"UNPROTECTED PRIVATE KEY FILE!" Error using SSH into Amazon EC2 Instance (AWS)

Solution 1:

The problem is having wrong mod on the file.

Easily solved by executing -

chmod 400 mykey.pem

Taken from Amazon's instructions -

Your key file must not be publicly viewable for SSH to work. Use this command if needed: chmod 400 mykey.pem

400 protects it by making it read only and only for the owner.

Solution 2:

You are likely using the wrong username to login, because—

• Most Ubuntu images have a user ubuntu
• Amazon's AMI is ec2-user
• Most Debian images have either root or admin

To login, you need to adjust your ssh command:

ssh -l USERNAME_HERE -i .ssh/yourkey.pem public-ec2-host

Solution 3:

I know this is very late to the game ... but this always works for me:

step 1

ssh-add ~/.ssh/KEY_PAIR_NAME.pem

step 2, simply ssh in :)

ssh user_name@<instance public dns/ip>

e.g.

ssh [email protected]

hope this helps someone.

Solution 4:

Ok man, the only thing that worked for me was:

1. Change permissions of the key

   chmod 400 mykey.pem

2. Make sure to log in using ec2-user, and the correct ec2-99... address. The ec2-99 address is at the bottom of the aws console when you're logged in and seeing your instance listed

   ssh -i mykey.pem [email protected]