I guess I have to answer to this one myself. :roll:

The permission was wrong in .ssh directory. That's why the server was preventing any access.
ADVICE: Read the log file /var/log/secure when authentication through ssh doesn't work

I have few servers and I am trying to setup WinSCP 3.7.6 with public keys.
For the servers reporting SSH-2.0 it worked very easily.
For the servers reporting SSH-1.99 it simply reverts to password authentication.

The log:
. 2005-10-03 14:00:28.888 Looking up host "xx.xx.xx.xx"
. 2005-10-03 14:00:28.898 Connecting to xx.xx.xx.xx port 22
. 2005-10-03 14:00:29.219 Server version: SSH-1.99-OpenSSH_3.9p1
. 2005-10-03 14:00:29.229 We claim version: SSH-2.0-WinSCP_release_3.7.6
. 2005-10-03 14:00:29.239 Using SSH protocol version 2
. 2005-10-03 14:00:29.289 Doing Diffie-Hellman group exchange
. 2005-10-03 14:00:29.419 Doing Diffie-Hellman key exchange
. 2005-10-03 14:00:29.880 Host key fingerprint is:
. 2005-10-03 14:00:29.890 ssh-rsa 1024 12:34:56:78:90:12:23:f3:46:e5:56:9f:f2:4e:35:8x
. 2005-10-03 14:00:29.890 Initialised AES-256 client->server encryption
. 2005-10-03 14:00:29.900 Initialised HMAC-SHA1 client->server MAC algorithm
. 2005-10-03 14:00:29.900 Initialised AES-256 server->client encryption
. 2005-10-03 14:00:29.910 Initialised HMAC-SHA1 server->client MAC algorithm
! 2005-10-03 14:00:30.000 Using username "roso".
. 2005-10-03 14:00:30.040 Pageant is running. Requesting keys.
. 2005-10-03 14:00:30.050 Pageant has 1 SSH-2 keys
. 2005-10-03 14:00:30.050 Trying Pageant key #0
. 2005-10-03 14:00:30.100 Key refused
. 2005-10-03 14:00:30.110 Session password prompt (roso@xx.xx.xx.xx's password: )


Did anybody else encounter this problem before? I wonder if my sshd settings need to be changed. How do I get to check the ssh signature directly on the server? ssh -V directly on the server gives me a completely different version than the one seen in the WinSCP log listed above.

Thanks in advance,

roso