CS Technical FAQ

The use of shosts has been disabled on Computer Science machines. We recommend using ssh keys if you want to login to another account (such as a class account) via SSH.

To generate the ssh key, use the "ssh-keygen" command:
$ ssh-keygen -t rsa

You will be prompted with a few questions - usually the defaults will be fine. We highly recommend using a passphrase to help protect your key. Creating a passphrase is one of the questions you will be prompted with during key creation.

 If you need to add a passphrase to an existing key, use the following command:

 $ ssh-keygen -p

You will be prompted for the name of the file in which the key is. Unless you have multiple keys, the default should be fine. Enter a passphrase that is easy to remember but hard to figure out. Be sure to use something you can remember, because if you forget the passphrase, the key is useless. 

Next, copy the contents of ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub to the file ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Now, when you ssh between CS machines, your ssh key will be used, instead of password authentication.

Note: If you are a TA who needs access to a class account via SSH keys, please see our FAQ entry SSH access to CS class accounts for Teaching Assistants.