Generate RSA keys with SSH by using PuTTYgen
- Generate Ssh Public Key Puttygen Pdf
- Puttygen Key Generator
- Ssh Public Key File
- Generate Ssh Rsa Key Putty
One effective way of securing SSH access to your cloud server is to usea public-private key pair. This means that a public key is placed onthe server and a private key is placed on your local workstation.Using a key pair makes it impossible for someone to log in by using justa password, as long as you set up SSH to deny password-basedauthentication.
This article provides steps for generating RSA keys by using PuTTYgen onWindows for secure SSH authentication with OpenSSH.
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Generate keys
In Windows, use PuTTYgen to generate your public and private keys.
- If needed, download PuTTYgen from the PuTTY download page.(PuTTYgen might have been installed previously with PuTTY or WinSCP.)
- Launch the program, and then click the Generate button.The program generates the keys for you.
- Enter a unique key passphrase in the Key passphrase andConfirm passphrase fields.For additional information about using passphrases,see Log in with a SSH Private Key on Windows.
- Save the public and private keys by clicking the Save public keyand Save private key buttons.
- From the Public key for pasting into OpenSSH authorized_keys filefield at the top of the window, copy all the text (starting with ssh-rsa)to your clipboard by pressing Ctrl-C.You need this key available on your clipboard to paste eitherinto the public key tool in the Control Panel or directly into theauthorized keys on your cloud server.
Use the key pair
- Puttygen is the SSH key generation tool for the linux version of PuTTY. It works similarly to the ssh-keygen tool in OpenSSH. The basic function is to create public and private key pairs. PuTTY stores keys in its own format in.ppk files. However, the tool can also convert key formats.
- The following window will present with options on the crucial a user wants to generate. Select the option ‘RSA (Rivest–Shamir–Adleman). RSA is a public-key cryptosystem that is commonly used to transmit data securely. Users with an older version of PuTTY should select the option – ‘SSH-2 RSA.’ Load.PEM file to puttygen.
- Nov 15, 2017 In this video, I show you how to setup SSH Keys in Windows with PuttyGen. This allows you to connect to your linux server without having to authenticate with a password. I hope you guys Enjoy.
You can use the RSA key pair in the following ways.
Specify your SSH key when creating a new cloud server
When you create a cloud server, you can assign a public key from the list of keys.If your key is not already in the list, you may add it, and then assign it.
Add a new public key to the list
- Under Advanced Options on the Create Server page, click Manage SSHKeys.
- Select public key for the cloud server from the SSH Keys listand click Add Public Key.
- Enter the key name, select the region, and paste the entire publickey into the Public Key field. Then click Add Public Key.
- Go back to the Create Server page, and confirm that your key is listedin the SSH Key list.
Assign a public key
- Under Advanced Options on the Create Server page, select the publickey you want to use from the SSH key drop-down menu.
- When you are done specifying the all the other details for the server,click Create Server.
Assign your SSH Key to an existing cloud server
To make use of your newly generated RSA key pair, you must tell PuTTY touse it when connecting to your cloud server.
- To edit the file (or create it), run the following command on the cloud server:
- Paste the text onto its own line in the file.You must have the key available in your clipboard to paste it. The key and itsassociated text (the ssh-rsa identified at the start and the comment at the end)must be on one line in the file. If the text is word-wrapped onto multiple linesan error might occur when connecting.
- If you created the authorized_keys file, change its permissionsafter you’re done editing it by running the following command:
- Open PuTTY, and go to the SSH > Auth section.
- Browse to the location of the key file, and load the private key.
- Go to the Session page, and save the session. This saves the configurationso that PuTTY uses the key every time that you connect to your cloudserver.
After you save your session, your key is loaded automatically when youconnect to your server.
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-->This article describes ways to generate and use secure shell (SSH) keys on a Windows computer to create and connect to a Linux virtual machine (VM) in Azure. To use SSH keys from a Linux or macOS client, see the quick or detailed guidance.
Overview of SSH and keys
SSH is an encrypted connection protocol that allows secure sign-ins over unsecured connections. SSH is the default connection protocol for Linux VMs hosted in Azure. Although SSH itself provides an encrypted connection, using passwords with SSH connections still leaves the VM vulnerable to brute-force attacks or guessing of passwords. A more secure and preferred method of connecting to a VM using SSH is by using a public-private key pair, also known as SSH keys.
- The public key is placed on your Linux VM, or any other service that you wish to use with public-key cryptography.
- The private key remains on your local system. Protect this private key. Do not share it.
When you use an SSH client to connect to your Linux VM (which has the public key), the remote VM tests the client to make sure it possesses the private key. If the client has the private key, it's granted access to the VM.
Depending on your organization's security policies, you can reuse a single public-private key pair to access multiple Azure VMs and services. You do not need a separate pair of keys for each VM or service you wish to access.
Your public key can be shared with anyone, but only you (or your local security infrastructure) should possess your private key.
