Setting up SSH public/private keys SSH (Secure Shell) can be set up with public/private key pairs so that you don't have to type the password each time. Because SSH is the transport for other services such as SCP (secure copy), SFTP (secure file transfer), and other services (CVS, etc), this can be very convenient and save you a lot of typing. SSH Version 2 On the local machine, type the BOLD part. The non-bold part is what you might see as output or prompt. Step 1: % ssh-keygen -t dsa Generating public/private dsa key pair. Enter file in which to save the key (~/.ssh/id_dsa): (just type return) Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): ...