SSH Passwordless Authentication Guide

This guide will walk you through the process of setting up SSH key-based authentication to connect to your Ubuntu server without needing to enter a password each time.

Table of Contents

  1. Benefits of SSH Key Authentication
  2. Step 1: Generate SSH Keys on Your Client Machine
  3. Step 2: Transfer Your Public Key to the Server
  4. Step 3: Configure SSH on the Server
  5. Step 4: Connect Without Password
  6. Step 5: Additional Security Enhancements
  7. Troubleshooting

Benefits of SSH Key Authentication

  • More secure than password-based authentication
  • No need to remember or enter passwords
  • Protection against brute force attacks
  • Ability to revoke specific keys without changing server passwords
  • Can be used with SSH agents for convenience

Step 1: Generate SSH Keys on Your Client Machine

First, you need to generate an SSH key pair on your local machine (the computer you’ll be connecting from).

For Linux/macOS:

# Create .ssh directory if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p ~/.ssh
chmod 700 ~/.ssh

# Generate a new 4096-bit RSA key pair
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "[email protected]"

When prompted:

  • Enter a file path to save the key (or press Enter to use the default location: ~/.ssh/id_rsa)
  • Enter a secure passphrase (optional but recommended for extra security)

For Windows (using PowerShell or Git Bash):

# Using PowerShell
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "[email protected]"

# Default location will be C:\Users\YourUsername\.ssh\id_rsa

Using Ed25519 (More Secure Alternative) use it from local

For enhanced security, you can use Ed25519 keys instead of RSA:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]"

Step 2: Transfer Your Public Key to the Server

You need to add your public key to the server’s authorized keys file.

Method 1: Using ssh-copy-id (Linux/macOS)

ssh-copy-id -i /path/to/your/custom_key.pub username@server_ip_address

This will prompt for your server password one last time, and then set up the key authentication.

Method 2: Manual Copy (All Platforms)

If ssh-copy-id is not available (e.g., on Windows), you can manually copy the key:

# On Linux/macOS - display your public key
cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

# On Windows PowerShell
type $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_rsa.pub

# Or if you used Ed25519
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
  1. Copy the output (the entire string starting with ssh-rsa or ssh-ed25519)
  2. Log in to your server with your password
  3. Create or edit the authorized_keys file:
# On the server
mkdir -p ~/.ssh
chmod 700 ~/.ssh
touch ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

# Add your public key to the file
echo "YOUR_COPIED_PUBLIC_KEY" >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Method 3: Using SCP (All Platforms)

# For RSA keys
scp ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub username@server_ip_address:~/temp_key.pub

# Or for Ed25519 keys
scp ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub username@server_ip_address:~/temp_key.pub

# Then on the server:
mkdir -p ~/.ssh
cat ~/temp_key.pub >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
chmod 700 ~/.ssh
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
rm ~/temp_key.pub

Step 3: Configure SSH on the Server

For better security, modify the SSH server configuration:

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Make the following changes:

# Enable public key authentication
PubkeyAuthentication yes

# Disable password authentication (only do this AFTER confirming key auth works)
PasswordAuthentication no

# Disable root login
PermitRootLogin no

# Only allow specific users if needed
AllowUsers username1 username2

# Specify which key types are allowed
PubkeyAcceptedKeyTypes ssh-ed25519,ssh-rsa

# Only use strong ciphers and MACs
Ciphers [email protected],[email protected]
MACs [email protected],[email protected]

Make sure disable PasswordAuthentication on 50-cloud-init.conf

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/50-cloud-init.conf

Make the following changes:

PasswordAuthentication no

Save the file and restart the SSH service:

sudo systemctl restart sshd

IMPORTANT: Before logging out, test your key-based login in a new terminal to make sure it works.

Step 4: Connect Without Password

From your client machine, connect to the server:

# Basic connection
ssh username@server_ip_address

# If you used a custom key location
ssh -i ~/.ssh/your_key_name username@server_ip_address

# Specify a non-standard port if needed
ssh -p 2222 username@server_ip_address

Step 5: Additional Security Enhancements

Using SSH Config File

Create or edit ~/.ssh/config on your client machine:

nano ~/.ssh/config

Add your server details:

Host myserver
    HostName server_ip_address
    User username
    Port 22
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa
    ServerAliveInterval 60
    ServerAliveCountMax 120

Now you can connect simply by typing:

ssh myserver

Using SSH Agent

SSH agent remembers your passphrase, so you don’t have to type it every time:

# Start the SSH agent
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"

# Add your private key
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa

# For Ed25519 keys
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

For Windows Users (SSH Agent in PowerShell)

# Start the service if not running
Get-Service ssh-agent | Set-Service -StartupType Automatic
Start-Service ssh-agent

# Add your key
ssh-add $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_rsa

Troubleshooting

Permission Issues

SSH requires specific permissions on files:

# On your client
chmod 700 ~/.ssh
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa
chmod 644 ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

# On your server
chmod 700 ~/.ssh
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Connection Issues

If you’re unable to connect, check the server logs:

sudo tail -f /var/log/auth.log

Remote Server Identification Changed

If you get a “WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!” message:

# Remove the old key
ssh-keygen -R server_ip_address

Debug Connection Issues

Use verbose mode to see what’s happening:

ssh -vvv username@server_ip_address

Common Errors and Solutions

  1. Permission denied (publickey): Check file permissions and ensure the correct public key is in authorized_keys.

  2. Connection refused: Make sure SSH server is running and port is open.

  3. No matching host key type found: Update your SSH client or specify key type:

    ssh -o HostKeyAlgorithms=+ssh-rsa username@server_ip_address

  4. Host key verification failed: Remove old key with ssh-keygen -R server_ip_address.

  5. Bad owner or permissions: Fix permissions as shown in the Permission Issues section.

Security Reminder

When setting up passwordless SSH:

  1. Always keep your private key secure and never share it
  2. Use a strong passphrase to protect your key
  3. Consider using hardware security keys for enhanced protection
  4. Regularly audit authorized_keys on your servers
  5. Use fail2ban to protect against brute force attempts
  6. Consider setting up 2FA for critical servers