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Create a ssh key

Access to the INCD computing clusters is performed via SSH and requires the use of SSH keys for authentication. Authentication with passwords is not supported. Each SSH key pair has two components a public key that must be added to the hosts to be remotely accessed, and a private key that must be added to the user workstation or laptop machine. The private key must be protected with a password. The users must generate their own SSH key pair in a machine of their own. To generate an SSH key pair follow these instructions.

Linux

  • Users must generate an SSH key pair in a computer of their own (desktop, notebook etc).
  • The passphrase is used to protect the private key, please choose a good password with uppercase and lowercase characters, numbers and symbols.
$ ssh-keygen -b 4096 
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/home/username/.ssh/id_rsa): 
Created directory '/home/username/.ssh'.
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):           ----> IMPORTANT: Choose a strong password 
Enter same passphrase again:                          ----> IMPORTANT: Choose a strong password
Your identification has been saved in /home/username/.ssh/id_rsa.
Your public key has been saved in /home/username/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
  • ssh-keygen will create a pair of keys, private (id_rsa) and public (id_rsa.pub), these files are created is the user home directory under $HOME/.ssh
ls -l $HOME/.ssh/
total 8
-rw------- 1 username group 1743 Feb 19 10:52 id_rsa
-rw-r--r-- 1 username group  404 Feb 19 10:52 id_rsa.pub
  • Users must send to the INCD administrators only the public key id_rsa.pub
  • The private key must NEVER be shared with other persons.

Windows

  • For users accessing the INCD public machines we recommend the use of Linux terminal emulators in Windows like Mobaxterm

  • Windows users can also generate ssh-keys using Putty

    • Download and install Putty
    • Generate the key in your Windows machine see these examples:

  • Users must send to the INCD administrators only the public key id_rsa.pub

  • The private key must NEVER be shared with other persons.

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