16.12.2020

Rsa 2048 Generate Public Private Key

< Cryptography

When a RSA key is said to have length '2048', it really means that the modulus value lies between 2 2047 and 2 2048. Since the public and private key of a given pair share the same modulus, they also have, by definition, the same 'length'. However, both the public and private key. Reasons for importing keys include wanting to make a backup of a private key (generated keys are non-exportable, for security reasons), or if the private key is provided by an external source. This document will guide you through using the OpenSSL command line tool to generate a key pair which you can then import into a YubiKey.

Download and install the OpenSSL runtimes. If you are running Windows, grab the Cygwin package.

OpenSSL can generate several kinds of public/private keypairs.RSA is the most common kind of keypair generation.[1]

Other popular ways of generating RSA public key / private key pairs include PuTTYgen and ssh-keygen.[2][3]

Generate an RSA keypair with a 2048 bit private key[edit]

Execute command: 'openssl genpkey -algorithm RSA -out private_key.pem -pkeyopt rsa_keygen_bits:2048'[4] (previously “openssl genrsa -out private_key.pem 2048”)

e.g.


Make sure to prevent other users from reading your key by executing chmod go-r private_key.pem afterward.

Extracting the public key from an RSA keypair[edit]

Rsa 2048 Generate Public Private Key Pairs

Execute command: 'openssl rsa -pubout -in private_key.pem -out public_key.pem'

e.g.

A new file is created, public_key.pem, with the public key.

It is relatively easy to do some cryptographic calculations to calculate the public key from the prime1 and prime2 values in the public key file.However, OpenSSL has already pre-calculated the public key and stored it in the private key file.So this command doesn't actually do any cryptographic calculation -- it merely copies the public key bytes out of the file and writes the Base64 PEM encoded version of those bytes into the output public key file.[5]

Viewing the key elements[edit]

Execute command: 'openssl rsa -text -in private_key.pem'

All parts of private_key.pem are printed to the screen. This includes the modulus (also referred to as public key and n), public exponent (also referred to as e and exponent; default value is 0x010001), private exponent, and primes used to create keys (prime1, also called p, and prime2, also called q), a few other variables used to perform RSA operations faster, and the Base64 PEM encoded version of all that data.[6](The Base64 PEM encoded version of all that data is identical to the private_key.pem file).

Password-less login[edit]

Often a person will set up an automated backup process that periodically backs up all the content on one 'working' computer onto some other 'backup' computer.

Because that person wants this process to run every night, even if no human is anywhere near either one of these computers, using a 'password-protected' private key won't work -- that person wants the backup to proceed right away, not wait until some human walks by and types in the password to unlock the private key.Many of these people generate 'a private key with no password'.[7]Some of these people, instead, generate a private key with a password,and then somehow type in that password to 'unlock' the private key every time the server reboots so that automated toolscan make use of the password-protected keys.[8][3]

Further reading[edit]

  1. ↑Key Generation
  2. ↑Michael Stahnke.'Pro OpenSSH'.p. 247.
  3. ↑ ab'SourceForge.net Documentation: SSH Key Overview'
  4. ↑'genpkey(1) - Linux man page'
  5. ↑'Public – Private key encryption using OpenSSL'
  6. ↑'OpenSSL 1024 bit RSA Private Key Breakdown'
  7. ↑'DreamHost: Personal Backup'.
  8. ↑Troy Johnson.'Using Rsync and SSH: Keys, Validating, and Automation'.
  • Internet_Technologies/SSH describes how to use 'ssh-keygen' and 'ssh-copy-id' on your local machine so you can quickly and securely ssh from your local machine to a remote host.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Cryptography/Generate_a_keypair_using_OpenSSL&oldid=3622149'

Generate RSA keys with SSH by using PuTTYgen

One effective way of securing SSH access to your cloud server is to usea public-private key pair. This means that a public key is placed onthe server and a private key is placed on your local workstation.Using a key pair makes it impossible for someone to log in by using justa password, as long as you set up SSH to deny password-basedauthentication.

This article provides steps for generating RSA keys by using PuTTYgen onWindows for secure SSH authentication with OpenSSH.

Generate keys

In Windows, use PuTTYgen to generate your public and private keys.

  1. If needed, download PuTTYgen from the PuTTY download page.(PuTTYgen might have been installed previously with PuTTY or WinSCP.)
  2. Launch the program, and then click the Generate button.The program generates the keys for you.
  3. Enter a unique key passphrase in the Key passphrase andConfirm passphrase fields.For additional information about using passphrases,see Log in with a SSH Private Key on Windows.
  4. Save the public and private keys by clicking the Save public keyand Save private key buttons.
  5. From the Public key for pasting into OpenSSH authorized_keys filefield at the top of the window, copy all the text (starting with ssh-rsa)to your clipboard by pressing Ctrl-C.You need this key available on your clipboard to paste eitherinto the public key tool in the Control Panel or directly into theauthorized keys on your cloud server.

Use the key pair

You can use the RSA key pair in the following ways.

Specify your SSH key when creating a new cloud server

When you create a cloud server, you can assign a public key from the list of keys.If your key is not already in the list, you may add it, and then assign it.

Add a new public key to the list

  1. Under Advanced Options on the Create Server page, click Manage SSHKeys.
  2. Select public key for the cloud server from the SSH Keys listand click Add Public Key.
  3. Enter the key name, select the region, and paste the entire publickey into the Public Key field. Then click Add Public Key.
  4. Go back to the Create Server page, and confirm that your key is listedin the SSH Key list.

Assign a public key

Rsa 2048 Generate Public Private Key Pair

  1. Under Advanced Options on the Create Server page, select the publickey you want to use from the SSH key drop-down menu.
  2. When you are done specifying the all the other details for the server,click Create Server.

Assign your SSH Key to an existing cloud server

Rsa 2048 Generate Public Private Key Encryption

To make use of your newly generated RSA key pair, you must tell PuTTY touse it when connecting to your cloud server.

  1. To edit the file (or create it), run the following command on the cloud server:

  2. Paste the text onto its own line in the file.

    You must have the key available in your clipboard to paste it. The key and itsassociated text (the ssh-rsa identified at the start and the comment at the end)must be on one line in the file. If the text is word-wrapped onto multiple linesan error might occur when connecting.

  3. If you created the authorized_keys file, change its permissionsafter you’re done editing it by running the following command:

  4. Open PuTTY, and go to the SSH > Auth section.

  5. Browse to the location of the key file, and load the private key.

  6. Go to the Session page, and save the session. This saves the configurationso that PuTTY uses the key every time that you connect to your cloudserver.

After you save your session, your key is loaded automatically when youconnect to your server.

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Rsa 2048 Generate Public Private Key For Ssh

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