It seems like this is a one-at-a-time operation, but this is more advanced and allows better separation, and so I am happy with it so far. 1. Create the user with privilegeSN-MXL(conf)#username juser password somepass privilege 15 2. Enable rsa-authenticationSN-MXL(conf)#ip ssh rsa-authentication enable 3. Copy your public key to the MXL (pull it in)SN-MXL#copy scp: flash:Address or name of remote host []: 172.16.11.10      Port number of the server [22]: Source file name []: .ssh/juser_rsa.pubUser name to login remote host: juserPassword to login remote host: Destination file name [juser_rsa.pub]: !!403 bytes successfully copied 4. Now login as the user and run:SN-MXL#ip ssh rsa-authentication my-authorized-keys juser_rsa.pubRSA keys added to user's list of authorized-keys.Delete the file juser_rsa.pub : (yes/no) ? yes 5. I had to create the ~.ssh/config file with the following entry: host mxl  HostName 172.16.11.1  User juser  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/juser_rsa This means that the PRIVATE key is referenced.  Note: make sure your config file is has 644 permissions. 6. test $ ssh mxl  The SupportAssist EULA acceptance option has not been selected. SupportAssist can be enabled once the SupportAssist EULA has been accepted. Use the: 'support-assist activate' command to accept EULA and enable SupportAssist.MY-MXL# And I am in.  Incidentally I would like to get rid of that little nag there, as this MXL stack is not in a country supported by DELL.  Anybody know how to remove the nag?
I've been reading the documentation, and cannot come up with a set of cohesive steps to follow in order to get simple key-based authentication to work, The docs separate this task into a wide variety of steps in order to enable "host based" authentication, but I don't want this.  I use two laptops and 2 different desktops in a variety of locations.  So "host based" isn't going to work for me.  I need a purely "key based" authentication.  Does someone have an example of this that involved specific steps and the order to run them.  I find this process is quite simple on HP based switches including the new Arubas.  But this MXL documentation is difficult for me to decipher.  
Set up ssh_key based access to MXL switches. Not "host based."