Host Key Verification

published Last Updated: Oct 9, 2026 HW: all

Host key verification failed host key verification failed host-key-verification host key verification

Applicable alarms (1)

Host key verification failed

Likely outcomes (0 missions) — click to expand

Based on 0 missions where this alarm fired in the last 90 days as of 2026-10-13

Aggregated from fleet operations and refreshed daily. Individual outcomes may vary by site and configuration.

Background

Use the commands in this guide when attempting to SSH into an asset and you receive the following error:

WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY!
Someone could be eavesdropping on you right now (man-in-the-middle attack)!
It is also possible that a host key has just been changed.
...
Offending ECDSA key in /Users/<you>/.ssh/known_hosts:<line>
Host key for p2-dock-# has changed and you have requested strict checking.
Host key verification failed.

Troubleshooting Steps

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Use these commands when a user/home directory is denied access.
- Compute: ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/known_hosts -R "p2-zip-#-compute-a"
- Crossfire: ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/known_hosts -R "p2-zip-#-crossfire"
- Dock: ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/known_hosts -R "p2-dock-#"

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Topic history

1. 2026-10-07 Susan Minne Bulk/mechanical change
   Replace individual guide ownership with system technical contacts
   Commit dca5a1a
2. 2026-09-24 Susan Minne Bulk/mechanical change
   chore: backfill aircraft owner identities batch 2
   Commit 6ca6807
3. 2026-09-23 Susan Minne Bulk/mechanical change
   docs: remove obsolete Confluence metadata
   Commit 2d5374e
4. 2026-09-13 Susan Minne Bulk/mechanical change
   feat: add MX approval metadata to topics
   Commit 406a785
5. 2026-08-04 Danny Rivas
   Document host key verification failure context
   Commit 76ee9e4
6. 2026-05-28 Susan Minne Bulk/mechanical change
   Remove redundant topic applicability banners
   Commit e561ad0
7. 2026-05-15 Gavin Edwards Bulk/mechanical change
   Require real topic owner in CI (#614)
   Commit b46b5a3 PR #614
8. 2026-05-11 Susan Minne Bulk/mechanical change
   Update troubleshooting topics and links
   Commit 0aa9df2
9. 2026-05-09 Susan Minne Bulk/mechanical change
   Populate remaining owner fields
   Commit e1e3f9f

Baseline import

Initial import into service_docs

Imported by Gavin Edwards on 2026-05-04

Batch 6: 34 new topics from full 4-gate pipeline

Commit 0cd661e

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