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Create SSH Key Pair for an OpenStack Control Plane Node

Introduction​

In this guide, we explain how to create an SSH key pair within one of your cloud's control plane nodes.

How to Create an SSH Key Pair​

Prerequisites​

Before beginning, ensure you have SSH access as root to your cloud's control plane nodes.

Create the Key Pair​

Step 1 -- Log in to a control plane node

To begin, connect to one of your cloud's control planes nodes with SSH as root. This example connects to the control plane node identified by 173.231.254.165.

For example:

$ ssh root@173.231.254.165
Activate the web console with: systemctl enable --now cockpit.socket

Last login: Mon Nov  8 16:53:30 2021 from 173.231.218.25

Step 2 -- Create the key pair

Next, use ssh-keygen to generate an SSH key pair. This example demonstrates creating a key pair of size 4096 bits, specified by ssh-keygen -b 4096. The private key is saved in the default location of /root/.ssh/id_rsa and for additional security, a passphrase is set.

For example:

[root@relaxed-flamingo ~]# ssh-keygen -b 4096
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/root/.ssh/id_rsa):
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in /root/.ssh/id_rsa.
Your public key has been saved in /root/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
SHA256:iSR1QtRn5VVsRIklmfiWrVJPWtn0oV8HtxLLs6wA7iQ root@relaxed-flamingo.local
The key's randomart image is:
+---[RSA 4096]----+
|     o=..  .o.**=|
|     . o. oo *oo=|
|    . .  o  + *=*|
|     o o .   @ *=|
|      o S   + @ o|
|     E o . . = o |
|      +   . o    |
|       .   .     |
|                 |
+----[SHA256]-----+

Step 3 -- View contents of public key

To view the contents of the public key, use cat /root/.ssh/id_rsa.pub. If the key was saved in another location, be sure to use the appropriate file.

For example:

[root@relaxed-flamingo ~]# cat /root/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
ssh-rsa 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 root@relaxed-flamingo.local

To have access to another machine, this public key needs to exist within the file ~/.ssh/authorized_keys. For the sake of this series of guides, this public key is injected into the instance created within How to Create an Instance in OpenStack Horizon

Conclusion​

This concludes the steps needed to create an SSH key pair for one of your cloud's control plane nodes.