Can SSH be used for authentication?

SSH comes with a program called ssh-agent , which can hold user’s decrypted private keys in memory and use them to authenticate logins. The agent can also be used to access keys on a smartcard or in a Hardware Security Module (HSM). See the documentation for ssh-agent on how to set it up.

What is SSH key-based authentication?

An SSH key is a secure access credential used in the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol. SSH keys use key pairs based on public key infrastructure (PKI) technology, the gold standard for digital identity authentication and encryption, to provide a secure and scalable method of authentication.

How does YubiKey work with SSH?

A YubiKey with OpenPGP can be used for logging in to remote SSH servers. In this setup, the Authentication subkey of an OpenPGP key is used as an SSH key to authenticate against a server. To ensure that the only way to log in is by using your YubiKey we recommend disabling password login on your SSH server.

How do I configure SSH key-based authentication on a Linux server?

How to configure SSH Public key-based authentication for a Linux/Unix

1. On your local system type: ssh-keygen.
2. Install public key into remote server: ssh-copy-id user@remote-server-ip-name.
3. Use ssh for password less login: ssh user@remote-server-ip-name.

Are SSH keys tied to user?

The public key is placed into the home directory of the user on the server who used ssh-keygen and ssh-copy-id to generate it and put it there. If you use ssh to connect to the machine with no username, it will attempt to connect with the username of whoever is logged in.

How does SSH know which key?

When a client connects to the host, wishing to use SSH key authentication, it will inform the server of this intent and will tell the server which public key to use. The server then checks its authorized_keys file for the public key, generates a random string, and encrypts it using the public key.

Can I store SSH keys on YubiKey?

You can use a Yubikey USB device to securely generate and store your SSH key. This can be used to load your private key on demand, protected by a PIN.

How do I export a SSH key to YubiKey?

You can export the RSA public key by running gpg –export-ssh-key “” > ~/. ssh/yubi_key. pub where is the name you gave when generating the key. This key is what you want to add to GitHub/GitLab and to ~/.

How do I connect to a SSH key in Linux?

How to Connect via SSH

1. Open the SSH terminal on your machine and run the following command: ssh your_username@host_ip_address.
2. Type in your password and hit Enter.
3. When you are connecting to a server for the very first time, it will ask you if you want to continue connecting.

What is key-based authentication in Linux?

Key-based authentication is a kind of authentication that may be used as an alternative to password authentication. Instead of requiring a user’s password, it is possible to confirm the client’s identity by using asymmetric cryptography algorithms, with public and private keys.

Is SSH key machine specific or user specific?

SSH key pair’s are machine independent, which means you can create a SSH key pair on one machine and can deploy the same SSH key pair on multiple machines. It is valid thing to do, thats how you must do it.