SSH Key Configuration

SSH keys let you reach your servers without passwords. This is plain SSH, independent of rdc: you generate one key on your laptop, then authorize it on each server.

Watch the tutorial

How it works

Generate a key, then authorize it on each server

Generate an SSH key on your laptop. Once, ever.
Authorize it on each server with ssh-copy-id. Repeat for every server.

Step 1: Generate a key

If you already have a key you want to use, skip ahead. Otherwise:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Generate a new SSH key on your laptop. Ed25519 is secure, small, and well supported. Run it once; the same key works for every server. This is plain SSH and has nothing to do with rdc.

ed25519 is the modern default: small, fast, and well-supported.

Step 2: Authorize your first server

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub <user>@<server-ip>

Authorize the key on your first server with ssh-copy-id. It appends your public key to the server's authorized_keys so future logins skip the password.

Replace <user> and <server-ip> with the SSH user and IP of your server. You’ll be prompted for your server password one last time. After this, password authentication is no longer required.

Step 3: Authorize any other servers

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub <user>@<another-server-ip>

Repeat ssh-copy-id for every other server you manage. Here we authorize the second one.

Repeat ssh-copy-id for every machine you manage. That’s all SSH needs. In the next tutorial, rdc uses this key automatically.

Next: Adding Your First Server.