SSH Keys#

SSH Keypairs are the most secure means of accessing remote systems over an SSH connection. Passwords are also an option, but they're not considered as safe nor as secure.

We'll cover SSH Keypairs in more detail when we look at some basic security topics. For now, just know that you generate an SSH Keypair locally, which gets you two keys: one public and one private. As the name implies you keep the private key secret. The public key is, by both definition and name, considered public and known to everyone else (which is to say: it doesn't matter if someone gets it.)

You exchange your public key with the remote server (more on that later) which then allows you to login to the user you added the key too.