Creating SSH Keys

Create a key-pair for your computer.

Public key authentication (SSH Key) is a more secure alternative to password authentication that allows users to avoid entering or storing a password, or sending it over the network. Public key authentication uses the client computer to generate the key-pair (a public key and a private key). The public key is then provided to the remote computer's administrator to be installed on that machine. If you wish to use your transfer client functionality with public key authentication, follow the steps below.

You can use the application GUI to generate key-pairs and to import existing key-pairs. You can also generate key-pairs using the command-line; for instructions, see Creating SSH Keys (Command Line).

  1. Create a key pair using the GUI

    Start the application by launching asperascp. From the menu bar, select Tools > Manage Keys.

    Bring up the SSH Keys window.

    In the SSH Keys dialog, click Create a new public key to bring up the New SSH Key Pair window.

    Click [Add] in the SSH Keys window.

    The SSH Keys dialog is also available from the Connections tab in the Connections Manager. When you select Public Key for authentication, the Manage Keys button appears; clicking it opens the SSH Keys dialog.

    In the New SSH Key Pair window, enter the requested information. When finished, click OK:

    Create Key Pair window.
    Field Description
    Identity Give a name to your key pair, such as your user name.
    Passphrase (Optional) Set a passphrase on your SSH key, which will be prompted for whenever it needs to use the key. If you don't want the user to be prompted for passphrase when logging in, leave this field blank.
    Type Choose between RSA (default) and DSA keys.
    Access When sharing a connection with a public key authentication, or a connection that is used with a Hot Folder, that key should have this option checked.
  2. Distribute the public key

    Then, you will need to provide the public key file (e.g. id_rsa.pub) to your server administrator, so that it can be set up for your server connection. To copy or export the public key, select the key in the Public Key Manager window, click Copy Public Key to Clipboard, and paste the string into an email and address it to the server administrator, or click Export to File and save the public key as a file.

    Copy the public key.

    You can find the public key in this path: 

    /(home directory)/.ssh/
  3. Set up connections using public key authentication

    When your public key has been installed on the remote host by its server administrator, click the Connections to bring up the Connection Manager.

    Bring up the Connection Manager.

    Under the Connection tab, select Public Key from the Authentication pull-down menu and select the key that is installed on this host.

    Choose the key for the connection's authentication.

To import keys created outside the GUI, go to Tools > Manage Keys to open the SSH Keys dialog. Clicking the button in the upper-left corner of the dialog opens a file browser. You can import the key pair by selecting either the private key or the public key, to copy both keys into the user's .ssh directory. You cannot import a key pair if a key pair with the same identity already exists in the .ssh directory.

Imported key pairs can be shared with other users. In the SSH Keys dialog, selecting a key and clicking the button opens the Edit SSH Key Pair dialog. Check the Access box to allow shared connections to use this key. Shared keys are moved to the Enterprise Server etc directory.