How can I avoid SSH's host verification for known hosts?

Use the -o option,

ssh -o "StrictHostKeyChecking no" user@host

Add the following lines to the beginning of /etc/ssh/ssh_config...

Host 192.168.0.*
   StrictHostKeyChecking no
   UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null

Options:

• The Host subnet can be * to allow unrestricted access to all IPs.
• Edit /etc/ssh/ssh_config for global configuration or ~/.ssh/config for user-specific configuration.

See http://linuxcommando.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-to-disable-ssh-host-key-checking.html

You should only get this the first time you connect to a new host. After you respond yes the host gets stored in ~/.ssh/known_hosts and you won't get prompted the next time you connect.

Note that if ~/.ssh/known_hosts can not be written for any reason (e.g. permissions problem) then you will get prompted every time you connect.