Red Hat

I setup the keys between 2 servers, but my user account has no password specified for it (never set one up on the account for security reasons). When I try to SSH to the server, SSH prompts for a password that doesn't exist (so I can never connect successfully).

Note: 'passwd -d Rynok' removes the password & disables the account (this allows SSH to work correctly, but unfortunately this is also a security risk)

Summary (for you quick readers):
SSH Keys Setup so that Rynok@ServerA->Rynok@ServerB
No password is set on 'Rynok' user.
SSH Prompts for a Password.
I set a password on 'Rynok@ServerB'
SSH Works w/o a Prompt!

Any idea why it only prompts me because there is no password set?
Is this normal/expected behavior?
Can I change a config so this doesn't happen?

set a dummy password

Yes, obviously setting a password fixes the problem. (See: Summary)

I was hoping that wasn't the only solution though, because I have to leave my user account the way it is.

I'm assuming you are talking about setting up passwordless ssh between accounts on two systems.

If that is the case you can try the following:

Run

Code:

 ssh-keygen -t dsa -N ""

on your source host in the .ssh directory (creates a key with No Passphrase... notice the empty double quote string).
2.

Code:

cp $HOME/.ssh/id_dsa.pub $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys2

on your remote host

3. Delete the existing .known_hosts file. Once removed they will be added again with new key information once you first attempt to login into the host for the first time with you new keys in place.

4. Test the setup by trying to run an ssh command from the local host to remote host. For example, from the local host type: ssh <remote-host> ls /tmp


Let me know if that is what you were trying to do and if this helps.

-Outervillage