Creating ssh keys for Windows

SSH keys allow for improved access to Research Computing clusters by bypassing the need for 2Factor authentication. Adding your public key to the cluster will allow tools such as ssh, putty and others to more quickly and easily connect. 

  1. To generate a key pair use PuTTY’s generation tool called “PuTTYgen”
  2. Once Launched make sure RSA is selected in the bottom left, then click “Generate”
  3. Move your mouse around the blank area near the progress bar to add randomness to the key
  4. Enter a keyphrase and confirm it (not necessary but recommended)
  5. Click “Save private key” and save it
  6. Click “Save public key”
  7. Copy the whole Public key on the top of the generator
  8. Open https://athene-ondemand.hpc.fau.edu/pun/sys/dashboard
  9. Login
  10. Click the tab “Clusters” and select “Athene Shell Access”
  11. Type cd .ssh
    1. If .ssh does not exist do the following commands:
    2. mkdir .ssh
    3. chmod 700 .ssh
  12. type in the following commands:
vim .ssh/authorized_keys

13. From the PuttyGen, press insert and right click to paste the generated public key to the vim editor.  Then save and exit (press escape, then enter wq!).

Next edit the permissions with the command:

chmod 644 .ssh/authorized_keys

 

Now exit and open Putty so we can configure it to use the new generated keys.

In Putty go to Connection > SSH > Auth > Credentials

.

 

In the private key file box hit browse and locate where you saved the private key (.ppk) you saved.

save your session by giving it a name so that you may not have to enter your credentials each time.

Go back to the main Putty page and login in like you would normally.  After clicking open it will log you into Athene without prompting you for a password.

For future logins, click the Load button to get your credentials to log in.

 

 

Print Article