== Using a ssh key pair ==


Sometimes it's irritating that you are always asked for your password while using SVN. Therefore, it can be useful to use an encrypted key-pair (public key+private key) to do the job for you. 

(1) Create the key pair by typing 


{{{
ssh-keygen -t dsa
}}}


Now you are prompted for a password for the private key. You can choose an empty password, which means that you can use your private key without a password. However, if somebody steals your private key, then he can do this too...

If you decide to use a "real" password, then you also have to follow point (3) below. This must be done everytime you start a new bash!


(2)  Copy the public key to the remote system and cat it into autorized_keys:

{{{
scp ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub user@remote-system:~/key.pub
ssh user@remote-system
cat ~/key.pub >> .ssh/authorized_keys
rm ~/key.pub
}}}



(3) If you have chosen a "real" password for your private key:

Type in your shell 


{{{
exec ssh-agent bash 
}}}


and


{{{
ssh-add
}}}


to start a ssh-key-agent. 

After doing this once, you can use the shell without password for the rest of its lifetime. When starting a new shell, you must repeat this procedure (exec ssh-agent bash;ssh-add)!


----

see also [http://www.schlittermann.de/doc/ssh]