Generate Ssh Keys Windows Command Line Rating: 5,5/10 4967 votes

Jun 13, 2019. This command works on Linux, MacOS, and Windows 10. Unless you have reason to change it, leave the default location of /.ssh/idrsa.If the command says the key already exists, you can either overwrite it or continue onto the next step with your existing key. To generate an SSH key in Windows 10: Ensure the Windows 10 OpenSSH client is installed. Run “ssh-keygen” in Command Prompt and follow the instructions to generate your key.

Create your SSH keys with the ssh-keygen command from the bash prompt. This command will create a 2048-bit RSA key for use with SSH. This command will create a 2048-bit RSA key for use with SSH. You can give a passphrase for your private key when prompted—this passphrase provides another layer of security for your private key. If you need a password-less SSH key (such as for an automated script), you must generate it from the command line as described in this article. Confirm the Key Type is set to RSA. Confirm the Key.

An SSH Key allows you to log into your server without needing a password. SSH Keys can be automatically added to servers during the installation process.

Creating an SSH key on Windows

The simplest way to create SSH key on Windows is to use PuTTYgen.

  • Download and run PuTTYgen.
  • Click the 'Generate' button.
  • For additional security, you can enter a key passphrase. This will be required to use the SSH key, and will prevent someone with access to your key file from using the key.
  • Once the key has been generated, click 'Save Private Key'. Make sure you save this somewhere safe, as it is not possible to recover this file if it gets lost
  • Select all of the text in the 'Public key for pasting into OpenSSH authorized_keys file'. This is what you would need to enter into the control panel to use the SSH key.

Creating an SSH key on Linux

The tools to create and use SSH are standard, and should be present on most Linux distributions. With the following commands, you can generate ssh key.

  • Run: ssh-keygen -t rsa. For a more secure 4096-bit key, run: ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096
  • Press enter when asked where you want to save the key (this will use the default location).
  • Enter a passphrase for your key.
  • Run cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub - this will give you the key in the proper format to paste into the control panel.
  • Make sure you backup the ~/.ssh/id_rsa file. This cannot be recovered if it is lost.

Adding an SSH key to your control panel

  • Once you're logged in, go to https://my.vultr.com/sshkeys.
  • Click 'Add SSH Key'.
  • Enter a descriptive name for the key.
  • Paste in your SSH public key. This is a long string beginning with 'ssh-rsa'. You should have saved this from when you generated your key.
  • Click 'Add SSH Key'.
  • Now, when you're deploying servers you will be able to select which SSH keys you want to add to the newly deployed server. Remember to select the keys before the initial server deployment, otherwise you will need to log into the newly created server and add the SSH keys manually.

Limitations

  • SSH keys are only available for Linux and FreeBSD. They are not supported for Windows, custom ISOs, nor snapshot restores.
  • SSH keys can only be managed from the control panel during deployment. You cannot use the control panel to manage them on an already-installed instance.

Connecting to a server using an SSH key from a Windows client

  • Download and run the PuTTY SSH client.
  • Type the IP address or Username + IP address ( user@x.x.x.x ) of the destination server under the 'Host Name' field on the 'Session' category.
  • Navigate to the 'Connection -> SSH -> Auth' category (left-hand side).
  • Click 'Browse..' near 'Private key file for authentication'. Choose the private key file (ending in .ppk) that you generated earlier with PuTTYgen.
  • Click 'Open' to initiate the connection.
  • When finished, end your session by pressing Ctrl+d.

Connecting to a server using an SSH key from a Linux client

  • Check that your Linux operating system has an SSH client installed ( which ssh ). If a client is not installed, you will need to install one.
  • Initiate a connection: ssh -i /path/to/id_rsa user@x.x.x.x
  • When finished, end your session by pressing Ctrl+d.
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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

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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. Norton antivirus 2013 product key generator free download.

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:

  1. Start PuTTYgen.

  2. Click Generate. By default PuTTYgen generates a 2048-bit SSH-2 RSA key.

  3. Move the mouse around in the blank area to provide randomness for the key.

  4. 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.

  5. 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:

  6. 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.

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

Create Ssh Public Key On Windows

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.

Windows Command Line Commands

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.

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.

  1. Start PuTTy.

  2. Fill in the host name or IP address of your VM from the Azure portal:

  3. Select the Connection > SSH > Auth category. Browse to and select your PuTTY private key (.ppk file):

  4. Click Open to connect to your VM.

Next steps

Ssh Keygen On Windows 10

  • 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.