How to open an ssh session with a private key

First you’ll have to have a private key setup. Then :

• Create the .ssh directory and secure it :

mkdir .ssh
chmod 700 .ssh

• Then create the authorized_keys and secure it

cd .ssh
touch authorized_keys
chmod 600 authorized_keys

• Then copy your public key to authorized_keys
• Enjoy

As a side note you can use pageant and putty to connect through private key on Windows.