Generating public keys
SSH also supports public key authentication, in addition to traditional passwords, which is more secure. While the encryption that SSH employs using protocol 2 is strong, the greatest encryption in the world won't save you if your password is leaked or brute-forced. This is especially catastrophic on a mission-critical server.
Utilizing public key authentication allows you to connect to a host using a private and public key relationship, instead of using a password. By default, SSH will allow a user to log in via either the username/password combination or a username / key pair combination. The first method is only as secure as the password. By utilizing public key authentication, you can bypass the need for a password completely, ...
Get Mastering Linux Network Administration now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
