Public key authentication (SSH Key) is a more secure alternative to password
authentication that allows users to avoid entering or storing a password, or sending it over
the network. Public key authentication uses the client computer to generate the key-pair (a
public key and a private key). The public key is then provided to the remote computer's
administrator to be installed on that machine.
-
Create a .ssh directory in your home directory if it does
not already exist:
$ mkdir /home/username/.ssh
Go to the .ssh folder:
$ cd /home/username/.ssh
-
Run ssh-keygen to generate an SSH key-pair.
Run the following command in the .ssh folder. The
program prompts you for the key-pair's filename. Press ENTER to use the
default name id_rsa. For a passphrase, you can either
enter a password, or press return twice to leave it blank:
# ssh-keygen -t rsa
-
Retrieve the public key file.
The key-pair is generated to your home directory's
.ssh folder. For
example, assuming you generated the key with the default name
id_rsa:
/home/username/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
Provide
the public key file (for example, id_rsa.pub) to your
server administrator so that it can be set up for your server connection.
-
Use the key in an async session.
Use the option -i
private_key_file, instead of -w
password, as in the following example:
$ async -N TestBackup -d /tmp/dir -r user@server:/tmp/dir -i PATH_TO_THE_PRIVATE_KEY_FILE
Note: Your private key and public key must be located in the same directory.