# Passwordless ssh connection from Windows ## Create and Install SSH Key First of all, we need to create a new key in the Windows pc (where we start the connection) using: `ssh-keygen -t rsa` Don't change the default path or remember where you saved the key, it will be used for the next command. Press enter another two times to avoid using a passphrase (if you don't want it). After that, if you haven't change the default path, the key will be created into `{USERPROFILE}\.ssh\id_rsa.pub`. Now, you can usually use the command `ssh-copy-id` for installing the key on the remote host, but unfortunately this command is not available on Windows, so we have to install it using this command: `type $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_rsa.pub | ssh {REMOTE_HOST} "cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys"` or if your key is not in the default path: type `{RSA_KEY_PATH} | ssh {REMOTE_HOST} "cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys"` and replace the `{RSA_KEY_PATH}` with your RSA path. Replace `{REMOTE_HOST}` with the remote host IP/Name (like `pi@192.168.0.1`), launch the command, insert the password if required, and the work is done! ## Hosts ### docker-01.home.ramberg.net `$env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_rsa.pub | ssh rcadmin@docker-01.home.ramberg.net "cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys"` ### database.home.ramberg.net `$env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_rsa.pub | ssh rcadmin@database.home.ramberg.net "cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys"` ### backup.home.ramberg.net `$env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_rsa.pub | ssh root@backup.home.ramberg.net "cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys"` ## IMPORTANT! ### SETTING UP `.ssh` FOLDER If the `~/.ssh` folder is not existing in your remote host, you need to configure them, this is usually done by the command `ssh-copy-id`, but we can not access to this power from Windows! You need to connect to the remote host in ssh and create the `.ssh` directory and the `authorized_keys` file for the first time: ``` ssh {REMOTE_HOST} Create the .ssh directory: mkdir ~/.ssh Set the right permissions: chmod 700 ~/.ssh Create the authorized_keys file: touch ~/.ssh/authorized_keys Set the right permissions: chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys ``` ### NOTE The `authorized_keys` is not a folder, if you try to create it using `mkdir`, the SSH connection passwordless will not work, and if you debug the ssh on the host, you will notice an error/log similar to: ~/.ssh/authorized_keys is not a key file. ### ADD YOUR SSH KEY ON YOUR AGENT Run those two lines on your Windows pc to add the created key on your cmd/powershell: ``` ssh-agent $SHELL ssh-add ```