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Currently, I am trying to edit a file on a remote server using Vim's built-in netrw plugin. I can SSH fine into my Amazon EC2 server using a command like this: 

ssh -i <keyfile> bitname@<ec2-address>

However, I'd like to be able to use my own Vim configurations and have been trying to use scp like this:

:e scp://user@<ec2-address>//

But without a parameter to enter my keyfile, I get a permission denied (publickey) error.

Is there a parameter that I can use to enter my keyfile or another solution I am overlooking?

Thanks in advance,

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I haven't got Vim's netrw plugin, but try the following.

Create an ssh client config file for your host. Put the following in $HOME/.ssh/config:

Host myserveralias
Hostname ec-address
User user
IdentityFile /path/to/keyfile
PasswordAuthentication no

Replace the values according to your host of course. Then login using an scp URL like this:

:e scp://myserveralias//

Most ssh cliets on Linux honour the client configuration file (also a sytem-wide one in /etc/ssh/ssh_config (not to be confused with sshd_config). I hope your plugin will do so too. For more configuration options see man ssh_config. Debugging using ssh -vvv usually helps you out.

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  • Thank you! This worked perfectly. Another alternative solution I found was to use Transmit to mount as a drive. Then using Terminal, I could open up the files in Vim.
    – Delos Chang
    Sep 14, 2012 at 0:54

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