IRCNow

This is an extension of How to login into shell via PuTTY/Windows, How to login into shell via Macintosh and How to login into shell via Android using Termux

Using SSH Keys

What is it?

Secure SHell (SSH) keys are essentially the use of manually generating a public-private key pair to perform the authentication. This allows users or programs to log in without having to specify a password.

More information can be found here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Shell

Why?

  • Public key (pubkey or SSH key) are more secure than password-only login,
  • It does not require the end user to remember their password in order to login,
  • It is not mandatory to use this feature but is recommended if you are conscious over security.

How?

For now, this page acts as a placeholder. Depending on your device, you may wish to refer to the following websites for more information on how to set it up.

RSA vs ecdsa vs ed25519

We accept RSA, ecdsa and ed25519 keys. In case you are wondering, ed25519 appears to be the most robust algorithm, followed by ecdsa and then RSA.

Pick one.

Windows via PuTTY

Windows via CMD, Linux and MacOS

Android

Install termux from PlayStore or F-Droid

Install openssh:

$ pkg install openssh

Generate key pair

$ ssh-keygen -t ed25519
Generating public/private ed25519 key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/data/data/com.termux/files/home/.ssh/id_ed25519): [enter] or specify where you want to store both keys
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in /data/data/com.termux/files/home/.ssh/id_ed25519.
Your public key has been saved in /data/data/com.termux/files/home/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Copy your public key to our server and login in using public key authentication method

$ ssh-copyid /data/data/com.termux/files/home/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub youruser@shell.ircnow.org
$ ssh -i /data/data/com.termux/files/home/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub youruser@shell.ircnow.org

Bookmark this connection

$ vi /data/data/com.termux/files/home/.ssh/config
Host shell
        HostName shell.ircnow.org
        User     youruser
        Port     22
        IdentityFile /data/data/com.termux/files/home/.ssh/id_ed25519
 

Congratulations. You may now login to our shell securely by simply running:

$ ssh shell

UNIX-like OS (BSD, Linux, Minix, illumos, MacOS)

Generate key pair

$ ssh-keygen -t ed25519
Generating public/private ed25519 key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key ($HOME/.ssh/ed25519): [enter] or specify where you want to store both keys
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in $HOME/.ssh/ed25519.
Your public key has been saved in $HOME/.ssh/.ssh/ed25519.

Copy your public key to our server and login in using public key authentication method

$ ssh-copyid $HOME/.ssh/ed25519.pub youruser@shell.ircnow.org
$ ssh -i $HOME/.ssh/ed25519.pub youruser@shell.ircnow.org

Bookmark this connection

$ vi $HOME/.ssh/config
Host shell
        HostName shell.ircnow.org
        User     youruser
        Port     22
        IdentityFile $HOME/.ssh/ed25519

Congratulations. You may now login to our shell securely by simply running:

$ ssh shell