SSH Keys

January 11, 2023

Matt Hammond

create ssh key in terminal

ssh-keygen -a 100 -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 -C "[email protected]"
  • -a: It’s the numbers of KDF (Key Derivation Function) rounds. Higher numbers result in slower passphrase verification, increasing the resistance to brute-force password cracking should the private-key be stolen.
  • -t: Specifies the type of key to create, in our case the Ed25519.
  • -f: Specify the filename of the generated key file. If you want it to be discovered automatically by the SSH agent, it must be stored in the default .ssh directory within your home directory.
  • -C: An option to specify a comment. It’s purely informational and can be anything. But it’s usually filled with <login>@<hostname> who generated the key.