Generate an SSH key on Windows

How to generate an SSH key on Windows using PuTTY ?

Accessing your server using a key adds to your efforts of server security. With an SSH key, you are not required to SSH into your server, hence it offers an enhanced security for your servers. With this you can even change the default port to any of your choice and still access it normally.

Using the PuTTY SSH client, users can easily generate an SSH key on Windows machines.

You can generate an SSH key on Windows using the PuTTY SSH client. You can download PuTTY for free from any external site.

Inorder to generate a key using PuTTY, users must follow the below steps :

Step I – You must first download and start the puttygen.exe generator.

Step II – You must now select SSH2 DSA and hit the Generate option. You can find the SSH2 DSA option in the section named “Parameters“.

Step III - You can opt for moving the mouse pointer in random within the small screen and generate the key pairs.

Step IV – For identifying the key, you would be prompted to enter a key comment. This is usually helpful when you have multiple SSH keys active on a server.

Step V - You are required to enter the passphrase and confirm it. This passphrase would hereafter take care of protecting your key. Whenever you get connected via. SSH, you will require this unique key.

Step VI – Hit the “Save private key” for saving your private key.

Step VII – Then, hit the “Save public key“. This would save your public key.