Here is a mini Howto about configuring your SSH service to work with Public Keys Based Authentication.

So, you have a Linux/UNIX Workstation and you want to connect via SSH to a Linux/UNIX using Public Keys Based Authentication.

Step 1. Login to your Linux/Unix Workstation to create your Private/Public Keys.
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# ssh-keygen -t rsa

You will be prompted to enter file in which to save the key (/home/user/.ssh/id_rsa).
Then you will be prompted to enter a passphrase.You can also choose not to add a passphrase, in which case you press enter.

Your identification has been saved in /home/user/.ssh/id_rsa.
Your public key has been saved in /home/user/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.


Step 2. Copy your public key (id_rsa.pub) to your Linux/UNIX Server using scp
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# scp /home/user/.ssh/id_rsa.pub  \n This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it :/.ssh/authorized_keys2


If you need to connect to your server from multiple Linux/UNIX stations you must generate Private/Public Keys on each workstations then append content of id_rsa.pub files from every workstation to your authorized_keys2 file from your server.

Tips
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a) Change passphrase on your workstation:

# ssh-keygen -p


b) Manage your passphrase with ssh-agent, in order not to input passphrase at every ssh auth.

On your workstation type:
# ssh-agent $BASH
# ssh-add