Different configurations for ssh client depending on ip address or hostname

Posted by John Smith Optional on Server Fault See other posts from Server Fault or by John Smith Optional
Published on 2013-07-01T16:46:22Z Indexed on 2013/07/01 17:08 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 221

Filed under:

ssh

|

password

|

config

|

key

I have this in my ~/.ssh/config directory:

Host 12.34.56.78
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/my_identity_file

When I ssh to 12.34.56.78, everything works fine. I'm asked for the passphrase for "my_identity_file" and I can connect to the server.

However, sometimes I'd also like to ssh to another server. But whatever the server, if I do:

ssh [email protected]

I'm also asked for the passphrase for "my_identity_file" (even though the server has a different ip address). This is very annoying because I don't have the public key for this file set up on all my servers. I'd like to connect to this other server (an old shared hosting account) with a password, and now I cant.

How do I manage to use the key authentication only with one server, and keep using password by default for servers that aren't listed in my ~/.ssh/config ?

Thanks for your help.

© Server Fault or respective owner

Related posts about ssh

Problem with hadoop start-dfs.sh

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I installed and configured hadoop on my Ubuntu 14.04 server, virtualized inside of hyper-v, however I am getting an issue when i run start-dfs.sh root@sUbuntu01:/var/log# start-dfs.sh 14/06/04 15:27:08 WARN util.NativeCodeLoader: Unable to load native-hadoop library for your platform... using builtin-java… >>> More
SSH problems (ssh_exchange_identification: read: Connection reset by peer)

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I was running 11.10 and decided to do the full upgrade and come up to 12.04 after the update SSH (not SSHD) is now misbehaving when attempting to connect to other OpenSSH instances. I say OpenSSH as I am running a DropBear sshd on my router and I am able to connect to it. When attempting to connect… >>> More
SSH main process ended

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I have a running ubuntu server 10.04.1. When I tried to login to the server via ssh, I could not. Instead, I got connection refused error. I tried to ping the machine and I got reply! So, the clear reason is that SSH daemon is stopped. After reboot, I was able to login to my server via ssh. After… >>> More
SSH server not working (respawns until stopped)

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I have a running Ubuntu Server 10.04.1. When I tried to login to the server via ssh, I could not. Instead, I got connection refused error. I tried to ping the machine and I got reply! So, the clear reason is that SSH daemon is stopped. After reboot, I was able to login to my server via ssh. After… >>> More
Cannot SSH after resetting firewall on VPS

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I'm having trouble trying to SSH to my Debian 5 VPS with blacknight. It was working fine until I did the following: Logged into 'Parallels Infrastructure Manager' - Container - Firewall - Set to 'Normal Firewall settings'. It told me there was an error with the IPTables and offered the option again… >>> More

Related posts about password

remember password is not filling the password field automatically

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
IE is not filling the password field automatically when i click on the bookmarked url. But it's working on firefix,chrome etc. I tried with autocomplete="on" but no use. IE will fill the password only When i select a usename from the possible user names which the browser had kept for each login.… >>> More
Lost shell password: change user password from root

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Hi. I recently accidentally forgot my user password to my shell. I know the root password. How do I change the user password? I figure it's something like $su root $passwd -[something] username but I can't get it to work. Halp pls? >>> More
[GEEK SCHOOL] Network Security 1: Securing User Accounts and Passwords in Windows

as seen on How to geek - Search for 'How to geek'
This How-To Geek School class is intended for people who want to learn more about security when using Windows operating systems. You will learn many principles that will help you have a more secure computing experience and will get the chance to use all the important security tools and features that… >>> More
Membership Generate Password alphanumeric only password?

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
How can I use Membership.GeneratePassword to return a password that ONLY contains alpha or numeric characters? The default method will only guarantee a minimum and not a maximum number of non alphanumeric passwords. I have the solution already but thought I'd share for future visitors. .. Answer… >>> More
Password Recovery without sending password via email

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
So, I've been playing with asp:PasswordRecovery and discovered I really don't like it, for several reasons: 1) Alice's password can be reset even without having access to Alice's email. A security question for password resets mitigates this, but does not really satisfy me. 2) Alice's new password… >>> More