I followed the instructions here in order to set up a private git server on my Amazon EC2 instance. However, I am having problems when trying to SSH into the git account. Specifically, I get the error "Permission denied (publickey)." Here are the permissions of my files/folders on the EC2 server: drwx------ 4 git git 4096 Aug 13 19:52 /home/git/ drwx------ 2 git git 4096 Aug 13 19:52 /home/git/.ssh -rw------- 1 git git 400 Aug 13 19:51 /home/git/.ssh/authorized_keys Here are the permissions of my files/folders on my own computer: drwx------ 5 CYT staff 170 Aug 13 14:51 .ssh -rw------- 1 CYT staff 1679 Aug 13 13:53 .ssh/id_rsa -rw-r--r-- 1 CYT staff 400 Aug 13 13:53 .ssh/id_rsa.pub -rw-r--r-- 1 CYT staff 1585 Aug 13 13:53 .ssh/known_hosts When checking my logs in /var/log/secure, I used to get the following error message every time I tried to SSH: Authentication refused: bad ownership or modes for file /home/git/.ssh/authorized_keys However, after making a few permission changes, I no longer get this error message. Despite this, I am still getting the "Permission denied (publickey)." message every time I try to SSH. The command I am using to SSH is ssh -T git@my-ip. Here is the full log I get when I run ssh -vT [email protected]: OpenSSH_6.2p2, OSSLShim 0.9.8r 8 Dec 2011 debug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh_config debug1: /etc/ssh_config line 20: Applying options for * debug1: Connecting to my-ip [my-ip] port 22. debug1: Connection established. debug1: identity file /Users/CYT/.ssh/id_rsa type -1 debug1: identity file /Users/CYT/.ssh/id_rsa-cert type -1 debug1: identity file /Users/CYT/.ssh/id_dsa type -1 debug1: identity file /Users/CYT/.ssh/id_dsa-cert type -1 debug1: Enabling compatibility mode for protocol 2.0 debug1: Local version string SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_6.2 debug1: Remote protocol version 2.0, remote software version OpenSSH_6.2 debug1: match: OpenSSH_6.2 pat OpenSSH* debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT sent debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT received debug1: kex: server->client aes128-ctr [email protected] none debug1: kex: client->server aes128-ctr [email protected] none debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_REQUEST(1024<1024<8192) sent debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_GROUP debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_INIT sent debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_REPLY debug1: Server host key: RSA 08:ad:8a:bc:ab:4d:5f:73:24:b2:78:69:46:1a:a5:5a debug1: Host 'my-ip' is known and matches the RSA host key. debug1: Found key in /Users/CYT/.ssh/known_hosts:1 debug1: ssh_rsa_verify: signature correct debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS sent debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS received debug1: Roaming not allowed by server debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_REQUEST sent debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_ACCEPT received debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey debug1: Next authentication method: publickey debug1: Trying private key: /Users/CYT/.ssh/id_rsa debug1: Trying private key: /Users/CYT/.ssh/id_dsa debug1: No more authentication methods to try. Permission denied (publickey). I have spent a few hours going through threads on various sites, including SO and SF, looking for a solution. It seems that the permissions for my files are all okay, but I just can't figure out the problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Edit: EEAA: Here are the outputs you requested: $ getent passwd git git:x:503:504::/home/git:/bin/bash $ grep ssh ~git/.ssh/authorized_keys | wc -l grep: /home/git/.ssh/authorized_keys: Permission denied 0