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Can anyone tell me how to configure the Gentoox SSH server to perform user authentication using public/private keys? I should be able to store a public RSA key on the Xbox SSH server and a private RSA key on my PC and then be able to log into the Xbox using Putty without entering a password. I've tried a number of different combinations of things, but I always get the message that my key was denied when I try to login. Anyone know how to do this? Thanks.

I just figured out the answer so I'll post it here in the hope of helping others. Here's a how to:

1) Download Puttygen.exe and generate a Public/Private key pair using SSH1 (RSA) protocol.
2) Save the Private key to your local PC's hard drive folder where Putty is run.
3) On the Xbox create a file called authorized_keys in the folder /root/.ssh. Paste the Public key generated by Puttygen.exe into this file and save it.

Assuming you didn't specify a passphrase, you can now log into your Xbox via SSH without using a password. If you tell Putty.exe to remember your user name (i.e., root) all you need to do is to double click on your Xbox profile in Putty.exe and you'll be into SSH.

Why do you want to do this? That's up to you. Perhaps you have something running on your PC which you automatically want to start and connect to the Xbox via SSH when the PC boots. See the web for other uses and good luck.