SSH (Secure Shell) keys can be used as credentials to authenticate access to a given server.

They provide a more secure alternative than username/password credentials and is our recommended way to authenticate Linux Machines.

When you generate an SSH key you can optionally create a passphrase.

• The passphrase will then be needed each time the key is used and therefore provides additional security.
• You will need to know the passphrase when adding an SSH key to SQL Monitor (see Connecting to a Linux Machine)

We have the following pages to help you get started with SSH keys for your estate.

• Generating a new SSH key pair
• Proposed SSH Key authentication usage