How to configure ssh client to use private keys automatically

Question

I'm always running ssh with the -i parameter and it's a hassle to always type in the correct key for whatever host I'm connecting to.

Is there a config file or something (on Mac) to define which private key to use when connecting to a particular host?

score 36 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 22 '11 at 19:25

36

Yes, you want to create a ~/.ssh/config file. That lets you define a shortcut name for a host, the username you want to connect as, and which key to use. Here's part of mine, with hostnames obfuscated:

Host tabs
     HostName tabs.com
     User     me
     IdentityFile       ~/.ssh/new_rsa

Host scm.company.com
     User       cap
     IdentityFile       ~/.ssh/git_rsa

Host project-staging
     HostName 50.56.101.167
     User     me
     IdentityFile       ~/.ssh/new_rsa

With this I can say, ssh tabs and get connected to host tabs.com as user me, with key new_rsa, as though I'd used ssh me@tabs.com -i ~/.ssh/new_rsa.

answered Apr 22 '11 at 19:25

pjmorse

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Also a good way to go if you don't want to use `ssh-agent` for whatever reason. – voretaq7 Apr 22 '11 at 19:28
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I didn't know that was possible. +1 – Safado Apr 22 '11 at 19:48
Thanks. Maybe small addition it's worthwhile to menaion that private key files should have correct permissions like setuped like `chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa` – Konstantin Burlachenko Jul 23 '21 at 16:10
right answer and a shortcut, very smooth – jimh Nov 21 '22 at 18:16

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 22 '11 at 19:25

2

SSH clients will typically use ~/.ssh/identity (ssh v1) or one of~/.ssh/id_rsa or ~/.ssh/id_dsa (v2) as the default private key. You can change this in ~/.ssh/config (the IdentityFile parameter - the -i option to SSH actually overrides this. See man ssh_config for details).

If you have multiple private keys to deal with using ssh-agent is probably a better choice.
See man ssh-agent for more details.

answered Apr 22 '11 at 19:25

voretaq7

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+1 for describing the defaults and citing the man page. – pjmorse Apr 22 '11 at 19:42

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 22 '11 at 19:23

0

If you use different keys for different servers I don't think there is.

If you use a single key for all servers, just save it as ~/.ssh/id_rsa, it will be used automatically.

answered Apr 22 '11 at 19:23

Hubert Kario

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How to configure ssh client to use private keys automatically

3 Answers3