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How to set up SSH keys for Plesk server?

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Denis Bykov
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Applicable to:

  • Plesk for Linux

Question

How to set up SSH keys for Plesk server?

Answer

  1. Connect to the server via SSH.

  2. Create the RSA Key Pair:

    # ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 2048

    Use default location /root/.ssh/id_rsa and setup passphrase if required.

  3. The public key is now located in /root/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
    The private key (identification) is now located in /root/.ssh/id_rsa file.

    Note: Permissions for the private key should be 0600

  4. Copy the public key to another server using the ssh-copy-id command:

    # ssh-copy-id user@203.0.113.2

    where user and IP address should 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.pub to /root/.ssh/authorized_keys on the second server.

    Note: permissions for the authorized_keys files should be set to 0600

Since Plesk 12.0, 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:

  1. Open SSH server configuration file:

    # vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config

    1. Find the line that includes PermitRootLogin and set it to:

    CONFIG_TEXT: PermitRootLogin without-password

  2. Apply the changes:

    # service sshd reload

Comments

2 comments

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    Tyler Lazenby

    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?

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  • Avatar
    Ivan Postnikov

    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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