auto login from linux to windows 2k3 using openssh

Question

I'm trying to login automatically from a linux machine to a Windows Server 2003 which has installed openssh, I've generated the ssh keys and added to the authorized_keys on the W2k3 server but always ask for the password, I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or something is incompatible between them, any hint?

Thanks, Sergio.

Answer 1

This is most likely that your identity key file permissions are not secure or you are not using the correct key.

You need to run the following from the linux client machine

ssh -vvv <username>@<hostname> -i <identify_file> 

To see the debug information and that should either tell you what is going wrong or allow you to edit your question with the information required to get a more accurate answer.

Answer 2

Can you try to connect to the Windows machine with ssh -v ? The verbose trace may indicate something. Look specifically for lines that say Authentications that can continue and Next authentication method. It will indicate whether the client is even attempting the use the public-key authentication method.

Also, in the sshd_config on the windows server, make sure the option PubkeyAuthentication is set to yes (I do not know what the default setting may be.

Answer 3

If it's asking for your password, then it's something you didn't set up properly. If it's asking for your passphrase, then sounds like you want to use an ssh-agent (*BSD / Linux, etc) or something like PageNt (from PuTTy) on windows.