SSH Keys for Resellers

I generally use PuttyGen to generate 4096 bit RSA keys for server access. I use putty for shell access and WinSCP for SFTP.

Used in conjunction with the Pageant SSH agent (for win) I have secure passwordless access to all of my servers, only needing to enter my passphrase once. This makes management of multiple servers / accounts so much easier.

You can also write a script that will setup a template authorized_keys file on account creation. This means you'll always have secure SSH / SFTP access to client accounts without password resets etc.

Most DC techs that I've dealt with in the past have been happy to send me a public key that I then add manually to the root authorized_keys file under /root/.ssh/authorized_keys.

However, there have been times when techs have been unable / unwilling to use keys, in this case I temporarily enable password authentication while they carry out their work, then disable it afterwards.

The hardest thing with getting people to use keys is the initial setup, once that's done, it's much easier than the old password based method and so much more secure.

Ked