Putty puttygen authorized_keys
We had to disable password login to our telin.ugent.be server due to enormous malicious internet attacks.
telin.ugent.be now works with ssh-keys only: this FAQ explains how you can setup a ssh key pair from within our TELIN department. First check if you have the following programs installed: PuTTY, PuTTYgen and WinSCP (and any text editor like Notepad++).
- Generate a public/private key pair with PuTTYgen.
Open PuTTYgen. Click generate and move your mouse to generate some randomness in the key pair. (It is however also possible to convert the .ssh/id_rsa key generated in linux to an *.ppk with Convertion -> Import Key)
- Add the key to your authorized_keys and save your key pair.
Goto the \\home\{your_username}\.ssh in the windows file explorer (.ssh is a hidden directory, but you can type the location in the top input field). Open the authorized_keys in a text editor e.g. Notepad++ and copy and paste the key from the window Public key for pasting into OpenSSH authorized_keys file in the PuTTYgen pane (use ctrl-c and ctrl-v). If you don’t see an authorized_keys file, you can create a new one (but use the quotes as a filename to make sure it doesn’t make an authorized_keys.txt file). Save the generated key on your local disk (\Users\{your_username} or \Gebruikers\{your_username}) with Save public key and Save private key (this *.ppk file will be used for authenticating with PuTTY and WinSCP).
- In WinSCP connect to telin.ugent.be.
Select the *.ppk file in Advanced -> SSH -> Authentication Private key file .... You can save the session for later with the Save button. You should be able to login with the Login button.
- In WinSCP you can connect to the terminal with Manage and Open in PuTTY.
The save session will then also be available in PuTTY under WinSCP temporary session, which you can Load, rename to telin.ugent.be and Save it again. If you want to do it manually, type the hostname telin.ugent.be, select the *.ppk file you used as private key in Categories -> SSH -> Auth in Private key file for authentication: with Browse and save the session for later by not logging in yet, but select Session and giving it a name telin.ugent.be first.
