System Security Configuration Guide for Cisco 8000 Series Routers, IOS XR Releases

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System Security Configuration Guide for Cisco 8000 Series Routers, IOS XR Releases

SSH client authentication order

Updated: September 18, 2026

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Describes the default order in which Cisco IOS XR SSH and CiscoSSH clients negotiate public-key, password, and keyboard-interactive authentication.

Use this information to compare the default client authentication order before setting an explicit preference.

Table 1. Default authentication order

Implementation

Authentication order

Cisco IOS XR SSH

public-key, password, keyboard-interactive

CiscoSSH

public-key, keyboard-interactive, password

Set the SSH client authentication order

Apply an explicit authentication preference to outbound SSH connections.

The configuration is available from Cisco IOS XR Software Release 7.9.2 / Release 7.10.1.

Procedure

  1. Set the authentication order and commit the configuration.

    Example:

    Router# configure
Router(config)# ssh client auth-method public-key keyboard-interactive password
Router(config-ssh)# commit

  2. Verify the configured method order.

    Example:

    Router# show running-config ssh client auth-methods