Installation Details

Device Names

Each device atSign can be used for multiple devices and so each device needs a unique name. The device name is limited to alphanumeric snake case (lowercase alphanumeric separated by _ ) up to 36 characters.

Example snake case device names

my_host
canary02
oci_mail_0001
dc_001_row_009_rack_0067_ru_014

SSH Keys

SSH uses keys to authenticate as well as having a fallback of using passwords, but using keys is easier and more secure than "mypassword!". If you already are a seasoned user of SSH then you might have keys already but if not then on the client machine you can create a key pair using ssh-keygen.

Example ssh-keygen command to create SSH Key Pair

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -a 100 -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Want to use your client atSign on a different machine?

You can either:

1. Generate a new set of cryptographic keys (Recommended), or

2. Copy the cryptographic keys from the machine where it's been activated in the past (Not recommended)

1) Generate a new set of cryptographic keys (Recommended)

• We use the same approach as in the "Authorize the device to use the device atSign" section above

• i) Generate a passcode. On the original client machine, run

~/.local/bin/at_activate otp -a @<REPLACE>_client

• ii) Make an authorization request. On the new client machine, run

~/.local/bin/at_activate enroll -a @<REPLACE>_client \
  -s <PASSCODE> \
  -p noports \
  -k ~/.atsign/keys/@<REPLACE>_device.atKeys \
  -d <client_device_name> \
  -n "sshnp:rw,sshrvd:rw"

• iii) Approve the authorization request. On the original client machine, run

~/.local/bin/at_activate approve -a @<REPLACE>_client \
  --arx noports \
  --drx <client_device_name>

2) (Not recommended) Copy the cryptographic keys from the machine where it's been activated in the past

• The atSign keys file will be located at ~/.atsign/keys/ directory with a filename that will include the atSign. Copy this file from your other machine to the same location on the machine that you are installing SSH No Ports on, using scp or similar.