Store SSH Keys in Password Manager

Storing SSH keys in a password manager provides a secure backup that survives hardware failures and makes it easy to restore access from a new machine.

General workflow

This workflow applies to any password manager that supports secure notes or file attachments (Dashlane, 1Password, Bitwarden, etc.).

1. Create keys locally

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/k8s-cluster_control-node_key -C "control-node"
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/k8s-cluster_worker-node_key -C "worker-node"

2. Save to your password manager

Create a secure note or vault entry:

• Name: “K8s Cluster SSH Keys” (or similar)
• Private key: paste the contents of ~/.ssh/k8s-cluster_control-node_key
• Public key: paste the contents of ~/.ssh/k8s-cluster_control-node_key.pub

3. Add public key to terraform.tfvars

control_node_public_key = "ssh-ed25519 AAAA... control-node"
worker_node_public_key  = "ssh-ed25519 AAAA... worker-node"

4. Restore when needed

When setting up on a new machine:

1. Copy the private key from your password manager
2. Save it to ~/.ssh/k8s-cluster_control-node_key
3. Fix permissions: chmod 600 ~/.ssh/k8s-cluster_control-node_key

Example: Dashlane

1. Create a Secure Note in Dashlane
2. Name: “K8s Cluster SSH Keys”
3. Content: paste the private key (cat ~/.ssh/k8s-cluster_control-node_key)
4. Add the public key as an additional field
5. Optionally attach the key files directly to the secure note