How to properly manage SSH keys for server access
>Every developer needs access to some servers for example to check the application logs.I fundamentally disagree with this. I’ve been writing software a long time and I used to demand I have server access so I can tail logs, creating the problem this article talks about resolving (good read btw). But I can’t help but wonder why we keep teaching this mindset. We have log analysis tools available on pretty much every cloud now. Docker has an aws log driver, a gcp log driver... etc. Backend developers should make a conscious decision on how to ship log events out of the box and into something searchable, indexable, and can derive metrics from.
I ran a cloud infrastructure group that vehemently said “No” to any dev requesting ssh access. Not because they couldn’t, but because we don’t have access either. We created our platform without the ability to modify it. Infrastructure as code. Only way is to redeploy the stack. You’d be surprised at how much less stress there is when you can have alerts on log events from your application when things break instead of a support call or a support ticket. Proactive > Reactive debugging.
I also understand not all shops are at that level of maturity. I’d love it if the community as a whole stopped teaching people to treat their app and server as a second home, as a pet, that must be nurtured. Obviously these are my opinions and the article itself addresses how to handle ssh keys for server access in a logical way, my only issue is why create that mess in the first place?