tilde.club/docs/ssh.md

http://tilde.club uses ssh public-key authentication.

If you want access to tilde.club, create a new key pair with an encrypted key and send the public key to the admins.

##Mac

1. Open Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities).
2. In the Terminal window, paste the following: {{{ mkdir -p ~/.ssh # Create your .ssh directory ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/tilde.club # Create your keys }}}
3. The ssh-keygen program will generate two new keys (private and public), and prompt you for a password. Please set a good password (at least 9 characters, and not just letters or numbers). Make a note of it somewhere safe.
4. open ~/.ssh # Open your .ssh directory
5. Email ford@ (our friendly host) and attach tilde.club.pub to the email (it should be visible in the Finder. Do not attach tilde.club -- that is your private key, which you should never share.

##Linux

If you're on Linux you can use the same commands to generate a tilde.club keypair, but attaching tilde.club.pub is left as an exercise for the reader.

##Windows

We need instructions for using PuTTYgen to create a key in OpenSSH compatible format.

##Why?

ssh keys are more secure than classic UNIX passwords. Someone who takes over the server (sshd program) can capture the UNIX passwords of everyone who uses them to login -- this has happened.

Additionally, if you use an ssh agent, you can login without entering a password every time. On OS X the Apple Keychain provides this functionality. On Linux it's ssh-agent and possibly keychain. On Windows pageant provides this capability for PuTTY.