SSH Keys and Configuration

Ensure a user ssh-agent is running

systemctl --user enable --now ssh-agent

Generate a new ED25519 key and ssh-add

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "username@ecu.edu"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Note: Replace username with your PirateID.

Create SSH Client Configuration File: ~/.ssh/config

mkdir -p ~/.ssh && chmod 700 ~/.ssh
vim ~/.ssh/config

⤷ -p : If the specified parent directory DNE, mkdir -p will create it along with any necessary intermediate directories.
⤷ 700 : Octal representation of permissions passed to chmod (command that changes file mode bits).

vim ~/.ssh/config

Enter or paste the following:

Host ecu
    HostName csstu.intra.ecu.edu
    User username  # PirateID
    Port 22
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
    StrictHostKeyChecking accept-new
    UserKnownHostsFile ~/.ssh/known_hosts

Pre-add the server host key (optional):

ssh-keyscan csstu.intra.ecu.edu >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts

Install your public key on the server:

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub ecu

Expected output (example):

/usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: INFO: Source of key(s) to be installed: "/home/user/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub"
...
Number of key(s) added: 1
Now try logging in with: ssh -i /home/user/.ssh/id_ed25519 'ecu'

where user would be your home user directory.