SSH without password with dot pem file
 

Hi guys, i got an openstack server vm.
A ".pem" file is used to login via ssh.
User was configuring some application and it was asking for a password.
But since it uses a ".pem" file, what is the password?

Or need to create a password with the account the uses ".pem" file?

Thanks.

The authentication certificate is unrelated to the account's system password. Such a certificate is just a signed key but the server checks the validity of the signature first against another key before accepting the authentication key. That authentication key can and should have a strong passphrase, for most use-cases, but that will be separate from the system password.

Can you please rephrase the problem? It sounds like they can log in using an SSH certifiate but don't know their own system password for the account on the server.

@Turbocapitalist, yes they can login via SSH with the certificate but don't know the system password.

The login account via ssh is the default one from OpenStack, name is Ubuntu.

Should a password be created for this account?

Thanks.

If they're not doing anything with sudo or anything else which requires additional authentication then there is no pressing need to provide a password. However, do make sure that the default password has been changed.

Thanks Turbocapitalist, I got it now. I got confused with the certificate and the password. :)

I think they will need to create or change the default password since sudo is needed at times. Cheers! Thanks again for your help.