Michael, It worked just as you said. Also, you were right - it did not need "sudo". Thank you!! Morgan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Albinus" To: mcundiff1@comcast.net Cc: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org Sent: Monday, December 19, 2011 12:26:59 PM Subject: Re: connect to EC2 server using Tramp mcundiff1@comcast.net writes: > Michael, Hi Morgan, > Here is how I connect via shell prompt: > > sudo ssh -i mlhost.pem > ec2-user@ec2-107-20-32-xxx.compute-1.amazonaws.com I would do in emacs "C-x C-f /ssh:ec2-user@ec2-107-20-32-xxx.compute-1.amazonaws.com:" Why do you need the preceeding "sudo"? Is it mandatory for calling ssh? In this case, we would need further configuration. Tramp does not support the specification of identity files via the "-i" option. Therefore, you shall add the following lines to your ~/.ssh/config: Host ec2-107-20-32-xxx.compute-1.amazonaws.comx IdentityFile /path/to/mlhost.pem > Thanks, > Morgan Best rgards, Michael.