Copy SSH RSA key to a server

Once an SSH key has been created, the ssh-copy-id command can be used to install it as an authorized key on the server. Once the key has been authorized for SSH, it grants access to the server without a password.

Use a command like the following to copy SSH key

For Linux

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/mykey user@host

or

ssh-copy-id user@server

For Windows

type $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_rsa.pub | ssh {IP-ADDRESS-OR-FQDN} "cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys"

or

type $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_rsa.pub | ssh user@server "cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys"

This logs into the server host, and copies keys to the server, and configures them to grant access by adding them to the authorized_keys file. The copying may ask for a password or other authentication for the server.

Only the public key is copied to the server. The private key should never be copied to another machine.