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Date:      Fri, 20 Jan 2006 07:57:49 +0000
From:      Matthew Seaman <m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk>
To:        Peter <petermatulis@yahoo.ca>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org, Beech Rintoul <akbeech@gmail.com>
Subject:   Re: sshd question
Message-ID:  <43D097FD.6050401@infracaninophile.co.uk>
In-Reply-To: <20060120030543.92943.qmail@web60018.mail.yahoo.com>
References:  <20060120030543.92943.qmail@web60018.mail.yahoo.com>

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Peter wrote:
> --- Beech Rintoul <akbeech@gmail.com> wrote:
>=20
>> I'm trying to set up ssh to use keys to authenticate on a remote serve=
r.
>> I've=20
>> always used passwords in the past. I generated a key pair and exported=

>> my=20
>> public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the remote machine. I changed =

>> sshd_config to "PasswordAuthentication no". when I login the remote
>> machine=20
>> still asks for a password. What do I change to just use the key to log=

>> in?=20
>=20
> I'm assuming you do not want to enter anything to log in right?  If so,=

> you need a private key with a blank passphrase.  It's hard to say from
> here but it may be that you are being prompted for the passphrase to
> unlock your private key.

No, no, no.  ssh keys with out pass-phrases are a liability.  It really i=
s a
bad idea to do that.

What the OP should do instead is use ssh-agent -- I fire it up from .xses=
sion
when I log into my desktop.  Then load your key into the agent:

    ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_dsa

which will require you to give the pass phrase.  However, that's the one =
and
only time you'll need to do that.

Then when you ssh into a box, it should auth against your key automatical=
ly.  If
you take care to always use the '-A' flag when you ssh in:

    ssh -A hostname

then you can bounce through several machines, and the auth requests will =
be
relayed back to the ssh-agent on your desktop.[*]

	Cheers,

	Matthew

[*] Agent forwarding is off by default in /etc/ssh/ssh_config (client sid=
e)
but permitted in /etc/ssh/sshd_config (server side) -- but the -A flag
overrides the client settings.

--=20
Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil.                       7 Priory Courtyard
                                                      Flat 3
PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey         Ramsgate
                                                      Kent, CT11 9PW


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