Supported SSH key formats
Azure currently supports SSH protocol 2 (SSH-2) RSA public-private key pairs with a minimum length of 2048 bits. Other key formats such as ED25519 and ECDSA are not supported.
Windows packages and SSH clients
You connect to and manage Linux VMs in Azure using an SSH client. Computers running Linux or macOS usually have a suite of SSH commands to generate and manage SSH keys and to make SSH connections.
Windows computers do not always have comparable SSH commands installed. Recent versions of Windows 10 provide OpenSSH client commands to create and manage SSH keys and make SSH connections from a command prompt. Recent Windows 10 versions also include the Windows Subsystem for Linux to run and access utilities such as an SSH client natively within a Bash shell.
Other common Windows SSH clients you can install locally are included in the following packages:
You can also use the SSH utilities available in Bash in the Azure Cloud Shell.
- Access Cloud Shell in your web browser at https://shell.azure.com or in the Azure portal.
- Access Cloud Shell as a terminal from within Visual Studio Code by installing the Azure Account extension.
Create an SSH key pair
The following sections describe two options to create an SSH key pair on Windows. You can use a shell command (
ssh-keygen
) or a GUI tool (PuTTYgen). Also note, when using Powershell to create a key, upload the public key as ssh.com(SECSH) format. When using CLI, convert the key into OpenSSH format prior to uploading.Create SSH keys with ssh-keygen
If you run a command shell on Windows that supports SSH client tools (or you use Azure Cloud Shell), create an SSH key pair using the
ssh-keygen
command. Type the following command, and answer the prompts. If an SSH key pair exists in the chosen location, those files are overwritten.For more background and information, see the quick or detailed steps to create SSH keys using
ssh-keygen
.Create SSH keys with PuTTYgen
If you prefer to use a GUI-based tool to create SSH keys, you can use the PuTTYgen key generator, included with the PuTTY download package.
To create an SSH RSA key pair with PuTTYgen:
- Start PuTTYgen.
- Click Generate. By default PuTTYgen generates a 2048-bit SSH-2 RSA key.
- Move the mouse around in the blank area to provide randomness for the key.
- After the public key is generated, optionally enter and confirm a passphrase. You will be prompted for the passphrase when you authenticate to the VM with your private SSH key. Without a passphrase, if someone obtains your private key, they can sign in to any VM or service that uses that key. We recommend you create a passphrase. However, if you forget the passphrase, there is no way to recover it.
- The public key is displayed at the top of the window. You can copy this entire public key and then paste it into the Azure portal or an Azure Resource Manager template when you create a Linux VM. You can also select Save public key to save a copy to your computer:
- Optionally, to save the private key in PuTTy private key format (.ppk file), select Save private key. You will need the .ppk file later to use PuTTY to make an SSH connection to the VM.If you want to save the private key in the OpenSSH format, the private key format used by many SSH clients, select Conversions > Export OpenSSH key.
Provide an SSH public key when deploying a VM
To create a Linux VM that uses SSH keys for authentication, provide your SSH public key when creating the VM using the Azure portal or other methods.
Puttygen Key Generator
The following example shows how you would copy and paste this public key into the Azure portal when you create a Linux VM. The public key is typically then stored in the ~/.ssh/authorized_key directory on your new VM.
Connect to your VM
One way to make an SSH connection to your Linux VM from Windows is to use an SSH client. This is the preferred method if you have an SSH client installed on your Windows system, or if you use the SSH tools in Bash in Azure Cloud Shell. If you prefer a GUI-based tool, you can connect with PuTTY.
Use an SSH client
With the public key deployed on your Azure VM, and the private key on your local system, SSH to your VM using the IP address or DNS name of your VM. Replace azureuser and myvm.westus.cloudapp.azure.com in the following command with the administrator user name and the fully qualified domain name (or IP address):
If you configured a passphrase when you created your key pair, enter the passphrase when prompted during the sign-in process.
If the VM is using the just-in-time access policy, you need to request access before you can connect to the VM. For more information about the just-in-time policy, see Manage virtual machine access using the just in time policy.
Ssh Public Key File
Connect with PuTTY
If you installed the PuTTY download package and previously generated a PuTTY private key (.ppk) file, you can connect to a Linux VM with PuTTY.
- Start PuTTy.
- Fill in the host name or IP address of your VM from the Azure portal:
- Select the Connection > SSH > Auth category. Browse to and select your PuTTY private key (.ppk file):
- Click Open to connect to your VM.
Next steps
Generate Ssh Rsa Key Putty
- For detailed steps, options, and advanced examples of working with SSH keys, see Detailed steps to create SSH key pairs.
- You can also use PowerShell in Azure Cloud Shell to generate SSH keys and make SSH connections to Linux VMs. See the PowerShell quickstart.
- If you have difficulty using SSH to connect to your Linux VMs, see Troubleshoot SSH connections to an Azure Linux VM.