Public key authentication (SSH Key) is a more secure alternative to password
authentication that allows users to avoid entering or storing a password, or sending it over
the network. The client creates an SSH key pair (a public key and a private key) and then
sends the public key to the server's administrator. Once the admin configures the server
with the client's public key, the client can authenticate connections to the server with
their private key.
You can use the application GUI to generate key pairs and to import existing key pairs. You
can also generate key pairs by using the command line; for instructions, see Creating SSH keys from the command line.
- Start the application.
Go to Search from the
taskbar and type Desktop Client.
-
In the menu bar, click Tools > Manage Keys.
-
In the SSH Keys dialog, click to create a new key pair.
The SSH Keys dialog is also available from the Connection tab in the
Connection Manager. When you select Public Key for authentication, the
Manage Keys button appears; clicking it opens the SSH Keys dialog.
-
In the New SSH Key Pair window, enter the requested
information.
Field |
Description |
Identity |
Name your key pair, such as with your username. |
Passphrase |
Set a passphrase on your SSH key, which is prompted for whenever it needs to use the
key. If you don't want the user to be prompted for passphrase when logging in, leave this field
blank. |
Type |
Select RSA (default) or ECDSA key. |
Access |
When sharing a connection with public key authentication, or a
connection that is has a Hot Folder (on Windows machines), this
option must be checked. |
-
Click OK to create the key.
The public key is displayed in the window and you can copy it to a clipboard or export it to a
file that is easy to locate. The key is automatically saved as a file named
id_key_type.pub in the following location. In the example,
the public key file name is id_rsa.pub:
user_home_dir\.ssh\id_rsa.pub
-
Distribute the public key.
Provide the public key file to your server administrator so that it can be set
up for your server connection.
To copy or export the public key, select the
key in the SSH Keys window, click Copy
Public Key to Clipboard, and paste the string into an email
to send to the server administrator, or click Export to
File and save the public key as a file.
-
Set up connections by using public key authentication.
Note: Your public key must be configured on the server before you can connect with it.
-
Click Connections to open the Connection Manager.
-
Select the connection for which you want to set up the key.
-
In the Connection tab, select the Public Key
Authentication option and select the key from the drop-down menu.
Importing keys:
To import keys created outside the GUI, go to Tools > Manage Keys to
open the SSH Keys dialog. Click the button in the upper-left corner
of the dialog to open a file browser. You can import the key pair by selecting either the private
key or the public key; this copies both keys into the user's .ssh
directory. You
cannot import a key pair if a key pair with the same identity exists in the .ssh
directory.
Imported key pairs can be shared with other users. In the SSH Keys dialog, select a key and
click the button to open the Edit SSH Key
Pair dialog. Select Access to allow shared
connections to use this key. Shared keys are moved to the Aspera
etc directory.