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The Known Hosts File

The client Secure Shell Client maintains a list of known hosts in the known hosts file. the client supports both user-specific and global known hosts files.
The user known hosts file The user-specific known hosts file is called known_hosts and is located in the user's .ssh folder. This is the default known hosts file. the client automatically updates this file when:
  • You update the Trusted Host Keys list in the Host Keys tab of the Secure Shell settings dialog box.

    -or-
  • You connect to a previously unknown host and answer Always in response to the Host Key Authenticity prompt.
The global known hosts file System administrators can add a system-wide known hosts file named ssh_known_hosts to the the client application data folder.

In this location the known hosts file provides a list of hosts for all users of the PC. Keys in this list can be viewed, but not edited in the Global Host Keys list in the Host Keys tab of the Secure Shell settings dialog box.