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When connecting via SSH my terminal wants to use id_rsa by default. I don't want to use that key for this particular server. So I am forced to specify the proper key path when connecting:

This works to connect: ssh -i /Users/myuser/.ssh/mykey serveruser@server.com

But I would prefer to use the following to connect: ssh user@server.com

My Question: Is there a way to indicate in known_hosts or other config that SSH should use the key located at /Users/myuser/.ssh/mykey when serveruser is connecting to server.com?

Thanks!

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  • Have you considered using a function or script to replace ssh? It is then a straightforward task to scan the parameters and add the extra parameter to use the other key when connecting to server.com.
    – AFH
    Dec 12, 2017 at 17:06

2 Answers 2

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One option you could consider would be to user the .ssh/config file.

Example: .ssh/config

Host server.com
    HostName server.com
    User serveruser
    IdentityFile /Users/myuser/.ssh/mykey

By doing this you could execute "ssh server.com". The config file would use the specified Username and Identity File.

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  • Addition: You can use ~/.ssh/mykey for a local key file, also on Windows.
    – Lii
    May 26, 2019 at 11:33
  • Note that if you don't have the config file in your .ssh folder you must create it first and note that the User line is optional
    – Georgi Peev
    Jun 30, 2020 at 20:17
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An additional option would be to use ssh-agent.

If you add all of your identities to it

ssh-add .ssh/id_rsa
ssh-add .ssh/mykey

When you connect to the remote host, the one that works is the one that is used.

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