SSH Key Configuration Guide

<h1 style="text-align: center;">SSH Key Configuration Guide</h1>

This guide will walk you through the process of configuration of SSH key for remote SSH connections to servers on both Windows and Linux. Fast-connecting to a sever using SSH public key authentication is a SSH connection trick that makes it easy to connect to a remote server.

## Generating SSH Keys
### Windows

#### Step 1: Open Powershell Bash

Open the Powershell terminal to prepare for SSH key generation.

#### Step 2: Generate SSH Keys

In the Powershell terminal, use the following command to generate SSH keys:

```bash
# In powershell bash
ssh-keygen
```
Save it by default, the system will save the keys to [your home directory]/.ssh/id_rsa.  Unless you are an expert you should use the default option and press Enter.

#### Step 3: View SSH Keys

To view the generated SSH keys, run the following command:

```bash
# In powershell bash
cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
```

Copy the displayed key and configure it on your server.

### Linux-like systems

#### Step 1: Open Terminal

Open the terminal to prepare for SSH key generation.

#### Step 2: Generate SSH Keys

In the terminal, use the following command to generate SSH keys:

```bash
# In termianl
ssh-keygen
```

Follow the prompts to input the file save path and a passphrase. Generally, you can accept the default values by pressing Enter.

#### Step 3: View SSH Keys

To view the generated SSH keys, run the following command:

```bash
# In termianl
cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
```

Copy the displayed key and configure it on your server.

## Server Configuration

On your Azure instance/server which your code running on, add the SSH publish key you generated to the `~/.ssh/authorized_keys` file to allow remote SSH access. Ensure that your server has SSH access properly configured.

If you don't have the `authorized_keys` file under the `~/.ssh/`, just create a blank one:

```bash
# In the server terminal, use the following command
touch ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
```

On your own PC, write the alias of the server in the `~/.ssh/config` file:

![](md_img/ssh_config.png)

```bash
Host elec3120us # the alias for server
	HostName 20.38.43.192 # server IP address
	User elec3120 # server usrname
```

You have now successfully generated SSH keys and are ready for remote SSH connections to your server by typing the following to connect to server _elec3120@20.38.43.192_:

```bash
ssh elec3120us
```

We hope this guide is helpful!