🔐 Set Up SSH Key Authentication

Using SSH keys is more secure than password-based login.

---

🛠 Step 1: Generate an SSH Key (Local Machine)

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]"

Press Enter to accept defaults. This creates:

• ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 (private key)
• ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub (public key)

---

📤 Step 2: Copy Public Key to VPS

ssh-copy-id yourusername@your_vps_ip

OR manually copy the .pub contents into:

~/.ssh/authorized_keys

---

🧪 Step 3: Test SSH Key Login

In a separate terminal, test:

ssh yourusername@your_vps_ip

You should log in without a password.

---

🚫 Step 4: Disable Password Authentication

Once key-based login works, disable password auth:

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Find and edit:

PasswordAuthentication no

Save and restart:

sudo systemctl restart ssh

✅ Your server now only allows SSH access using your key.