This recipe describes how to configure pfSense to use an RSA key rather than a username/password combination for authentication.
Make sure you have enabled SSH access and generated an RSA key (if you completed the last two recipes, you have).
- Navigate to
System|Advanced. - Make sure
SSHd Key Onlyis set toPublic Key Only:
- Navigate to
System|User Manager. Click on theUserstab (it should be selected by default). - Click on the
Editicon (the pencil) for the admin account. - In the
Keyssection, paste the client's public RSA key (that can be the RSA key you created in the previous recipe). When pasted, the key should appear as a single line. Make sure your text editor does not insert any line feeds, or authentication may fail:
- When done, click on the Save button.
When you connect using an SSH client, instead of asking for a username and password, the SSH server will now use your public RSA key to send a challenge to you. The challenge can only be read if you have the matching private RSA key.