Can’t get SSH Public Keys working?

Having problems getting ssh to use your public key?

Log on to your server as root using a password. Remember not to log out as root until you have ssh working with your public key or you may inadvertently lock yourself off the box.. which sucks Double check your sshd_config, I use the following options (note you will have to restart ssh for these changes to take effect):

Make sure your public key is in the .ssh/authorized_keys file for the user you plan on logging onto the server as. You can use this super helpful authme bash function.

So let’s say you’ve done all this and YOU STILL CAN’T get it to work. It’s probably because you have incorrect permissions set on the .ssh directory and/or the authorized_keys file. You can check this by looking at the ssh auth log. Depending on your server OS it’s usually either /var/log/auth.log or /var/log/secure . Tail this file and see if you’re getting this message

Obviously your directory will be different depending on the name of the user you’re trying to ssh on as. But this message is the give away that your permissions are wrong. Change them with the following, assuming your username is “deploy”, otherwise just substitute that part.

Try ssh’ing on again in another terminal window and you should be good. Now it would be safe to log off as root.