Applicable to:
- Plesk for Linux
Question
How to set up SSH keys for Plesk server?
Answer
-
Connect to the server via SSH.
-
Create the RSA Key Pair:
# ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 2048
Use default location
/root/.ssh/id_rsaand setup passphrase if required. -
The public key is now located in
/root/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
The private key (identification) is now located in/root/.ssh/id_rsafile.Note: Permissions for the private key should be
0600 -
Copy the public key to another server using the
ssh-copy-idcommand:# ssh-copy-id user@203.0.113.2
where
userandIP addressshould be replaced with second server's credentials.Note: in case ssh-copy-id is missing on RHEL-based system, use the following command to install required package:
# yum install openssh-clients
Alternatively, copy the content of
/root/.ssh/id_rsa.pubto/root/.ssh/authorized_keyson the second server.Note: permissions for the
authorized_keysfiles should be set to0600
SSH Keys Manager can be used to upload public part of SSH key pair to a Plesk server.
Additional information
After successful login using the SSH key, it is possible to restrict the password-based login:
-
Open SSH server configuration file:
# vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config
- Find the line that includes
PermitRootLoginand set it to:
CONFIG_TEXT: PermitRootLogin without-password
- Find the line that includes
-
Apply the changes:
# service sshd reload
Comments
2 comments
How would one do this without access to the server via SSH? For example if the server is configured to not have password protection on SSH?
Hello @Tyler,
There are several options:
1) To may contact a service provider who provides the server to do it on their side.
2) You may have console access to the server.
3) Most common case, which does not suit you: SSH access using password works.
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