SSH Key Management FAQs
What is SSH key management?
SSH key management refers to the process, policies and tools used to manage, secure and automate the entire SSH key lifecycle, from initial creation to deletion. This includes deploying keys to endpoints, launching remote sessions, rotating keys, managing key-user mappings and periodically deleting keys that are stale or no longer used.
What is an SSH key management tool?
An SSH key management tool helps IT admins automate the process of SSH key management and gain visibility into the SSH keys used throughout the enterprise data environment. SSH key management tools provide features such as initial discovery and consolidation of existing keys; trust relationship mapping; granular access controls; user monitoring and audit reports; and automation of SSH key creation, deployment, rotation and deletion.
What is SSH key rotation?
SSH key rotation is the process of periodically deleting SSH key-user associations and deploying fresh key pairs to prevent SSH key compromise and privilege abuse. Both authorized keys and identity keys must be rotated.
What is the best way to implement DevOps SSH key management?
The best way to implement DevOps SSH key management is to use a secure SSH key management tool, such as Keeper Secrets Manager. Keeper Secrets Manager stores and protects all of your SSH keys and other IT infrastructure secrets, creating dynamic programmatic access to your secrets in their existing build systems without requiring any additional hardware or agent software.
How secure is SSH?
SSH is a very secure way to protect privileged access to vital systems. However, as with any security technology, proper configuration and ongoing management are critical. For example, if SSH keys aren’t properly managed, they can be compromised.







