IdentityFile

IdentityFile (man) points to the private key

    IdentityFile
            Specifies a file from which the user's DSA, ECDSA,
            authenticator-hosted ECDSA, Ed25519, authenticator-hosted
            Ed25519 or RSA authentication identity is read.  The
            default is ~/.ssh/id_dsa, ~/.ssh/id_ecdsa,
            ~/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk, ~/.ssh/id_ed25519, ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk
            and ~/.ssh/id_rsa.  Additionally, any identities
            represented by the authentication agent will be used for
            authentication unless IdentitiesOnly is set.  If no
            certificates have been explicitly specified by
            CertificateFile, ssh(1) will try to load certificate
            information from the filename obtained by appending
            -cert.pub to the path of a specified IdentityFile.

            Arguments to IdentityFile may use the tilde syntax to refer
            to a user's home directory or the tokens described in the
            TOKENS section.

            It is possible to have multiple identity files specified in
            configuration files; all these identities will be tried in
            sequence.  Multiple IdentityFile directives will add to the
            list of identities tried (this behaviour differs from that
            of other configuration directives).

            IdentityFile may be used in conjunction with IdentitiesOnly
            to select which identities in an agent are offered during
            authentication.  IdentityFile may also be used in
            conjunction with CertificateFile in order to provide any
            certificate also needed for authentication with the
            identity.

Related

• Private key
• chmod
• .pem

See also

• .ssh
• /etc/ssh/ssh_config, ~/.ssh/config (man), RemoteCommand, RequestTTY, ServerAliveInterval, UseKeychain, ForwardAgent, ProxyJump, ControlMaster, ControlPath, ControlPersist
• SSH: ssh, TLS, .ppk, .pem, .crt, .pub, ED25519, Key exchange method (KEX), public key, private key, ssh -Q kex, IAMUserSSHKeys, known_hosts, ssh tunnel, Dropbear, ssh -o, ~/.ssh/config