Key Generation
Generate a DSA key:
ssh-keygen -t dsa
This will generate an RFC 4716-formatted key file similar to the following:
-----BEGIN DSA PRIVATE KEY----- MIIBuwIBAAKBgQDijfpmyXBZpnq8EhEhSxeJz7fNxIlWYD6t7bviDZMARh8mLCr2 bug2J1K+Rl4qoLQJ7zRGlytwQ2krTCmvVahOjy9m/QW5936rCyVS19PRdJMEEMSN vLQaMtpKbnHp0z8Xs/X1CkDmxThOlvRVjiObdd0U9eELLoo5VHauVHmufwIVAO7j l4bxgVXeX09WJcyOXAUauNXHAoGAF20ESXgTvbbdxDECa2tfTi/j1/+emNV/+zuR aq6xms/K0piZhMlkK3BD9PgHhXfqZuRT/Z9b8ja3nR34H2KL3UInCNV6kSq6h+MD MLJnNQG4wADLYw3p5Tzz/hUwtfqpZ/9e7FpBdgfooS274GgPKTG8BFRiudIztPpK 4GueicoCgYEAy8hllDrFzQUqFG0kMe8r3dOFDjMQHf6ITttmAiScwEPg+a5D++Sq bj42vkKSNgaYHc+Z8QPgerPehIkBde6wx0ukq0a8IXy8F86IasXz3wzotPeJsdKi mynQKzhSm9Jzbk/SK/yh5NGhJzz1VmHsg+ir/qReguMHfqDGCI4kSFYCFDJKXQ4h MteJHSlu62RrGwInRBOh -----END DSA PRIVATE KEY-----
An accompanying, OpenSSH-formatted public key file should also be generated under the same file name with a .pub suffix. It should appear similar to the following:
ssh-dss AAAAB3NzaC1kc3MAAACBAOKN+mbJcFmmerwSESFLF4nPt83EiVZgPq3t u+INkwBGHyYsKvZu6DYnUr5GXiqgtAnvNEaXK3BDaStMKa9VqE6PL2b9Bbn3fqsL JVLX09F0kwQQxI28tBoy2kpucenTPxez9fUKQObFOE6W9FWOI5t13RT14QsuijlU dq5Uea5/AAAAFQDu45eG8YFV3l9PViXMjlwFGrjVxwAAAIAXbQRJeBO9tt3EMQJr a19OL+PX/56Y1X/7O5FqrrGaz8rSmJmEyWQrcEP0+AeFd+pm5FP9n1vyNredHfgf YovdQicI1XqRKrqH4wMwsmc1AbjAAMtjDenlPPP+FTC1+qln/17sWkF2B+ihLbvg aA8pMbwEVGK50jO0+krga56JygAAAIEAy8hllDrFzQUqFG0kMe8r3dOFDjMQHf6I TttmAiScwEPg+a5D++Sqbj42vkKSNgaYHc+Z8QPgerPehIkBde6wx0ukq0a8IXy8 F86IasXz3wzotPeJsdKimynQKzhSm9Jzbk/SK/yh5NGhJzz1VmHsg+ir/qReguMH fqDGCI4kSFY= user@hostname
Export Public Key in RFC 4716 Format
Given a private key, export its public key:
ssh-keygen -e -f private_key
This will generate a RFC 4716 output similar to the following:
---- BEGIN SSH2 PUBLIC KEY ---- Comment: "1024-bit DSA, converted from OpenSSH by user@hostname" AAAAB3NzaC1kc3MAAACBAOKN+mbJcFmmerwSESFLF4nPt83EiVZgPq3tu+INkwBGHyYsKv Zu6DYnUr5GXiqgtAnvNEaXK3BDaStMKa9VqE6PL2b9Bbn3fqsLJVLX09F0kwQQxI28tBoy 2kpucenTPxez9fUKQObFOE6W9FWOI5t13RT14QsuijlUdq5Uea5/AAAAFQDu45eG8YFV3l 9PViXMjlwFGrjVxwAAAIAXbQRJeBO9tt3EMQJra19OL+PX/56Y1X/7O5FqrrGaz8rSmJmE yWQrcEP0+AeFd+pm5FP9n1vyNredHfgfYovdQicI1XqRKrqH4wMwsmc1AbjAAMtjDenlPP P+FTC1+qln/17sWkF2B+ihLbvgaA8pMbwEVGK50jO0+krga56JygAAAIEAy8hllDrFzQUq FG0kMe8r3dOFDjMQHf6ITttmAiScwEPg+a5D++Sqbj42vkKSNgaYHc+Z8QPgerPehIkBde 6wx0ukq0a8IXy8F86IasXz3wzotPeJsdKimynQKzhSm9Jzbk/SK/yh5NGhJzz1VmHsg+ir /qReguMHfqDGCI4kSFY= ---- END SSH2 PUBLIC KEY ----
Convert Public RFC 4716 to Public OpenSSH Format
Convert the exported public key from RFC 4716 format to OpenSSH format (for use in an authorized_keys file, for example):
ssh-keygen -i -f public_key
This will generate OpenSSH-formatted output similar to the following:
ssh-dss AAAAB3NzaC1kc3MAAACBAOKN+mbJcFmmerwSESFLF4nPt83EiVZgPq3t u+INkwBGHyYsKvZu6DYnUr5GXiqgtAnvNEaXK3BDaStMKa9VqE6PL2b9Bbn3fqsL JVLX09F0kwQQxI28tBoy2kpucenTPxez9fUKQObFOE6W9FWOI5t13RT14QsuijlU dq5Uea5/AAAAFQDu45eG8YFV3l9PViXMjlwFGrjVxwAAAIAXbQRJeBO9tt3EMQJr a19OL+PX/56Y1X/7O5FqrrGaz8rSmJmEyWQrcEP0+AeFd+pm5FP9n1vyNredHfgf YovdQicI1XqRKrqH4wMwsmc1AbjAAMtjDenlPPP+FTC1+qln/17sWkF2B+ihLbvg aA8pMbwEVGK50jO0+krga56JygAAAIEAy8hllDrFzQUqFG0kMe8r3dOFDjMQHf6I TttmAiScwEPg+a5D++Sqbj42vkKSNgaYHc+Z8QPgerPehIkBde6wx0ukq0a8IXy8 F86IasXz3wzotPeJsdKimynQKzhSm9Jzbk/SK/yh5NGhJzz1VmHsg+ir/qReguMH fqDGCI4kSFY=
