# Distributed Computing addprocs onto password enabled ssh connection

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/distributed-computing-addprocs-onto-password-enabled-ssh-connection/114543>\
**Category:** General Usage\
**Created:** [May 22, 2024, 3:28am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/distributed-computing-addprocs-onto-password-enabled-ssh-connection/114543 "2024-05-22T03:28:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Teodor\_Tchalakov](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/teodor_tchalakov/32/53043_2.png) [@Teodor\_Tchalakov](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Teodor_Tchalakov)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 3:28am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/distributed-computing-addprocs-onto-password-enabled-ssh-connection/114543/1 "2024-05-22T03:28:56Z")

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I am attempting to use [Distributed.jl](https://github.com/JuliaLang/Distributed.jl) to add processes using the SSHManager to a Windows device with an administrative user account that has a password. I am able to run `addprocs([user@hostname], :auto)`, which connects to the computer but permission is denied. This is because Distributed.jl documentations says I need to use a password less ssh connection.  
Is there some way for me to connect by specifying a password or some other way? I would like this connection to be secure so that I can eventually make it accessible outside of the local network. I also don’t want to remove the password on my devices so that this can work either.

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**Author:** ![abraemer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/abraemer/32/51403_2.png) [@abraemer](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/abraemer)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 5:17am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/distributed-computing-addprocs-onto-password-enabled-ssh-connection/114543/2 "2024-05-22T05:17:17Z")

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You should switch to a certificate based authentification. This is anyways way better than password-protection imo 🙂  
Here is a very basic tutorial from a user persepctive (assumes you use Linux): [How to Configure SSH Certificate-Based Authentication (Tutorial)](https://www.strongdm.com/blog/configure-ssh-certificate-based-authentication)

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**Author:** ![johnh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/johnh/32/3615_2.png) [@johnh](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/johnh)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 6:33am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/distributed-computing-addprocs-onto-password-enabled-ssh-connection/114543/3 "2024-05-22T06:33:21Z")

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You could use MobaXterm - which ships with an ssh server (IIRC)  
Caution - do you really want to have direct login as an administrative account?

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**Author:** ![Teodor\_Tchalakov](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/teodor_tchalakov/32/53043_2.png) [@Teodor\_Tchalakov](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Teodor_Tchalakov)\
**Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 5:15pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/distributed-computing-addprocs-onto-password-enabled-ssh-connection/114543/4 "2024-05-24T17:15:58Z")

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@abraemer Thank you for the link, I tried setting up certificate based authentication, but because I am connecting from a macOS devices to a Windows account, extra steps had to be taken because the `ssh-copy-id` command doesn’t work when the remote is Windows.

For anyone what wishes to get certificate based authentication for “password-like”/secure ssh connection for distributed computing with Windows workers, the ssh connection needs to be configured as explained here: [Command to copy client public key to Windows OpenSSH SFTP/SSH server authorized keys file](https://superuser.com/a/1818732). The official Windows documentation is also found [here](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/openssh/openssh_keymanagement#deploying-the-public-key). Also, before this is done the OpenSSH Server feature for Windows needs to be added from the Optional features settings in Windows.