CentOS rsync between servers using keyfile to pass credentials

scottalanmiller

Do this...

ssh-keygen -b 4096

DustinB3403

@scottalanmiller to generate the key?

DustinB3403

@scottalanmiller said in CentOS sync between servers using keyfile to pass credentials:

ok key generating.

DustinB3403

ok I've got the public and private keys

scottalanmiller

Okay, now do the same thing on the second server. Then take the contents of the public key from the first one and populate the /home/user/.ssh/authorized_keys file on the second server with it.

Obsolesce

@DustinB3403 said in CentOS rsync between servers using keyfile to pass credentials:

ok I've got the public and private keys

If you need the md5 "fingerprint", you do that like this:

ssh-keygen -E md5 -lf /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub

..or whatever the filename of your key is.

I had to do that for WinSCP and SSH.

stacksofplates

@scottalanmiller said in CentOS rsync between servers using keyfile to pass credentials:

Okay, now do the same thing on the second server. Then take the contents of the public key from the first one and populate the /home/user/.ssh/authorized_keys file on the second server with it.

I'd just do ssh-copy-id Its easier. That way there is no chance the SELinux context (or mode) for that file can change.

Emad R

Hi,

I see scott gave you some answers, but I will try to break it down easier otherwise I missunderstood the question.

So in server A and B
run this

ssh-keygen -t rsa

And press enter to accept the defaults

Now in both servers under the user account you will see hidden folder called .ssh which can be found

/home/USERNAME/.ssh
or
/root/.ssh

And inside this folder you will find :
id_rsa.pub

Copy the contents of this file in both servers A and B into a new file called and name it authorized_keys and place it in the same directory, for example server A will have key 123 server B will have key 456 in this authorized_keys it should have both entries.

And bam thats it , this is SSH pasword less login, not sure if its the same thing but seems easier and better.

travisdh1

@msff-amman-Itofficer Yes.....

Except for the root bit, that's not considered a good practice. If you want remote access as root, ssh in with a normal user account and then use sudo. Gives you a way to track what is being done in the logs.

DustinB3403

This is still requiring the ssh access key, and the root password of the remote host.

scottalanmiller

@DustinB3403 said in CentOS rsync between servers using keyfile to pass credentials:

This is still requiring the ssh access key, and the root password of the remote host.

Which did you do?

DustinB3403

Generated a public and private key on each host.

Moved the public key onto each host overwriting authorized_keys.

Using rsync -avztopgr -e "ssh -i $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys" /home/admin/summit-reg/wp-config.php sr2i:/home/admin/summit-reg/

I'm still asked for root password.

travisdh1

@DustinB3403 said in CentOS rsync between servers using keyfile to pass credentials:

This is still requiring the ssh access key, and the root password of the remote host.

???

Two different things! You ssh into the remote with the standard user. Remote access is now established and you're running as if local.

sudo does not require the root password, it requires the user authenticate to the system when used. With sudo you never require the root password. su does require the root password, but good security practice would not have anyone use su.

Also note I say authenticate to the system, a great number of different ways to do that without passwords.

DustinB3403

@travisdh1 That is the goal, to use the public and private keys to authenticate between the servers and then rsync any changes from host 1 to host 2.

DustinB3403

Any ideas guys?

Reid Cooper

@DustinB3403 said in CentOS rsync between servers using keyfile to pass credentials:

Any ideas guys?

Any error? What did you do?

travisdh1

@DustinB3403 said in CentOS rsync between servers using keyfile to pass credentials:

@travisdh1 That is the goal, to use the public and private keys to authenticate between the servers and then rsync any changes from host 1 to host 2.

Right, using ssh-copy-id is the easiest way to get the ssh keys to the proper places once generated. After that, just use rsync with ssh like normal and it won't ask for a password.

rsync -e ssh user@host:/dir /local/dir

I've distributed keys manually in the past, but ssh-copy-id is so much faster and foolproof.... yes, I can be a fool with ssh keys quite easily.

DustinB3403

@Reid-Cooper No errors, just a prompt for the root password to connect to the server.

Reid Cooper

@DustinB3403 said in CentOS rsync between servers using keyfile to pass credentials:

@Reid-Cooper No errors, just a prompt for the root password to connect to the server.

Is it root's account that you set the public key to be used for? /root/.ssh instead of /home/user/.ssh

travisdh1

@DustinB3403 said in CentOS rsync between servers using keyfile to pass credentials:

@Reid-Cooper No errors, just a prompt for the root password to connect to the server.

Let's back up a step here. Do the local files need root permission to read, and does the remote directory need root permission to write? If so, you do need to create an ssh key for the local machine root and use ssh-copy-id to copy that to the remote one.