How to: Add SSH key to server

There are a few ways to add a key to a server. But here we focus on the basics. Remember, this only concerns public keys

1. Using the SSH client if you already have access
2. Manually adding with access to the server
3. Get someone else to do it

Using the SSH client if you already have access

You can use the command ssh-copy-id to plop it in there

$ ssh-copy-id someserver.example

# Or if you wan't to copy a specific key
$ ssh-copy-id someserver.example -i /PATH/TO/SPECIFIC/key

You will be prompted for a password if you haven’t already added a key. Some servers don’t allow ssh with password, then this probably won’t work for you.

Manually adding with access to the server

If you don’t already have SSH access to a server for a specific user but you have other means to get on there, the process is a little more involved.

Authorized keys are stored in a file aptly called authorized_keys under the users $HOME/.ssh/ directory. The process is a bit more involved but simple enough.

# If the $HOME/.ssh directory doesn't exist, create it
$ mkdir ~/.ssh

# This folder requires specific permissions
$ chmod 700 ~/.ssh

# Then you can edit the authorized_keys file with whatever text editor
# (vi, vim, nano, etc) and copy the public key in there
$ vim ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

# Or you can simply echo the public key into it
$ echo '<KEY HERE>' >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

# This file also needs specific permissions
$ chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

And you’re done.

Get someone else to do it

Send your key to someone who has administrator access to the server and tell them to do it. Ez-pz. If you don’t like them, send it to them in a format that can’t be easily copied (jpeg screenshot or whatever).