[SOLVED] How to create an SSH user account on my laptop
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I never considered I would want to remote access my laptop, or that I would be able to figure out how (I know....). In any case, my (only) username and password are not all that complicated - just there for deterence more than anything else (I have a barely functioning battery and a FDE hard drive, so if you're going to unplug and transport this baby, it'll shut off; my hard drive PW is solid).
In any case, I wanted to create another account that I could use to log into with SSH to be able to access files. I've started by disabling SSH login to my current user account (DenyUsers myusername). I know I could add a new user to my system with its own home directory and all, but I want it as least 'present' or invasive as possible. So in sum, is there a way to create an SSH only user, and if so, how?
I thought I would check here to get some pointers, to be sure I don't mess up my system!
I think I would firstly ask why you do not want to use your regular account?
I ask as, when you setup your ssh key and passphrase, it is this passphrase that will be used and not your non-complicated password.
You may want to fill in the details on which version of Fedora you are on so our Fedora experts know which advice to give.
Hi, thanks very much for the response. I am running Fedora 9. After reading your message, I realize that I'm not doing things to best way. Up to now, I've always done ssh IP -l username, and that's it. I did a search again and found this website, http://www.puddingonline.com/~dave/p...s-HOWTO-5.html , which looks pretty good for my purposes (nice and basic!). Once I set up the the passphrase and keygen together, I would then presumably need to make the change to prevent login via the basic username & password method, right?
Looking at a different scenario, applying this to a virtual server environment where I don't have physical access to the machine, if I had one key on my flash drive and another on my computer, and lost my flash drive, presumably I could log in (from my home computer), create a new key, and delete the old one, right?
I would then presumably need to make the change to prevent login via the basic username & password method, right?
I am presuming you mean to stop the basic name and password through ssh, I would think yes but am not a 100% sure as I have always used the passphrase
(hopefully someone else might help with this bit)
Quote:
Looking at a different scenario, applying this to a virtual server environment where I don't have physical access to the machine, if I had one key on my flash drive and another on my computer, and lost my flash drive, presumably I could log in (from my home computer), create a new key, and delete the old one, right?
Just upgraded all my SSH logins to key + passphrase - including my virtual dedicated server, verified they work (!!), and disabled password authentication. The VDS for some reason was a nightmare - almost 2 hours to figure out! - but everything's all working and switched over now. Thanks for the guidance, sometimes a basic understanding is what's needed...
Quote:
when you setup your ssh key and passphrase, it is this passphrase that will be used and not your non-complicated password
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