Setting Up a User's Public Key

Install the public key provided by the clients to their user account.

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Public key authentication is an alternative to password authentication, providing a more secure authentication method that allows users to avoid entering or storing a password, or sending it over the network. It is done by using the client computer to generate the key-pair (a public key and a private key), provide the public key to the server or the point-to-point, and have the public key installed on that machine.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Web UI currently doesn't support the key-based authentication. This feature is for transfers initiated in the application and the ascp command.

  1. Obtain the client's public key

    The client should send you an e-mail with the public key, either a text string attached in the secure e-mail, or saved as a text file. In this example, the client's login user account is asp1.

    For instructions of creating public keys, refer to Creating SSH Keys, or Creating SSH Keys (Terminal) for command-line instructions.

  2. Install the client's public key to its login user account

    To install the account's public key, create a folder called .ssh in the user's home directory. This example sets up the public key for the following user:

    Item Value
    User name asp1
    Key file /tmp/id_rsa.pub
    Public key install location /home/asp1/.ssh/authorized_keys

    Execute the following commands to install the client's public key:

    $ mkdir /home/asp1/.ssh
$ cat /tmp/id_rsa.pub  >>  /home/asp1/.ssh/authorized_keys
$ chown -R asp1:asp1  /home/asp1/.ssh