Generate Ssh Private Key Windows

| 08-05-2021
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If you have Windows 10 with the OpenSSH client you may be able to generate the key, but you will have trouble copying it to the target Linux box as the ssh-copy-id command is not part of the client toolset. To generate the public/private key pair, enter this in the Command Prompt: ssh-keygen At the first prompt, “Enter file in which to save the key,” press Enter to save it in the default location.

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Add your SSH private key to the ssh-agent and store your passphrase in the keychain. If you created your key with a different name, or if you are adding an existing key that has a different name, replace idrsa in the command with the name of your private key file. Generating a Secure Shell (SSH) Public/Private Key Pair 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. 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. Type in the passphrase and confirm it. The passphrase is used to protect your key. You will be asked for it when you connect via SSH. Click 'Save private key' to save your private key. Click 'Save public key' to save your public key. For more information on how to load the key and connect via SSH using PuTTY, please check this tutorial. Apr 19, 2019 Install the OpenSSH module for PowerShell. Log in to the Windows computer with an admin-level account and launch PowerShell with admin privileges. Enter the following cmdlet to install the OpenSSH module. If this is the first time the module has been installed on the device, you may be.

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

Generate ssh public key windows

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:

  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

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.

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

  • 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.

This version of GitHub Enterprise will be discontinued on This version of GitHub Enterprise was discontinued on 2019-03-27. No patch releases will be made, even for critical security issues. For better performance, improved security, and new features, upgrade to the latest version of GitHub Enterprise.For help with the upgrade, contact GitHub Enterprise support.

Generate Ssh Public Key From Private Key

After you've checked for existing SSH keys, you can generate a new SSH key to use for authentication, then add it to the ssh-agent.

If you don't already have an SSH key, you must generate a new SSH key. If you're unsure whether you already have an SSH key, check for existing keys.

If you don't want to reenter your passphrase every time you use your SSH key, you can add your key to the SSH agent, which manages your SSH keys and remembers your passphrase.

Generating a new SSH key

  1. Open TerminalTerminalGit Bashthe terminal.

  2. Paste the text below, substituting in your GitHub Enterprise email address.

    This creates a new ssh key, using the provided email as a label.

  3. When you're prompted to 'Enter a file in which to save the key,' press Enter. This accepts the default file location.

  4. At the prompt, type a secure passphrase. For more information, see 'Working with SSH key passphrases'.

Adding your SSH key to the ssh-agent

Before adding a new SSH key to the ssh-agent to manage your keys, you should have checked for existing SSH keys and generated a new SSH key. When adding your SSH key to the agent, use the default macOS ssh-add command, and not an application installed by macports, homebrew, or some other external source.

  1. Start the ssh-agent in the background.

  2. If you're using macOS Sierra 10.12.2 or later, you will need to modify your ~/.ssh/config file to automatically load keys into the ssh-agent and store passphrases in your keychain.

  3. Add your SSH private key to the ssh-agent and store your passphrase in the keychain. If you created your key with a different name, or if you are adding an existing key that has a different name, replace id_rsa in the command with the name of your private key file.

    Note: The -K option is Apple's standard version of ssh-add, which stores the passphrase in your keychain for you when you add an ssh key to the ssh-agent.

    If you don't have Apple's standard version installed, you may receive an error. For more information on resolving this error, see 'Error: ssh-add: illegal option -- K.'

  4. Add the SSH key to your GitHub account.

If you have GitHub Desktop installed, you can use it to clone repositories and not deal with SSH keys. It also comes with the Git Bash tool, which is the preferred way of running git commands on Windows.

Ssh Private Key File

  1. Ensure the ssh-agent is running:

    • If you are using the Git Shell that's installed with GitHub Desktop, the ssh-agent should be running.

    • If you are using another terminal prompt, such as Git for Windows, you can use the 'Auto-launching the ssh-agent' instructions in 'Working with SSH key passphrases', or start it manually:

  2. Add your SSH private key to the ssh-agent. If you created your key with a different name, or if you are adding an existing key that has a different name, replace id_rsa in the command with the name of your private key file.

  3. Add the SSH key to your GitHub account.

  1. Start the ssh-agent in the background.

  2. Add your SSH private key to the ssh-agent. If you created your key with a different name, or if you are adding an existing key that has a different name, replace id_rsa in the command with the name of your private key file.

  3. Add the SSH key to your GitHub account.

  1. Start the ssh-agent in the background.

  2. Add your SSH private key to the ssh-agent. If you created your key with a different name, or if you are adding an existing key that has a different name, replace id_rsa in the command with the name of your private key file.

  3. Add the SSH key to your GitHub account.

Further reading

Generate Ssh Key Windows

  • 'About SSH'
  • 'Working with SSH key passphrases'