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jyz
Asked: 2011-05-19 05:15:20 +0800 CST

Is it possible to SSH a remote server using 2 different private keys for same user?

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     ___                                     ___  
    |   | (connecting using "hxsr")         |   |
    | A | -----------------------------> P1 | B |
    |___| -----------------------------> P2 |___|

P1 = Private key 1 from user "hxusr" from machine A
P2 = Private key 2 from user "hxusr" from machine A

As you can see I have only "hxusr" user in machine A and machine B, but I want to have to access machine B using 2 different private keys from machine A.

Is this possible?

linux unix ssh ssh-keys

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    You can certainly use your choice of more than one key, but I don't think SSH allows for requiring more than one key in a single connection. On the receiving side (your machine B) you specify a list of acceptable keys, and any of them that get provided will do the job.

    Besides the config file Ignacio mentions, the ssh command has a -i option that you can use to specify the key file of your choice when authenticating on a case by case basis when you run it.

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  2. Yes. Use multiple Host stanzas in ~/.ssh/config, each with a different key. See the ssh_config(5) man page for details.

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