Set up your SSH key-based authentication from Windows in a single line

Linux-to-Linux SSH setups are straightforward, but the Windows OpenSSH client needs a different approach to copy a generated key for password-less logins.

Generate your private and public keys in your Windows PowerShell shell¶

Execute the command below in Windows Terminal or any other terminal in Windows:

ssh-keygen

This generates the keys in the local host's Windows profile directory under the .ssh/ sub-directory.

You can access it in this location on Windows by using the key combination Win + R and then entering this text in the Run window:

%userprofile%/.ssh/

That directory will include: - your generated private key id_rsa - your generated public key id_rsa.pub

The public key is the one we'll copy into any remote host we want to connect without using a password.

Copy the public key with a single line¶

The command below performs the equivalent of ssh-copy-id using the OpenSSH client on Windows. Edit user@host.address with the remote user and host IP/hostname.

type .ssh\id_rsa.pub | ssh user@host.address "mkdir -p .ssh && cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys"

This makes it possible to login directly to your remote host by simply using:

ssh user@host

Password-less login is now available: