setting up ssh-copy-id on ubuntu

Question

I'm trying to setup ssh-copy-id on ubuntu I need a second opinion on this, is this a missing .pub path or wrong settings for ssh

sammy@samuel-pc:~$ cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
cat: /home/sammy/.ssh/id_rsa.pub: Permission denied
sammy@samuel-pc:~$ ssh-copy-id [email protected]

/usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: ERROR: failed to open ID file '/home/sammy/.pub': No such file
    (to install the contents of '/home/sammy/.pub' anyway, look at the -f option)
sammy@samuel-pc:~$ cd .ssh
-bash: cd: .ssh: Permission denied


sammy@samuel-pc:~$ sudo ls -l ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
[sudo] password for sammy: 
-rwxr-xr-x 1 sammy sammy 397 Jul 12 20:25 /home/sammy/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

I've also tried sshing from my computer, but the authentication was broken and I tried to fix it but it fails

samuel@samuel-pc:~$ ssh-copy-id [email protected]
/usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: INFO: attempting to log in with the new key(s), to filter out any that are already installed
/usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: INFO: 1 key(s) remain to be installed -- if you are prompted now it is to install the new keys
[email protected]'s password: 
sh: 1: cannot create .ssh/authorized_keys: Permission denied

Result from sudo ls -lsa ~/.ssh

sammy@samuel-pc:~$ sudo ls -lsa ~/.ssh
[sudo] password for sammy: 
Sorry, try again.
[sudo] password for sammy: 
total 28
4 drw-rw-rw- 2 sammy sammy 4096 Jul 13 21:25 .
4 drwxr-xr-x 9 sammy sammy 4096 Jul 19 23:55 ..
4 -rwxr-xr-x 1 sammy sammy  790 Jul 13 21:35 authorized_keys
4 -rwxr-xr-x 1 sammy sammy 1675 Jul 12 20:25 id_rsa
4 -rwxr-xr-x 1 sammy sammy  397 Jul 12 20:25 id_rsa.pub
4 -rwxr-xr-x 1 sammy sammy 1024 Jul 13 12:48 .id_rsa.pub.swp
4 -rwxr-xr-x 1 sammy sammy  222 Jul 12 20:21 known_hosts

and result for ls -ld ~/.ssh

sammy@samuel-pc:~$ ls -ld ~/.ssh
drw-rw-rw- 2 sammy sammy 4096 Jul 13 21:25 /home/sammy/.ssh

How can I get right access for ssh in the server?

Solution 1

The following command should fix the permission problem of your ~/.ssh folder

chmod 700 ~/.ssh

• This will allow read/write/execution to the folder - only for the owner (yourself)
• execution means - change directory

The following command will set the correct permission of the files inside the ~/.ssh folder

chmod 400 ~/.ssh/*

• The files in ~/.ssh folder should have owner read-only permission
• chmod 400 set the owner read-only permission

After you fix the ~/.ssh folder/files permission you can try to execute again the ssh-copy-id command

Solution 2

In order to use ssh-copy-id you need to have ssh (id_rsa) key files generated. In my case I accidentally generated key with sudo which resulted in id_rsa and id_rsa.pub files generated under /root/.ssh/ instead of /home/user/.ssh/. So afterwards trying to accomplish ssh-copy-id someuser@somehost I've got:

/usr/bin/ssh-copy-id: ERROR: failed to open ID file '/home/user/.pub': No such file
(to install the contents of '/home/user/.pub' anyway, look at the -f option)

The temptation is to use -f option, however real solution is simple: just generate ssh private key without sudo:

ssh-keygen -t rsa

Typically below ~/.ssh/ file content should work:

user@ubuntu:~$ ll .ssh/
total 28
drwx------  2 user group 4096 Dec 30 16:17 ./
drwxr-xr-x 15 user group 4096 Dec 30 16:17 ../
-rw-------  1 user group 1773 Dec 30 17:23 authorized_keys
-rw-------  1 user group 1679 Jan  1  2016 id_rsa
-rw-r--r--  1 user group  399 Jan  1  2016 id_rsa.pub
-rw-r--r--  1 user group 2436 Dec 30 16:17 known_hosts
user@ubuntu:~$

Comments

[Yaron]

please edit your question and add the result of ls -lsa ~/.ssh

[muru]

WTF don't you have permissions to your own ~/.ssh?

[Ravexina]

sudo ls -lsa ~/.ssh might be better. did you create your keys using root user?

[Ravexina]

Can you add the output of: ls -ld ~/.ssh too please?

[Samuel Muiruri]

added the code @Ravexina

[Ravexina]

use chmod u+x ~/.ssh then try again.

[Samuel Muiruri]

thanks it worked. Can I use chmod 400 foldername on the other folder... where I store images I can't write data to is using sftp previously could.

[Yaron]

You can't execute chmod 400 on folders, as it will remove the option to access the files in the directory (e.g. using change dir), you can set chmod 700 dir-name

[Samuel Muiruri]

I tried chmod 700 on the folder now when I try to go into it using filezilla I get Command: cd "gallery" Error: Directory /home/sammy/revamp/gallery: permission denied Error: Failed to retrieve directory listing

[Yaron]

@SamuelMuiruri - I think that you are asking a new question, if so, please open a new question, and provide all relevant details (e.g. I'm trying to copy files using filezilla, from computerA to computerB, from folderA to folderB, the directory/file permissions on folderA is ... ls -lsa folderA. I get the following error from filezilla... etc...

[newbie]

@Yaron, is there any flag to tell ssh-copy-id to change correct the permissions as it runs?

[Yaron]

@newbie - ssh-copy-id manual doesn't include such flag

[Shadab K]

it didn't fix my issue