Secure Shell (SSH) is a networking protocol used to securely access remote systems, such as servers. SSH keys are used to authenticate and secure connections between two systems. In this article, we will show you how to set up SSH keys on an Ubuntu 20.04 server.

Before we begin, make sure that you have a server with a user that has sudo privileges.

Once you have a user with sudo privileges and a basic firewall configured, you can proceed with setting up SSH keys on your server.

Step 1: Install the SSH Package

The first step is to install the SSH server package on your Ubuntu 20.04 server. You can do this with the following command:

sudo apt install openssh-server

Once the installation is complete, you can proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Generate SSH Keys

Now that the SSH server is installed, you can generate a pair of SSH keys. To generate the keys, you will need to use the ssh-keygen command.

The command will prompt you to enter a file name for the key pair. You can either use the default file name or specify a custom one. It is recommended that you use a passphrase to protect the private key.

Once you have entered all the information, the key pair will be generated.

Step 3: Copy the Public Key to the Server

Now that you have generated the SSH key pair, you need to copy the public key to the server. You can use the ssh-copy-id command to do this.

The command will prompt you for the server’s password. After you have entered the password, the public key will be copied to the server.

Step 4: Test the Connection

Once you have copied the public key to the server, you can test the connection. To do this, you will need to use the ssh command.

The command will prompt you for the passphrase that you used to generate the SSH key pair. Once you have entered the passphrase, you will be logged in to the server.

Conclusion

In this article, we have shown you how to set up SSH keys on an Ubuntu 20.04 server. We have also shown you how to generate an SSH key pair and copy the public key to the server. We have also shown you how to test the connection.

Now that you have set up SSH keys on your Ubuntu 20.04 server, you can use it to securely access remote systems.