Generating Public Keys for Windows

Before adding an account, a public key is required from the system that will access the iDRAC6 over SSH. There are two common ways to generate the public/private key pair: using PuTTY Key Generator application for clients running Windows or ssh-keygenCLI for clients running Linux. The ssh-keygenCLI utility comes by default on all standard installations.

This section describes simple instructions to generate a public/private key pair for both applications. For additional or advanced usage of these tools, see the application Help.

To use the PuTTY Key Generator for Windows clients to create the basic key:

1Start the application and select either SSH-2 RSA or SSH-2 DSA for the type of key to generate. (SSH-1 is not supported).

2The supported key generation algorithms are RSA and DSA only. Enter the number of bits for the key. The number should be between 768 and 4096 bits for RSA and 1024 bits for DSA.

3Click Generate and move the mouse in the window as directed. After the key is created, you can modify the key comment field. You can also enter a passphrase to make the key secure. Ensure that you save the private key.

4You can save the public key to a file using the "Save public key" option to upload it later. All uploaded keys should be in RFC 4716 or openssh format. If not, you must convert the same into that format.

Generating Public Keys for Linux

The ssh-keygenapplication for Linux clients is a command line tool with no graphical user interface.

Open a terminal window and at the shell prompt, enter:

ssh-keygen –t rsa –b 1024 –C testing

NOTE: The options are case-sensitive.

where,

-toption could be either dsa or rsa.

–boption specifies the bit encryption size between 768 and 4096. –Coption allows modifying the public key comment and is optional.

Follow the instructions. After the command executes, upload the public file.

Adding and Configuring iDRAC6 Users

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Dell IDRAC6 manual Generating Public Keys for Windows, Generating Public Keys for Linux, 135