By richard147
When I try to log in as root through PuTTY, I receive the above error. I try to login with my non-root admin user. Trying to access /var/log/auth.log gives me a “Permission denied” prompt. I do not know what’s happening or where to proceed.
This textbox defaults to using Markdown to format your answer.
You can type !ref in this text area to quickly search our full set of tutorials, documentation & marketplace offerings and insert the link!
This question was answered by @SphericalCow:
usually, i have found a couple of reasons that may break ssh connectivity using keys:
the permissions on the private key (usually
~/.ssh/id_rsa) on your laptop or desktop may be too open. It should be no more than maybe 600chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsaalso, it could also be that the public key on the server’s
~/.ssh/authorized_keysfile may have line breaks in the middle of the public where there shouldn’t be any. In the “vi” editor,:set listshould display the hidden line breaks.
Become a contributor for community
Get paid to write technical tutorials and select a tech-focused charity to receive a matching donation.
DigitalOcean Documentation
Full documentation for every DigitalOcean product.
Resources for startups and SMBs
The Wave has everything you need to know about building a business, from raising funding to marketing your product.
The developer cloud
Scale up as you grow — whether you're running one virtual machine or ten thousand.
Get started for free
Sign up and get $200 in credit for your first 60 days with DigitalOcean.*
*This promotional offer applies to new accounts only.