How to create SSH keys

what is ssh? ssh (secure shell) is a cryptographic network protocol used to securely access and manage remote systems over an unsecured network it provides a secure channel through which users can log into remote machines, execute commands, transfer files, and perform administrative tasks, all while ensuring confidentiality and integrity of data ssh uses strong encryption algorithms like aes and public key cryptography to authenticate users and encrypt the communication between clients and servers it is widely used by system administrators and developers for remote management of servers, network devices, and other systems, providing a safer alternative to older protocols like telnet and ftp, which transmit data in plaintext linux to create ssh key pairs in a linux system follow these steps open a terminal window and run ssh keygen this command will create a default ssh key pair using the rsa algorithm with a key length of 2048 bits after running the command you'll see the following prompt next, you will be asked to enter a passphrase once complete, you should see the following confirmation done! now you have generated a ssh key pair adding the ssh key to a remote server (optional) using the ssh copy id utility you can add your ssh public key to a remote server to add the public key to a remote server, use the command ssh copy id user\@remote server ip after entering this command, you’ll be prompted to enter the password for the remote server once authenticated, your public key will be added to the / ssh/authorized keys file on the remote server you can now connect to the server without using a password by typing ssh user\@remote server ip windows for windows systems it's reccomended to use a third party program called putty you can download it from their official website here https //www putty org/ download the putty installer for your system (32 bit or 64 bit) and run the installer during installation, make sure to select both putty and puttygen tools open the puttygen application and click on generate move your mouse cursor around the blank area in the puttygen window to generate randomness this helps in creating a unique key pair once the key is generated, it will be displayed in the puttygen window click on save private key you will be promted to enter a passphrase this is optional but reccommended for added security chose a secure location to save your private key file click on save public key choose a location to save your public key file adding the ssh key to a remote server (optional) log in with username and password to your remote server using putty once logged in, open or create the / ssh/authorized keys file on the remote server paste the public key that you copied earlier into the authorized keys file save and close the file ensure that the permissions are set correctly now you are able to connect to the server without using a password