Set Up SSH Key Authentication and Turn Off Password Login

Overview: This article covers hardening SSH authentication by enabling SSH key-based authentication and disabling password authentication. It involves modifying the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file to set PubkeyAuthentication yes and PasswordAuthentication no, followed by restarting the SSH service to apply the changes.

Hardening Authentication in SSH

Step 1: Enable SSH Key based authentication and disable Password Authentication in sshd configuration file.

:~# vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config

PubkeyAuthentication yes

# To disable tunneled clear text passwords, change to no here!

PasswordAuthentication no

Step 2: After making changes in the SSHD configuration file save it and restart SSHD

:~# service sshd restart

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