Linux – Allow either password or private key SSH authentication

linuxSecurityssh

I set the lines PasswordAuthentication yes and PubkeyAuthentication yes in /etc/ssh/sshd_config. I also disabled root login for security purposes. I can now SSH with a user's password without specifying my private key. However I am now unable to deploy over ssh to my server from a script because I would need to specify the password. Therefore I would like the option to ssh into my server without a password by just specifying the private key. However I am always being asked for the password, even if I pass the private key to the -i option. How can I set this up?

Please note that this is not a passphrase associated with the private key, but rather the password associated with the user. It's the password created with the passwd command.

Best Answer

If the SSH key isn't passphrase locked, the most likely problem is permissions on the destination user's ~/.ssh directory or ~/.ssh/authorized_keys (or ~/.ssh/authorized_keys2) file. I usually set those 600 and 644 respectively, and things work for me.

For Git Bash

If you are running msysgit (I am assuming you are) and are looking to run Git Bash (I recommend it over TortoiseGit, but I lean to the CLI more than GUI now), you need to figure out what your home directory is for Git Bash by starting it then type pwd (On Windows 7, it will be something like C:\Users\phsr I think). While you're in Git Bash, you should mkdir .ssh.

After you have the home directory, and a .ssh folder under that, you want to open PuTTYgen and open the key (.ppk file) you have previously created. Once your key is open, you want to select Conversions -> Export OpenSSH key and save it to HOME\.ssh\id_rsa. After you have the key at that location, Git Bash will recognize the key and use it.

Note: Comments indicate that this doesn't work in all cases. You may need to copy the OpenSSH key to Program Files\Git\.ssh\id_rsa (or Program Files (x86)\Git\.ssh\id_rsa).

For TortoiseGit

When using TortoiseGit, you need to set the SSH key via pacey's directions. You need to do that for every repository you are using TortoiseGit with.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Linux – SSH doesn’t ask for password, gives “permission denied” immediately

Git for Windows – How to Tell Git Where to Find Private RSA Key

For Git Bash

For TortoiseGit

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