Creating Windows SSH Key

• 28 December 2023
• by: NettaCompany
• in: Server Wiki
• note: no comments

To use SSH keys on Windows for secure authentication, you can follow these steps:

1. OpenSSH Installation:

   Ensure that you have the OpenSSH feature installed on your Windows machine. If you're using Windows 10 or later, it comes with an OpenSSH client and server feature built-in.

   To check if it's installed, you can go to “Settings” > “Apps” > “Optional Features” and look for “OpenSSH Client” and “OpenSSH Server.” If they're not installed, you can install them from the “Optional Features” section.

2. Generate an SSH Key Pair:

   To generate an SSH key pair, you can use the ssh-keygen command in PowerShell or Command Prompt. Open PowerShell or Command Prompt and run:

   shellCopy code

   ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096


   This command generates a 4096-bit RSA key pair. You can specify a different key type or size if you prefer. It will also prompt you to choose a location to save the key files (usually in your user directory, under .ssh).

3. Copy the Public Key:

   After generating the key pair, you'll have two files in your .ssh directory: id_rsa (private key) and id_rsa.pub (public key). You need to copy the content of the public key file (id_rsa.pub) to the remote server where you want to authenticate.

   You can use a tool like cat to display the public key and then copy it:

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   cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

4. Configure SSH on the Remote Server:

   On the remote server, you need to add your public key to the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file in your user's home directory. You can do this manually by pasting the public key or by using the ssh-copy-id command (if available):

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   ssh-copy-id username@remote-server


   Replace username with your username on the remote server and remote-server with the server's hostname or IP address.

5. Test SSH Connection:

   Once your public key is added to the authorized_keys file on the remote server, you should be able to SSH into the server without a password:

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   ssh username@remote-server


   It should log you in without prompting for a password because the SSH key is used for authentication.

That's it! You've successfully set up SSH key authentication on Windows for connecting to a remote server. Make sure to keep your private key (id_rsa) secure and never share it with anyone.