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How to generate an SSH key pair in Mac OS?

You can generate a key in Mac OS using the ssh-keygen command. You should run it in Terminal. You will be asked for a file in which the key should be saved to and for a passphrase (password) for the key:

 

user@localhost: ssh-keygen -t dsa
Generating public/private dsa key pair.

Enter file in which to save the key (/Users/user/.ssh/id_dsa): id_dsa
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):

Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in id_dsa.
Your public key has been saved in id_dsa.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
16:8e:e8:f2:1d:c9:b9:cf:43:9a:b3:3c:c1:1f:95:93 user@localhost

 

 

This will create a private key written to ~/.ssh/id_dsa and a public key written to ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub. The passphrase is used to protect your key. You will be asked for it when you connect via SSH.