How To Generate an SSH Key on Ubuntu 20.04

1. Create an RSA Key Pair

# ssh-keygen

The command will create a 2048-bit RSA key pair by default.

You can also create a larger 4096-bit key by entering -b 4096 

The command produces this output:

Generating public/prive rsa key pair.
Enter File in which to save the key (/your_home/.ssh/id_rsa):

Press Enter to save the key pair into .ssh/, or you can specify another location to save your key.

     2. Create a passphrase

You will be prompted to create a passphrase for your SSH key. Press Enter to leave it blank and use only the key to establish SSH connections. Enter a password for an additional security layer.

    3. To display your public key enter the command below:

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

The generated key will begin with ssh-rsa.

You can now copy and paste your public SSH key to your Shell console, or any server, to establish a secure connection.