Log in with an SSH private key on Linux and macOS
This article demonstrates how to use a private key to log in to a Linux速server by using a private key with a Terminal session on macOS速. However,you can follow the same process to use a private key when using anyterminal software on Linux.
Note: For information about using Secure Shell (SSH) private keys on Microsoft速 Windows速 operating systems, see Logging in with an SSH Private Key on Windowsand Generate RSA keys with SSH by using PuTTYgen.
Nov 10, 2011 How to Generate A Public/Private SSH Key Linux 1. Open a terminal. In the next screen, you should see a prompt, asking you for the location to save the key. Next, you will be prompted to enter passphrase. Your public and private SSH key should now be generated. Sep 06, 2019 Generating a key pair and propagating the public key. Generating your key pair and propagating your public key is simpler than it sounds. Let’s walk through it. Generating the key. The minimum effort to generate a key pair involves running the ssh-keygen command, and choosing the defaults at all the prompts: $ ssh-keygen Generating public/private rsa key pair. Save the text file in the same folder where you saved the private key, using the.pub extension to indicate that the file contains a public key. If you or others are going to use an SSH client that requires the OpenSSH format for private keys (such as the ssh utility on Linux), export the private key: On the Conversions menu, choose Export.
Prerequisites
Your private key. For more information about generating a key on Linux or macOS, see Connect to a server by using SSH on Linux or Mac OS X. Log in with a private key. Using a text editor, create a file in which to store your private key. This example uses the file deploymentkey.txt. To edit the file in vim, type the following command: vim deploymentkey.txt After the editor starts, press i to turn on insert mode. Paste your private key, such as the one in the following image, into the file. Jun 13, 2019.
To complete this process, you need the following software applications:
- SSH client software that is installed on your Linux or macOS operating system by default.
- Your favorite text editor. This example uses the vim text editor.
- Your private key. For more information about generating a key on Linux or macOS, see Connect to a server by using SSH on Linux or Mac OS X.
Log in with a private key
- Using a text editor, create a file in which to store your private key. This example uses the file deployment_key.txt.
- To edit the file in vim, type the following command:
- After the editor starts, press i to turn on insert mode.
- Paste your private key, such as the one in the following image, into the file.Be sure to include the BEGIN and END lines.
- To save your changes, press Esc.
- Type :wq to write the file and return to the command line.
- Run the following command to change the file permissions to 600 to secure the key. You can also set them to 400.This step is required:
- Use the key to log in to the SSH client as shown in the following example, which loads the key in file deployment_key.txt, and logs in as user demo to IP 192.237.248.66:
- When you are prompted to confirm the connection, type yes and then press Enter.
- If your SSH key requires a password, enter it when prompted to complete the connection.
Experience what Rackspace has to offer.
©2020 Rackspace US, Inc.
Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
Several tools exist to generate SSH public/private key pairs. The following sections show how to generate an SSH key pair on UNIX, UNIX-like and Windows platforms.
Generating an SSH Key Pair on UNIX and UNIX-Like Platforms Using the ssh-keygen Utility
UNIX and UNIX-like platforms (including Solaris and Linux) include the ssh-keygen utility to generate SSH key pairs.
To generate an SSH key pair on UNIX and UNIX-like platforms using the ssh-keygen utility:
- Navigate to your home directory:
- Run the ssh-keygen utility, providing as
filename
your choice of file name for the private key:The ssh-keygen utility prompts you for a passphrase for the private key. - Enter a passphrase for the private key, or press Enter to create a private key without a passphrase:Note:While a passphrase is not required, you should specify one as a security measure to protect the private key from unauthorized use. When you specify a passphrase, a user must enter the passphrase every time the private key is used.The ssh-keygen utility prompts you to enter the passphrase again.
- Enter the passphrase again, or press Enter again to continue creating a private key without a passphrase:
- The ssh-keygen utility displays a message indicating that the private key has been saved as
filename
and the public key has been saved asfilename
.pub
. It also displays information about the key fingerprint and randomart image.
Generating an SSH Key Pair on Windows Using the PuTTYgen Program
The PuTTYgen program is part of PuTTY, an open source networking client for the Windows platform.
To generate an SSH key pair on Windows using the PuTTYgen program:
Generate Private Ssh Key Linux Download
- Download and install PuTTY or PuTTYgen.To download PuTTY or PuTTYgen, go to http://www.putty.org/ and click the You can download PuTTY here link.
- Run the PuTTYgen program.
- Set the Type of key to generate option to SSH-2 RSA.
- In the Number of bits in a generated key box, enter 2048.
- Click Generate to generate a public/private key pair.As the key is being generated, move the mouse around the blank area as directed.
- (Optional) Enter a passphrase for the private key in the Key passphrase box and reenter it in the Confirm passphrase box.Note:While a passphrase is not required, you should specify one as a security measure to protect the private key from unauthorized use. When you specify a passphrase, a user must enter the passphrase every time the private key is used.
- Click Save private key to save the private key to a file. To adhere to file-naming conventions, you should give the private key file an extension of
.ppk
(PuTTY private key).Note:The.ppk
file extension indicates that the private key is in PuTTY's proprietary format. You must use a key of this format when using PuTTY as your SSH client. It cannot be used with other SSH client tools. Refer to the PuTTY documentation to convert a private key in this format to a different format. - Select all of the characters in the Public key for pasting into OpenSSH authorized_keys file box.Make sure you select all the characters, not just the ones you can see in the narrow window. If a scroll bar is next to the characters, you aren't seeing all the characters.
- Right-click somewhere in the selected text and select Copy from the menu.
- Open a text editor and paste the characters, just as you copied them. Start at the first character in the text editor, and do not insert any line breaks.
- Save the text file in the same folder where you saved the private key, using the
.pub
extension to indicate that the file contains a public key. - If you or others are going to use an SSH client that requires the OpenSSH format for private keys (such as the
ssh
utility on Linux), export the private key:- On the Conversions menu, choose Export OpenSSH key.
- Save the private key in OpenSSH format in the same folder where you saved the private key in
.ppk
format, using an extension such as.openssh
to indicate the file's content.