SSH Key Generation

An SSH key is required when logging in to a system/server remotely to create an encrypted communication channel.

You may also want to review How to use SSH Authman - for usersPreview or Setting up SSH Authman - for server ownersPreview.

Generating an SSH Key

1. For Windows (outside of WSL), install the OpenSSH Client.

2. Open a terminal/shell on your computer.

3. Generate an ed25519 key.

   $ ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "key comment"

   If you are connecting to servers that don't support ed25519 keys, you can use an RSA key instead.   We recommend at least a 4096 key size.

   $ ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "key comment"

4. When you are prompted to provide a file path, you can press enter to keep the default location:

   > Enter a file in which to save the key (/Users/you/.ssh/id_ed25519): [Press enter]

5. When prompted, type a secure passphrase. We do not recommend having an SSH Key with no password.

   > Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): [Type a passphrase] > Enter same passphrase again: [Type passphrase again]

Install OpenSSH Client on Windows

1. Open the Settings application.

2. Search for and open “Optional features”.

3. Next to “View or edit optional features”, select View features.

4. Select “See available features”.

5. Search for “OpenSSH Client”.  Select it, and click Add.

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