3 Easy Steps To Generate SSH key Pairs in Linux

In this article, we want to teach you how to generate SSH key pairs in Linux. You can generate SSH keys in all distributions like Centos 7, Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Fedora, etc. Let’s start with a basic introduction to SSH key pairs and start to generate them.

SSH key pairs are two cryptographically secure keys that authenticate a client to an SSH (Secure Shell) server. Each key pair consists of a public key and a private key. As the SSH protocol is widely used for communication in cloud services, network environments, file transfer tools, configuration management tools, and other computer-dependent services, most organizations use SSH keys to authenticate identity and protect those services from unintended or malicious attacks.

Now that you have become familiar with SSH key pairs, you can follow the steps below provided by the Orcacore website to Generate SSH key pairs in Linux.

Table of Contents

Learn To Generate SSH key pairs in Linux

To generate SSH key pairs in Linux, you must log in to your server as a root or non-root user with sudo privileges. For this purpose, you can check the Orcacore website and search for the Initial Setup guides for Linux distributions AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, Ubuntu 24, etc.

To create an SSH key in Linux follow the steps below:

1) Check for existing SSH keys

Run this command in your terminal to check your existing SSH keys:

cd ~/.ssh

If you see “no such file or directory”, it means that there aren’t any existing keys in your Linux system.
So check to see if you have a key with the following command:

ls id_*

2) Backup old SSH keys

If you have existing keys but don’t want to use them, you can backup them by the following command:

# mkdir key_backup
# cp id_rsa* key_backup

3) Generate a new SSH key

If you don’t have an existing SSH key you can easily generate a new key by following these steps:

For generating public/private key pairs run this command in your terminal:

ssh-keygen

Just press <Enter> to accept the default location and file name. If the .ssh directory doesn’t exist, the system creates one for you.
Enter, and re-enter a passphrase when prompted.
It’s done; your keys are generated now.

Note: If you want to see all the information about your generated keys you can use the following command:

 ssh-agent

Conclusion

That’s It. At this point, you have learned the quick steps to generate SSH key pairs in Linux distributions. Hope you enjoy it. You just need to check for existing keys, back up the old SSH key, and use the SSH-keygen command to generate a new SSH key in your Linux server.

Also, you may like to read the following articles:

Using the ssh-copy-id Command

Top SSH Security Tips on AlmaLinux 9

Enable and Configure SSH on Ubuntu 22.04

Enable and Configure SSH on Debian 11

FAQs

Why should We use SSH key pairs instead of passwords?

Because passwords can be intercepted or guessed. Instead, SSH keys use complex encryption algorithms that are much harder to crack.

Where are SSH keys stored in Linux?

By default, SSH keys are stored in the ~/.ssh/ directory in your home folder.

What should I do if I lose my SSH private key?

You will not be able to authenticate with servers that rely on that key. In this case, you will need to Generate SSH key Pairs in Linux and replace the public key on all the remote servers you access.