Hey I am really new to Ubuntu so hopefully someone can help me out set up a vps on aws. I have created a private key to use with ssh.
I am wondering what is the best way for me to allow someone else I am working with to access the server.
I of course can't give them my private key, so will public keys work for that? Or what is the best way to set up a user account for them so they can access it through ssh?
You can add their public key to your account on the remote server.
Log in to the remote server and edit the file ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
Add your friend's public key to the end of that file and have them log by typing:
ssh [email protected]
Keep in mind that when they log in this way, they are effectively you and can do whatever you can do on the box.
Since you are already using SSH, I'll assume you have a working sshd setup on your system.
Just create a new user account on the server, grant the appropriate privileges you deem necessary to it (sudoers, etc), and give the login credentials to your colleague. If you want them to use SSH to remotely login, just have them create a key pair on the server the same way you did for your account.
A valuable source for information is the official documentation. Just select your version, then click on the "Ubuntu Server Guide" link. You will be presented with various guides. For information on SSH and sshd configuration, click on the "Remote Administration" link. Here's a quick link for 12.04LTS server edition.
Here's information on how to add a new user (browse to the end of the page for command line method).
