SSH key for connecting to equipment
Connection to the equipment through the graphical interface is performed via SSH. Authorization can occur either by password or by using a key — the latter method is more secure.
In this section, we will cover the key-based authorization process.
Connection must be made under a user with sudo privileges or as root (not recommended).
Add a sudo user on the equipment: Sudo user.
Add a sudo user on the equipment: Sudo user.
sshd configuration
The configuration file is located at /etc/ssh/sshd_config
.
We recommend checking the PubkeyAuthentication
property — if it is missing, commented out, or set to no
, change the property value to yes
.
After any changes to the
/etc/ssh/sshd_config
file, the sshd service must be restarted with the command
sudo systemctl restart sshd
Step 1. Creating a key
- Navigate to the Administrator → SSH Keys section
- Click on the + at the top of the screen to add a new key
- Enter the key name
- Upload the public and private key files
- If you already have ready-made keys, you can upload them by clicking the appropriate buttons
- If the necessary ssh files are missing, they can be generated by clicking on the key icon. Optionally, you can add a passphrase. Then click Generate
After generating the ssh files, download the public key to add it to the server.
If necessary, you can also download the private key — this is only possible at this stage.
- If the private key is encrypted, provide the passphrase set during key creation
If no passphrase was set, leave the field blank - Click Save
Step 2. Adding the ssh key to the equipment
- Navigate to Administrator → Equipment
- Open the equipment settings. The ssh key can be added to new or existing equipment.
- Create new equipment: click on the + at the top of the screen
- Edit existing equipment: click the edit icon to the left of the equipment
- When creating new equipment, fill in all fields with the necessary information. More details in the Equipment management section.
- Select the Key-based authorization type
- In the SSH Key field, select the previously created key. Or by clicking on the + create a new SSH key, the process is identical to that described in Step 1. Creating a key (starting from point 4)
- Click Save
Step 3. Adding the ssh key to the server
- Under the root user, navigate to the
/root/
folder
Under a regular user, navigate to the/home/<username>/
folder - Go to the hidden directory
/.ssh/
- Open the
authorized_keys
file - Add the public key content to the file
After completing these steps, check the connection by clicking on the Hardware State button in the Administrator → Equipment section.
If all properties are in the “Ok” state, the connection was successful.