Why SSH PasswordAuthentication option doesn't work

calendarApr 5, 2020 · 1 min read · auth ssh  ·
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After reading the SSH manual,  I enabled the PasswordAuthentication in the /etc/ssh/ssh_config on my server.

I tried to establish a SSH connection to my server with the command ssh username@hosturl.com.

I got this error message: username@hosturl.com: Permission denied (publickey).

Apparently, my ssh client was trying to use public key to establish the connection instead of prompting for password. I couldn't find out why the option doesn't work as expected until I tried to list the /etc/ssh/ directory again. There's another file named /etc/ssh/sshd_config. One question immediately appear in my mind: what's the difference between ssh_config and sshd_config?

This blog provides a good explanation. In short:

  • ssh_config is configuration for SSH client on that server
  • sshd_config is configuration for incoming connection request

So, I updated the connection on the correct configuration file and it worked as expected. I successfully established a connection via password and username from my laptop.