How to use SSH keys to access Digital Ocean droplet

##1. Background

The reason why this may be important to you is that ssh protocol is used to synchronize files between your workstation and your server. If you plan to use:

git
rsync
scp

to copy files to your Digital Ocean droplet you should start with setting up your ssh keys.

##2. Generate a new SSH key

Open your shell and create a new ssh key:

$ ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "developer@example.net" -f developer

You will be asked for a passphrase. To make the things easier you can use empty passphrase. Just press Enter key twice.

Using an empty passphrase is considered to be unsafe. For the information how to use non-empty passphrase withouth necessity of typing it again and again refer to GitHub Help tutorial: Working with SSH key passphrases

The command will create two files:

developer
developer.pub

Move these files to your .ssh/ directory.

$ mv developer* ~/.ssh

If your .ssh/ directory does not exist, you can create it with:


$ cd
$ mkdir .ssh

##3. Add the SSH key to your Digital Ocean account

##4. Create a new droplet

During creation of a new droplet remember about adding your developer key to the list of authorized keys.

##5. Update your .ssh/config

Open your SSH configuration file with vi:

$ vi ~/.ssh/config

If your .ssh/config file does not exist, you can create it with $ touch .ssh/config.

Then enter the configuration for your droplet hosted by Digital Ocean:

Host DigitalOcean
  HostName 178.62.114.201
  User root
  IdentityFile  ~/.ssh/developer

The IP comes from your droplet properties page.

##6. Verify your ssh access

Run the command:

$ ssh DigitalOcean

It should start a new ssh session to your droplet.

##7. Reading list

Github Help: Generating SSH keys
Github Help: Working with SSH key passphrases
Stackoverflow: Multiple GitHub Accounts & SSH Config
nixCraft: OpenSSH Config File Examples

How to use SSH keys to access Digital Ocean droplet

15 December 2014