weird default security choice for droplets re sshd_config?

Heya @userdo,

In the sshd_config file there is a line that includes the sshd configs from the /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/ directory:

Include /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/*.conf

If you go into that folder and check the 50-cloud-init.conf you’ll see it has the PasswordAuthentication set to No.

In general, when using SSH keys for authentication on an Ubuntu server, the default configuration does not allow password-based authentication by default. However, it’s essential to confirm the server’s SSH configuration to ensure that password-based authentication is indeed disabled.

You can check the SSH server configuration by looking at the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file. You can use a text editor or a command like cat or less to view the file. Here’s how you can check the relevant configuration options:

Check the SSH configuration file:

cat /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Look for the following lines in the sshd_config file:

PasswordAuthentication no

If you find this line, it means that password-based authentication is disabled, and SSH keys are required for authentication. If the line is missing or commented out (with a # at the beginning), it means the default behavior is still allowing password-based authentication.

Also as mentioned there are additional sshd config files that you might need to inspect to verify if the password authentication is disabled.

Regards