SSH Keys
SSH keys work using public-key cryptography to securely authenticate you without a password.
🔑 Key Concepts
• You generate a key pair:
• Private key: stays on your device (~/.ssh/id_xxxxxxx)
• Public key: gets copied to the server (~/.ssh/authorized_keys)
🔒 How It Works
1. When you try to SSH:
• The server checks if your public key is in authorized_keys.
2. If it is:
• The server challenges your client to prove it holds the matching private key.
3. Your SSH client:
• Uses your private key to solve a cryptographic puzzle.
4. If solved correctly:
• Authentication succeeds — no password needed.
✅ Why Use SSH Keys?
• More secure than passwords
• Enables automation (scripts, git, etc.)
• Easily restricted, revoked, or rotated
To avoid entering your password every time you SSH into your UniFi Dream Machine, set up SSH key-based authentication:
✅ Steps (from your Mac)
- Generate SSH Key (if you don’t already have one)
ssh-keygen -t xxxxxxx -C "unifi"
Press Enter to accept defaults. This creates ~/.ssh/id_xxxxxxx and its .pub file.
- Copy your public key to the UDM
ssh-copy-id root@192.168.1.1
If ssh-copy-id isn’t available (on macOS it might not be):
cat ~/.ssh/id_xxxxxxx.pub | ssh root@192.168.1.1 "mkdir -p ~/.ssh && cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys && chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"
- Test it
ssh root@xxx.xxx.xxxx.xxxx
You should now connect without a password.