SSH Key Authentication Using seahorse (GUI)

Seahorse is a Gnome front end for GnuPG – the Gnu Privacy Guard program. It is a tool for secure communications and data storage. Data encryption and digital signature creation can easily be performed through a GUI and Key Management operations can easily be carried out through an intuitive interface.

In addition it includes a Gedit plugin, can handle files using Nautilus, an applet for manging stuff put in the clipboard and an agent for storing private passphrases, as well as a GnuPG and OpenSSH key manager.

Install Seahorse in Debian

Use the following command to install

#aptitude install seahorse

At the time of instalaltion it will ask the following question

This will complete the installation.

Using Seahorse

Now, go to Applications -> Accessories -> Passwords and Encryption Keys to open.

Once the Passwords and Encryption Keys window loads you should see similar to the following screen.

Now you need to go to Key -> Create New Key.

Once it opens you should see similar to the following screen here you need to Select Secure Shell Key and then click Continue.

Enter a description (I recommend something like this: [email protected]),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.

Once it completed the key generation you should see similar to the following screen.


Testing Seahorse

All you have to do now is test it.

Open a console window and type

ssh [email protected]

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

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One thought on “SSH Key Authentication Using seahorse (GUI)

  1. Great post but what about if already have a personal key pair set up? i.e. this is a new O.S. install or something. How do I import my key pair and then set it as my personal key?

    many thanks,
    St.john

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