Web Hosting : Setting up Private/Public Keys

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This web hosting thread started by FSFOX 0n 05 January 2009

I have a dedicated server that I want to set up a private/public keys so I can log in through SSH more securely. Here is what I have done:

On my local machine, I generate the pair by using “ssh-keygen -d”, I give the key passphrase and save it to ~/.ssh/id_dsa and id_dsa.pub respectively.

I then copy the public id_dsa.pub file to my remote server, and copy it as ~/.ssh/authorized_keys2

Next, I go through the security section in CPanel and turn off SSH password authentication. I try to connect to my server “ssh root@xx.xx.xx.xx -p xxx” (I changed the ssh default port) and I type in my private key passphrase, every time I get this error message:
Permission denied (publickey,gssapi-with-mic).

I believe I am doing everything correctly, right? The private key is on my local machine and the server just gets the public key? Are there any additional configuration steps I need to take?

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