Ssh Public Key From Private



The -y option will read a private SSH key file and prints an SSH public key to stdout. The public key part is redirected to the file with the same name as the private key but with the.pub file extension. If the key has a password set, the password will be required to generate the public key. Open PuTTY Key Generator. Load your private key (.ppk file). Copy your public key data from the 'Public key for pasting into OpenSSH authorizedkeys file' section of the PuTTY Key Generator and paste the key data to the 'authorizedkeys' file (using notepad) if you want to use it. Snapshot showing portions of Puttygen to focus. The.pub file is your public key, and the other file is the corresponding private key. If you don’t have these files (or you don’t even have a.ssh directory), you can create them by running a program called ssh-keygen, which is provided with the SSH package on Linux/macOS systems. Using a set of public/private keys to allow you to log into a remote Linux system or run commands using ssh without a password can be very convenient, but setup is just tad tricky. Don't share the private key. If you have two machines, generate a separate pair for each machine, and push both public keys to GitHub. If one private key is compromised, it doesn't affect the other. – chepner May 26 '20 at 12:07.

Table of Contents

Introduction

SSH can handle authentication using a traditional username and password combination or by using a public and private key pair. The SSH key pair establishes trust between the client and server, thereby removing the need for a password during authentication. While not required, the SSH private key can be encrypted with a passphrase for added security.

The PuTTY SSH client for Microsoft Windows does not share the same key format as the OpenSSH client. Therefore, it is necessary to create a new SSH public and private key using the PuTTYgen tool or convert an existing OpenSSH private key.

Requirements

  • PuTTY SSH client for Microsoft Windows
  • Remote server accessible over OpenSSH

Install PuTTY and PuTTYgen

Both PuTTY and PuTTYgen are required to convert OpenSSH keys and to connect to the server over SSH. These two tools can be downloaded individually or, preferably, as a Windows installer from the PuTTY Download Page.

Once the PuTTY Windows installer is downloaded, double-click the executable in the Download folder and follow the installation wizard. The default settings are suitable for most installations. Both PuTTY and PuTTYgen should now be accessible from the Windows Programs list.

Use Existing Public and Private Keys

If you have an existing OpenSSH public and private key, copy the id_rsa key to your Windows desktop. This can be done by copying and pasting the contents of the file or using an SCP client such as PSCP which is supplied with the PuTTY install or FileZilla.

Next launch PuTTYgen from the Windows Programs list. Lockheed l 1011 aircraft.

  1. Click Conversions from the PuTTY Key Generator menu and select Import key.
  2. Navigate to the OpenSSH private key and click Open.
  3. Under Actions / Save the generated key, select Save private key.
  4. Choose an optional passphrase to protect the private key.
  5. Save the private key to the desktop as id_rsa.ppk.

If the public key is already appended to the authorized_keys file on the remote SSH server, then proceed to Connect to Server with Private Key.

Otherwise, proceed to Copy Public Key to Server.

Create New Public and Private Keys

Launch PuTTYgen from the Windows Programs list and proceed with the following steps.

  1. Under Parameters, increase the Number of bits in a generated key: to a minimum value of 2048.
  2. Under Actions / Generate a public/private key pair, click Generate.
  3. You will be instructed to move the mouse cursor around within the PuTTY Key Generator window as a randomizer to generate the private key.
  4. Once the key information appears, click Save private key under Actions / Save the generated key.
  5. Save the private key to the desktop as id_rsa.ppk.
  6. The box under Key / Public key for pasting into OpenSSH authorized_keys file: contains the public key.

Copy Public Key to Server

The OpenSSH public key is located in the box under Key / Public key for pasting info OpenSSH authorized_keys file:. The public key begins with ssh-rsa followed by a string of characters.

  1. Highlight entire public key within the PuTTY Key Generator and copy the text.
  2. Launch PuTTY and log into the remote server with your existing user credentials.
  3. Use your preferred text editor to create and/or open the authorized_keys file:

  4. Paste the public key into the authorized_keys file.

  5. Save the file and close the text editor.

  6. Adjust the permissions of the authorized_keys file so that the file does not allow group writable permissions.

  7. Logout of the remote server.

Connect to Server with Private Key

Now it is time to test SSH key authentication. The PuTTYgen tool can be closed and PuTTY launched again.

  1. Enter the remote server Host Name or IP address under Session.
  2. Navigate to Connection > SSH > Auth.
  3. Click Browse.. under Authentication parameters / Private key file for authentication.
  4. Locate the id_rsa.ppk private key and click Open.
  5. Finally, click Open again to log into the remote server with key pair authentication.

Ssh Using Public Key

Documentation » Getting Started » Protocols » SSH »

In every SSH/SFTP connection there are four keys (or two key-pairs) involved. This article explains a difference between them and what keys an SFTP client user needs to care about.

The SSH employs a public key cryptography. A public-key cryptography, also known as asymmetric cryptography, is a class of cryptographic algorithms which requires two separate keys, one of which is secret (or private) and one of which is public.1 Together they are known as a key-pair. In SSH, the public key cryptography is used in both directions (client to server and server to client), so two key pairs are used. One key pair is known as a host (server) key, the other as a user (client) key.

A user private key is key that is kept secret by the SSH user on his/her client machine. The user must never reveal the private key to anyone, including the server (server administrator), not to compromise his/her identity.

To protect the private key, it should be generated locally on a user’s machine (e.g. using PuTTYgen) and stored encrypted by a passphrase. The passphrase should be long enough (that’s why it’s called passphrase, not password) to withstand a brute-force attack for a reasonably long time, in case an attacker obtains the private key file.

Different file formats are used to store private keys. WinSCP supports PuTTY format, with .ppk extension.

A user public key is a counterpart to user private key. They are generated at the same time. The user public key can be safely revealed to anyone, without compromising user identity.

Key

To allow authorization of the user on a server, the user public key is registered on the server. In the most widespread SSH server implementation, the OpenSSH, file ~/.ssh/authorized_keys is used for that.

Learn more about public key authentication in general and how to setup authentication with public keys.

Advertisement

Ssh Key Example

A host private key is generated when the SSH server is set up. It is safely stored in a location that should be accessible by a server administrator only. The user connecting to the SSH server does not need to care about host private key in general.

Generate Public Key From Private Key Ssh

A host public key is a counterpart to host private key. They are generated at the same time. The host public key can be safely revealed to anyone, without compromising host identity.

Ssh Public Key From Private Key

To allow authorizing the host to the user, the user should be provided with host public key in advance, before connecting. The client application typically prompts the user with host public key on the first connection to allow the user to verify/authorize the key. The host public key is then saved and verified automatically on further connections. The client application warns the user, if the host key changes.

Get Ssh Public Key From Private Key

  1. The text is partially copied from Wikipedia article on Public-key cryptography. The text is licensed under GNU Free Documentation License.Back