Permission denied (public key) during SSH login with opc user

Applies to:

Oracle Linux Cloud Service - Version Oracle Linux 6.0 and later

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Linux x86-64

 

Symptoms

User gets a permission denied (public key) / Disconnected message, when logging in with the opc user.

One cannot access the Linux instance with the opc user after modifying the SSH public key inside the instance or file permissions inside /home/opc/.ssh

 

Changes

Changed the /home/opc/.ssh/authorized_keys file or file permissions inside /home/opc/.ssh or the /home/opc directory.

 

Cause

If the ssh keys in authorized_keys are incorrect in any way, or file permissions have been changed then the ssh user cannot login