How do I set up SSH authentication keys? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate:
How can I set up password-less SSH login?

I am using ssh to connect to a remote server. I am prompted to provide a password each time, but I recall being able to set up a sort of authentication key, so that passwords were not required.

However, it has been ages, and I have forgotten just about everything about it, except the word "key". One of those things you set up and forget, and I never quite understood it to begin with.

How is it done?

Solution 1:

The answer you are looking for is here. Following is the excerpt from it :

Run the following command to create an SSH key pair. You can leave the passphrase blank if you do not wish to "unlock" your key each time you use it:

ssh-keygen -t rsa

The output will be similar to this

Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/home/a/.ssh/id_rsa): 
Created directory '/home/a/.ssh'.
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): 
Enter same passphrase again: 
Your identification has been saved in /home/a/.ssh/id_rsa.
Your public key has been saved in /home/a/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
3e:4f:05:79:3a:9f:96:7c:3b:ad:e9:58:37:bc:37:e4 a@A

Then you'll need to copy the new key to your server.

After copying the SSH keys you can log into your machine without a password.