Generating an SSH Key

Series: first-crossing · Part 2

An Ed25519 SSH key gives the realm a stable public key without sending your private key anywhere.

Check first

ls ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

If both files exist and you know their passphrase, you can use them. Otherwise create a dedicated key:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -a 64 -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_archipelago -C "archipelago"

Set a passphrase. The .pub file is public; the file without .pub is private.

~/.ssh/id_ed25519_archipelago      private — do not share
~/.ssh/id_ed25519_archipelago.pub  public

Connect with the dedicated key:

ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_archipelago -p 2222 [email protected]

On first connection, the realm converts the 32-byte public key into a self-resolving did:key. The current engine does not generate the old did:archi: identifier shown in earlier documents.