the id_rsa.pub key that was previously generated. Then it will prompt you to enter the password for the server user account. Type it in (the system won’t display the password), and press Enter.

The system will copy the contents of the ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub from the client system into the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys directory of the server system.

The system should display:

If your system does not have the ssh-copy-id command, you can copy the key manually over the SSH.

Ssh Key Generation

Use the following command:

To log in to a remote server, input the command:

The system should not ask for a password as it is negotiating a secure connection using the SSH keys. If you used a security passphrase, you would be prompted to enter it. After you do so, you are logged in.

If this is the first time you’ve logged into the server, you may see a message similar to the one in part two. It will ask if you are sure you want to connect – type yes and press Enter.

Step 4- Disable Password Authentication

This step creates an added layer of security. If you’re the only person logging into the server, you can disable the password. The server will only accept a login with your private key to match the stored public key.

Edit the sshd_config file:

Search the file and find the PasswordAuthentication option.

Edit the file and change the value to no:

Save the file and exit, then restart the SSH service:

Verify that SSH is still working, before ending the session:

If everything works, you can close out and resume work normally.

By following the instructions in this tutorial, you have setup SSH-key-based authentication on an Ubuntu 18.04 server.

The connection is now highly secure as it uses a set of unique, encrypted SSH keys.

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