Adding cluster nodes with "PasswordAuthentication no" set

[tobias1]

Hi,

I have a cluster set up with "PasswordAuthentication no" configured in /etc/ssh/sshd_config.

Everything seems to work fine until I try to add a new cluster node. The "add" process prompts for the password, which I assume Proxmox is using behind the scenes to initially connect the new node to the cluster. The node seems to get partially added [1]. After setting "PasswordAuthentication yes" on all nodes again, I was able to add 2 new nodes seamlessly to the same cluster. I have not attempted to repeat the failed process to debug further because it's challenging to recover from.

It is not documented either way whether keeping "PasswordAuthentication yes" is required when adding a cluster node [2]. Is this something others have encountered, and how do you work around it, if so?

Many thanks,
Tobias

[1] I'm not sure how to explain it; it shows up in the web interface of the cluster, but in a disconnected state. It's possible this was due to me attempting to allow the nodes to connect by adding the appropriate SSH keys for root between the two nodes.
[2] https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Cluster_Manager#pvecm_join_node_to_cluster

 

[dylanw]

Hi,

I have a cluster set up with "PasswordAuthentication no" configured in /etc/ssh/sshd_config.

I just tested this and was able to join a cluster with no problem, using pvecm add. Are you sure there isn't anything else in your sshd_config or network config that may be be affecting the communication between the node?

It's possible this was due to me attempting to allow the nodes to connect by adding the appropriate SSH keys for root between the two nodes.

There is no need to manually configure ssh keys for cluster communication; PVE handles this automatically.