Topic - Troubleshooting
If public key authentication is not working, try the following checks:
- Disable public key authentication in the SSH configuration window, and verify that you can log on to the SSH server using
password authentication alone.
If you cannot log on to the SSH server using password authentication alone, then check the Destination Address and the Port Address, and verify that you are using a valid user id on the host on which the SSH server resides.
- Verify that you are using the correct keystore password, key alias, and key alias password in the SSH configuration window.
You can verify these values by invoking keytool with the
-list
function to list the public-private key entry in the keystore file. For the list function to succeed you must specify the correct keystore password, key alias, and key alias password. - Verify that the keystore file on the workstation for the SSH client is in the correct subdirectory and has the correct
name.
If you have specified the default path and file name for the keystore file (by leaving this field blank in the SSH configuration window), then verify that the default path and file name are correct for the client workstation that is failing.
-
Verify that the keystore on the client workstation has the correct keystore password, key alias, and key alias password in the SSH configuration window. (See item 2 above.)
-
Verify that the configuration of the public key on the SSH server is correct, by consulting with the system administrator for the SSH server.
- Verify that the file ownership and file permission settings on the host meet the requirements set by the SSH server, by
consulting with the system administrator for the SSH server.
As an example, the settings in the following table seem to be required by the default SSH server configuration on Red Hat Linux 8.0. (These values are provided only as an example of the type of requirements that an SSH server could impose. These values may not be correct for your SSH server, even if the platform is Red Hat Linux 8.0.) The entries in this table assume that the user id is
user1
.Item: Setting: Owner and group for directory .ssh
user1 Permission settings for directory .ssh
rwx------ Owner and group for file authorized_keys
user1 Permission settings for file authorized_keys
rw-------