Adding SSH Keys to the Service Console so vmsnap Stops Prompting for a Password

Solution:

1. Log into the service console as root.
2. Change to the SSH server configuration directory:

   cd /etc/ssh

3. Edit the configuration file:

   vi ssh_config

4. Add the following line to the bottom of the file:

   BatchMode yes

5. Restart the service:

   service sshd restart

6. Create the SSH public key:

   ssh-keygen -t dsa

   This command outputs the following. Retain the default locations, and do not use a passphrase:

   [root@hostname root]$ ssh-keygen -t dsa
   Generating public/private dsa key pair.
   Enter file in which to save the key (/home/root/.ssh/id_dsa): 
   Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): 
   Enter same passphrase again: 
   Your identification has been saved in /home/root/.ssh/id_dsa.
   Your public key has been saved in /home/root/.ssh/id_dsa.pub.
   The key fingerprint is:
   7b:ab:75:32:9e:b6:6c:4b:29:dc:2a:2b:8c:2f:4e:37 root@hostname

   Your keys are stored in /root/.ssh.
7. Change to the .ssh directory:

   cd /root/.ssh

8. Run the following commands:

   cat id_dsa.pub >> authorized_keys
   chmod 600 authorized_keys

9. Run the vmsnap backup command.