To generate SSH public and private key pairs on Windows, one of the easiest tools to use, is the PuTTY Key Generator “puttygen.exe” (which can be downloaded from here).
The resulting generated files from the PuTTY Key Generator can be used to set up public key authentication with a remote server, allowing for more secure authentication over normal password based authentication (requires disabling password based authentication).
Download the PuTTY Key Generator
You can download puttygen from the following url:
https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html
Run puttygen.exe
When puttygen has loaded you will be presented with a screen such as this:
Generate the public and private keys
Click the “Generate” button on the main window to start the process of generating the key data.
While this is happening, you will need to move your mouse around in the blank area at the top of the application. This is used to help randomize the data used to generate the keys.
Once the progress bar has gone through, the public and private key data will have been generated, and you are ready to save the keys.
Saving the public and private keys
Public Key:
Simply press the “Save public key” button. This will be used on the remote host you want to be able to connect into remotely, using the private key.
Private Key:
You have the option to enter a passphrase if you want to make the key more secure. Enter that in, and the confirmed passphrase.
After thats done (or if you dont want to use a passphrase), simply press the “Save private key” button. Store this key in a safe place.
Using the private key in PuTTY
For information on how to use the private key file in PuTTY, please check the following page:
Using SSH Private Key Files with PuTTY
The resulting generated files from the PuTTY Key Generator can be used to set up public key authentication with a remote server, allowing for more secure authentication over normal password based authentication (requires disabling password based authentication).
Download the PuTTY Key Generator
You can download puttygen from the following url:
https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html
Run puttygen.exe
When puttygen has loaded you will be presented with a screen such as this:
Generate the public and private keys
Click the “Generate” button on the main window to start the process of generating the key data.
While this is happening, you will need to move your mouse around in the blank area at the top of the application. This is used to help randomize the data used to generate the keys.
Once the progress bar has gone through, the public and private key data will have been generated, and you are ready to save the keys.
Saving the public and private keys
Public Key:
Simply press the “Save public key” button. This will be used on the remote host you want to be able to connect into remotely, using the private key.
Private Key:
You have the option to enter a passphrase if you want to make the key more secure. Enter that in, and the confirmed passphrase.
After thats done (or if you dont want to use a passphrase), simply press the “Save private key” button. Store this key in a safe place.
Using the private key in PuTTY
For information on how to use the private key file in PuTTY, please check the following page:
Using SSH Private Key Files with PuTTY
- Generate Public Key Windows
- Generate Ssh Public Key From Private Key
- Generate Public Key From Private Key Putty Key
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March 28, 2012Working with PuTTY's Public Key Format. You can click Save public key as well, but take note: The format PuTTYGen uses when it saves the public key is incompatible with the OpenSSH authorizedkeys files used for SSH key authentication on Linux servers. If you need to see the public key in the right format after the private key has been saved. In this tutorial you will learn how to generate SSH keys on PuTTY. Basically, you generate a key pair (private key and public key). The private key is placed on your local machine and the public key is uploaded to the server. When connecting to the server, a validation of these two keys is made and if the key pair passes the validation you. PuTTYgen is used to generate public or private key pair for creating SSH keys. Below is the complete guidance about how to generate RSA key in Windows operating system: Once you install the PuTTY on your machine, you can easily run PuTTYgen. For the same, go to Windows - Start Menu - All Programs - PuTTY - PuTTYgen.
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July 22, 2015Generating Public/Private RSA Keys. For Type of key to generate. (PUTTY will just automatically forward the key when you SSH into the other target) The option for manually entering a private key is only used when you don't have access to an authentication agent. Nov 10, 2011 How to Generate A Public/Private SSH Key Linux By Damien – Posted on Nov 10, 2011 Nov 18, 2011 in Linux If you are using SSH frequently to connect to a remote host, one of the way to secure the connection is to use a public/private SSH key so no password is transmitted over the network and it can prevent against brute force attack.
