Linux Brain Dump

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of guides on the Internet for setting up SSH so that you don’t have to use a password to authenticate. What’s different about this one? A GUI. Most of the other guides involve using the command line to create the key and send it to the proper place on the local and remote machines, but I’ll show you how to do the entire process without a command prompt… until it’s time to actually log in to the remote machine.

The software which provides the GUI is called Seahorse, and if you used my guide to set up secure email, you already have it. If not, what are you waiting for? Go read it. Alright, if you don’t care about secure email, here’s how to install Seahorse:
Go to Applications -> Add/Remove Software.
Search for and install seahorse.
Too hard, I know.

Now, go to Applications -> Accessories -> Passwords and Encryption Keys. Once the Passwords and Encryption Keys window loads, go to Key -> Create New Key. Select Secure Shell Key and then click Continue. Enter a description (I recommend something like this: username@host.domain), then click on Create and Set Up. Enter, then confirm your passphrase.

On the Set Up Computer for SSH Connection window, enter the IP or hostname of the machine you want to log in to, along with the remote user you want to log in as and click Setup.

All you have to do now is test it. Open a console window and type

ssh remoteuser@remote.computer.com

If all went well, you should be presented with a command prompt instead of a password prompt.