ssh private key question

vonedaddy · 01-04-2008, 12:29 AM

I created a key auth with putty. I was wondering if I can use that key I created with putty in other programs like Secure CRT (which is the only thing they let us use in work).

As of right now it will not let me, it says file format invalid. But I was wondering if I can change something to make it work?

Also I have another linux box at my work (both boxes are fedora 8) could I use this key there?

Thanks

shadowsnipes · 01-04-2008, 02:31 AM

yes, you can. If I remember correctly Putty adds extra junk at the beginning that you need to get rid of, so all you need to do is delete that and make sure the entire key entry is on one line. I suggest looking at an example key in Linux (from OpenSSH) and compare that to the format that Putty uses.

It's a quick edit and should only take a couple of seconds.

vonedaddy · 01-04-2008, 10:36 AM

hmm extra junk??

OK here is a sample from putty (of course I changed the characters)
ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAABJQAAAIEA0kGkVYY9SVghdrthdrthTHDRTgergtFRFRTGTgtgTTGtgGTgegtgwefwjuk356yhyjsjygjh ukREFERFEFGRRgC5KQFxpsiIvQnuUCi6VSEtxTovGghlp64o3KsQcA1wcwh4tHhnyfHeDC32hCIvcym3aunFo3NjVYUUe9T2a2c= TEMPTATION

and here is a sample output from ssh-keygen -t rsa

-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
Proc-Type: 4,ENCRYPTED
DEK-Info: DES-EDE3-CBC,340D0FE5549AD343
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-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----

and here is a sample from Secure CRT

---- BEGIN VAN DYKE SSH2 PRIVATE KEY ----
Subject: user
Comment: "TEMPTATION"
ModBitSize: 1024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==
---- END VAN DYKE SSH2 PRIVATE KEY ----

ANY IDEAS?

mi6 · 01-13-2008, 08:34 AM

edit: I re-read your post, here is a link that may help:
http://forums.vandyke.com/archive/index.php/t-844.html

shadowsnipes · 01-14-2008, 10:41 AM

vonedaddy,

sorry about the untimeliness of my response. For some reason I didn't get notified of an update to the thread until the most response (I probably accidentally deleted the email notification).

At any rate, could you please repost (or edit) the sample keys using CODE brackets so that they appear correctly.

You see, one of the difference between Putty formatted keys and others is that Putty formatted keys aren't on one line whereas many others are.

For example your Putty public key may look like

Code:

---- BEGIN SSH2 PUBLIC KEY ----
AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAABJQAAAIEA0kGkVYY9SVghdrthdrthTHDRTgergtFRFRTG
TgtgTTGtgGTgegtgwefwjuk356yhyjsjygjhukREFERFEFGRRgC5KQFxpsiIvQnu
UCi6VSEtxTovGghlp64o3KsQcA1wcwh4tHhnyfHeDC32hCIvcym3aunFo3NjVYUU
e9T2a2c= TEMPTATION
---- END SSH2 PUBLIC KEY ----

and the corresponding OpenSSH public key would look like

Code:

ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAABJQAAAIEA0kGkVYY9SVghdrthdrthTHDRTgergtFRFRTGTgtgTTGtgGTgegtgwefwjuk356yhyjsjygjhukREFERFEFGRRgC5KQFxpsiIvQnuUCi6VSEtxTovGghlp64o3KsQcA1wcwh4tHhnyfHeDC32hCIvcym3aunFo3NjVYUUe9T2a2c== TEMPTATION

I am assuming that your problem with Secure CRT is something similar to this and I apologize if this assumption is incorrect. By looking at the different formats and paying attention to how many lines there really are (use a editor with line wrapping turned off) you should be able to get it to work by making the files look as they should.