SSH Directory Permissions Settings
May 13, 2023 —
Gregg Szumowski
It is important to set the directory and file permissions for your ~/.ssh correctly.
Typically you want the permissions to be:
- .ssh directory: 700 (drwx------)
- public key (.pub file): 644 (-rw-r--r--)
- private key (id_rsa): 600 (-rw-------)
- lastly your home directory should not be writeable by the group or others (at most 755 (drwxr-xr-x)).
For example, to set this permissions do:
$ chmod 700 ~/.ssh
$ chmod 600 ~/.ssh/*
$ chmod 644 ~/.ssh/*.pub
$ ls -ltr ~/.ssh/