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Stefano Palazzo
Asked: 2012-02-09 10:32:15 +0800 CST

Key-based SSH login with Nautilus' "Connect to Server"

  • 772

I tried loggin into an SSH server via Nautilus' "Connect to Server" feature by just leaving the password blank, but that didn't work.

How do I connect to my server using the key I have on my system?

nautilus ssh

7 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Instead of entering the username in the fields below, you'll have to prepend user@ to the server address and leave both username and password blank:

    enter image description here

    • 22

  2. I needed to connect to EC2 instance using .pem key + connect using normal username-password mode. I solved these requirements by including the Host aliases in ~/.ssh/config file. Example:

    Host ssh_using_key
HostName abc.myawesomesite.com
User ubuntu
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/MyPrivateKey.pem
Compression yes

Host ssh_using_userpass
HostName 173.193.72.103
User root
Port 2222

    Now as described above, go to File > Connect to Server in Nautilus. Example:

    For SSH using Key: 

    Server = ssh_using_key (as in the ~/.ssh/config file)
Type = SSH
Folder = /var/www
[leave User Details BLANK.]

    For SSH using Username and Password: 

    Server = ssh_using_userpass (as in the ~/.ssh/config file)
Port = 2222
Type = SSH
Folder = /home/www
User name = root
Password = lamepassword
Check Remember this password.

    Please modify this according to your need. Hope this helps someone.

    • 15

  3. As mentioned by Tom Brossman in one a comment, try this:

    ssh-add path

    where path is the path of your .pem file.

    • 9

  4. I had this issue when I stopped using Unity and switched to Gnome3 as my machine crawled along despite being way above spec with Unity.

    Anyway, I first removed my ~/.ssh/known_hosts file to ensure it wasn't a fingerprint issue. It was not so I don't think this step was necessary.

    I then tried (just for the hell of it as I'd tried everything else by now) entering my passPHRASE where it asked for my password. Lo and behold it worked.

    • 3

  5. For Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

    The nautilus window has slightly changed.

    Pre-requisites:

    1. Log in to the server.
    2. Add your public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

    Open nautilus on your local computer.

    Log in using this URL format: ssh://user@server. To cd to anything other than your home patch, append with a slash. ssh://user@server/var/www for example.

    • 2

  6. I tried Sagun's approach, but the UI for connecting to server is different in 16.04. The command or argument required now is ssh://ssh_using_key.

    • 2

  7. For those who are using key.pem follow this its works for me:

    change your key.pem file permission using:

    sudo chmod 700 key.pem

    and then add this to ~/.ssh/config (this file may not exist, if so then create it using 'cd ~/.ssh/' and then 'sudo nano config'):

    Host my_server
HostName 111.0.0.1
User ubuntu
IdentityFile /home/user/somefolder/key.pem

    111.0.0.1 is your server ip address, you can find it using this command: 

    ping mysite.com

    and then try with Nautilus/File 'Connect to Server': 

    sftp://ubuntu@myserver/home
sftp://ubuntu@myserver/var/www
sftp://ubuntu@myserver/etc

    You can change directory like this when you connect.

    OR Alternatively easy way you can use 'Remmina Remote Desktop Client' built-in on Ubuntu, you can find it on Dashboard

    Thanks.

    • 2