![Putty Putty](/uploads/1/2/6/1/126157970/150197405.png)
3min Read
SSH keys are one of the most secure SSH authentication options. It is definitely more secure than the usual SSH password authentication. Therefore, it is highly recommended to use SSH Key authentication method for connections to your servers.
With password authentication, you can connect to your server from any location, you only need to fill in your password. However, if your password gets leaked, it is a major risk as anyone who knows your password will be able to get into the server.
SSH Key authentication only allows connections from clients whose key matches the one on the server. Basically, you generate a key pair (private key and public key). The private key is placed on your local machine and the public key is uploaded to the server. When connecting to the server, a validation of these two keys is made and if the key pair passes the validation you are allowed to connect. Of course, you can upload keys of multiple users so that you or other authorized users would be able to connect to the server from different computers.
As you can see this is a much safer connection method. In this tutorial, we will focus on Windows users who use PuTTY for connections to the server and show how to generate PuTTYSSH Keys. If you want to generate SSH Keys on Linux or Mac, see this tutorial.
What you’ll need
Before you begin this guide you’ll need the following:
- Access to your Linux server / VPS
- PuTTY and PuTTYgen installed on your computer (Download here)
Step 1 — Downloading PuTTYgen
Generate Public Key Windows
Most of you have PuTTY installed on your computers already, however, to generate SSH Keys you also will need PuTTYgen.
Generate Ssh Public Key From Private Key
- Download PuTTYgenhere
- You should be able to see this file downloaded:
Thomson default key generator rar. No installation is required for PuTTYgen, it will run when you execute the file.
Step 2 — Generating your SSH Key pair
- Open up PuTTYgen by double clicking on the puttygen.exe file you have downloaded in Step 1.
- You should be able to see a window like this:
- Before generating your SSH Key pair, you can edit some settings, for example, key length, however, in most cases the default options will work just fine.
- Generate your SSH Key pair by clicking the Generate button.
- When the progress bar starts loading, move your mouse randomly across the area to load up the bar and generate your key pair.
- Your public SSH key will be displayed on the screen:
- For additional security it is highly recommended to think of a passphrase for your SSH key (However, you can also leave it empty):
- Save your private key to any desired location on your computer and name it anything you like.
- Save your public key to the same location on your computer and name it anything you like.
And that is it, you have generated your SSH Key pair. The private key will stay on your computer (do not provide it to anyone) while your public key needs to be uploaded to the server you wish to connect to.
Generate Public Key From Private Key Putty Key
Step 3 — Setting up your private key on PuTTY
In order for the server to recognize your computer when connecting from PuTTY, you need to attach the private key to PuTTY.
- Open up PuTTY.
- Navigate to Connection -> SSH -> Auth in the left sidebar.
- Browse for your private key file in the field Private key for authentication
- Select the private key file with .ppk ending and click Open.
Step 4 – Adding public key to server
Lastly, you need to upload your public key to the server:
- On your local computer, open public key file (id_rsa.pub) you generated in Step 2 with any text editor and copy its contents (public key).
- Connect to your VPS using Putty. See this guide for detailed steps.
- If .ssh folder does not exist, create it together with authorized_keys file with the following command:
mkdir ~/.ssh | touch ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
- Secure SSH Key file by changing permissions:
chmod 0700 ~/.ssh; chmod 0644 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
- Open authorized_keys file with vim text editor:
vim ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
- Press i key on your keyboard and right mouse button to paste the public key.
- Press Esc button and type in
:x
, hit Enter button. This command will save changes made to the file.
That is it, you can now use SSH keys instead of SSH password authentication to connect to your VPS.
Conclusion
You have learned how to generate PuTTY SSH Keys using PuTTYgen. This will make your connection to the server a lot more secure and convenient as you will not need to fill in the password each time. We recommend using this way of SSH authentication at all times and disable password authentication for good to completely secure your server. To find out how to completely disable SSH Password authentication on your server and use SSH Key authentication instead, follow this tutorial: How to disable SSH Password authentication on VPS.