====== Using SSH keys on Linux/macOS ======

Mac and Linux systems have builtin OpenSSH tools to connect to your server. It is fine to use the command ''ssh -i </path/key.pem> <user@IP>'' , but you can avoid typing it every time by adding the key to the authorisation agent:
  ssh-add <key>

Now you can SSH in with
  ssh <user@IP>

Optionally you can also create a ssh shortcut to avoid typing the username and IP. To do so, create the file ''~/.ssh/config'' on your Mac (if it doesn't already exist) using this template:
<code>
Host <shortname>
    HostName      <your_ec2_ip_address_here>
    IdentityFile  <~/.ssh/youridentityfile.pem>
    User          ubuntu
</code>

Now you can SSH in with
  ssh <shortname>

----

==== Other tips ====
To check what keys are added
  ssh-add -l
If you want, you can view your server’s public key which was created and stored when it was  set up
  less .ssh/authorized_keys

If you get errors about permissions when trying to SSH in, you may have to modify the key file’s permissions with chmod
  chmod 600 <file>
Check a file’s permissions with the longform list command
  ls -l
See output like ''-r--------@ 1 user  staff  1696 11 Jun 19:14  /path/yourfile.pem''\\
Basically the first ten characters before the “@” indicate permissions and you want to see only dashes or “r” after the fourth character. ''man chmod'' has more.\\
More [[https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/remote/troubleshooting#_local-ssh-file-and-folder-permissions|info about permissions here]]