Why am I being prompted for a password when using an SSH key?

Question

Why am I being prompted for a password when using an SSH key?

Answer

The most common causes for this are incorrect permissions on the .ssh folder or key files (authorized_keys, id_rsa, and other private key files).

• The permissions for the .ssh folder must be 700. The permissions can be set to 700 with the following command.

  chmod -v 700 /home/cpaneluser/.ssh

  Please note, "cpaneluser" must be replaced with the cPanel user's username.
• The permissions on the key files file must be 600. The permissions can be updated using the following command.

  chmod -v 600 /home/cpaneluser/.ssh/keyfilename

  Please note, "cpaneluser" must be replaced with the cPanel user's username and "keyfilename" must be replaced by the key file name (i.e., authorized_keys or id_rsa).

We have further information on updating file permissions here.