SSH Key Generator

Generate SSH key pairs for secure authentication.

What Are SSH Keys?

SSH (Secure Shell) keys are cryptographic key pairs used for authenticating to remote servers without passwords. Each pair consists of a public key (shared with servers) and a private key (kept secret on your machine). When you connect, the server verifies your identity by challenging your private key against the stored public key.

SSH key authentication is considered far more secure than password-based login because keys are virtually impossible to brute-force and are not vulnerable to phishing attacks.

How SSH Key Authentication Works

  1. You generate a key pair (public + private) using this tool or a command like ssh-keygen.
  2. You copy your public key to the remote server (usually to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys).
  3. When connecting, your SSH client uses your private key to prove your identity.
  4. The server verifies the signature against your public key and grants access — no password needed.

Common Use Cases

  • Server administration: Securely access Linux/Unix servers via SSH without passwords.
  • Git authentication: Push and pull code from GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket using SSH keys.
  • CI/CD pipelines: Automate deployments by authenticating build servers with SSH keys.
  • Secure file transfer: Use SCP or SFTP with key-based authentication.
  • IoT and embedded devices: Manage remote devices securely without exposing passwords.

SSH Key Best Practices

  • Never share your private key. Only the public key should be distributed to servers.
  • Use a passphrase to encrypt your private key file for an extra layer of protection.
  • Use one key pair per device — if a device is compromised, you only need to revoke that key.
  • Rotate keys periodically and remove old public keys from servers you no longer access.
  • Prefer Ed25519 or RSA 4096-bit keys — older RSA 1024-bit keys are no longer considered secure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Keys are generated on our server and sent to your browser over HTTPS. We do not store, log, or retain any generated keys. For maximum security, you can also generate keys locally using ssh-keygen.

RSA is the older, widely-supported algorithm (use 4096-bit for security). Ed25519 is a newer, faster elliptic curve algorithm with smaller keys and strong security. Most modern SSH servers support both.

Copy the public key text and append it to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the remote server. On Linux/macOS you can use ssh-copy-id user@server. On GitHub, go to Settings → SSH and GPG Keys → New SSH Key.