8.2 Using PuTTYgen, the PuTTY key generator

PuTTYgen is a key generator. It generates pairs of public and private keys to be used with PuTTY, PSCP, PSFTP, and Plink, as well as the PuTTY authentication agent, Pageant (see chapter 9). PuTTYgen generates RSA, DSA, ECDSA, and EdDSA keys.

When you run PuTTYgen you will see a window where you have two main choices: ‘Generate’, to generate a new public/private key pair, or ‘Load’ to load in an existing private key.

• 8.2.1 Generating a new key
• 8.2.2 Selecting the type of key
• 8.2.3 Selecting the size (strength) of the key
• 8.2.4 Selecting the prime generation method
• 8.2.5 The ‘Generate’ button
• 8.2.6 The ‘Key fingerprint’ box
• 8.2.7 Setting a comment for your key
• 8.2.8 Setting a passphrase for your key
• 8.2.9 Adding a certificate to your key
• 8.2.10 Saving your private key to a disk file
• 8.2.11 Saving your public key to a disk file
• 8.2.12 ‘Public key for pasting into OpenSSH authorized_keys file’
• 8.2.13 Parameters for saving key files
  • 8.2.13.1 PPK file version
  • 8.2.13.2 Options affecting passphrase hashing
• 8.2.14 Reloading a private key
• 8.2.15 Dealing with private keys in other formats
• 8.2.16 PuTTYgen command-line configuration