This article is an example of a “/etc/ssh/sshd_config” file that forces the use of SSH keys. Password logins are disabled. Root logins are disable too.
Tip for testing: You can login as root, apply these settings and then test it with a second session – this won’t kick you off from your original session. However, to be safe, consider having console access just in case.
HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key SyslogFacility AUTHPRIV PermitRootLogin no RSAAuthentication yes PubkeyAuthentication yes AuthorizedKeysFile .ssh/authorized_keys PasswordAuthentication no ChallengeResponseAuthentication no GSSAPIAuthentication yes GSSAPICleanupCredentials no UsePAM yes X11Forwarding yes AcceptEnv LANG LC_CTYPE LC_NUMERIC LC_TIME LC_COLLATE LC_MONETARY LC_MESSAGES AcceptEnv LC_PAPER LC_NAME LC_ADDRESS LC_TELEPHONE LC_MEASUREMENT AcceptEnv LC_IDENTIFICATION LC_ALL LANGUAGE AcceptEnv XMODIFIERS Subsystem sftp /usr/libexec/openssh/sftp-server
