Cannot parse Private Keys from PuttyGen?

[rclai]

Are the private keys generated from PuttyGen not compatible with ssh2?

http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

The private keys that are generated (SSH-2 RSA) look like this:

PuTTY-User-Key-File-2: ssh-dss
Encryption: none
Comment: dsa-key-20141119
Public-Lines: 18
AAAAB3NzaC1kc3MAAAEBALRAc0iurfC9QcN8svhWZ696BsMwCSqlh4lB7SgUfhsI
7qClbw+5Lf4xUHjy0/851/a/iL4wPa5pEpN35cql8JTOfVdukhOPUqyiZzdxNdWC
IY9xu0DDQjRmkKQ5QSumbVggWyTe/Td1nbQlMT4RcQBDut1viKLueWkWsecj0vLJ
wGI1P80Vwz+FgMY/9mRJjPZl0nZAhi791/Ig3N6Nyq8ecAA+Z+KNa6Dj6g96GslU
H9hZbviuPaoFnaaq150rZBo6owe2CI7ITofS30jNL8LuFeaQg9P51/39YLi6RNS4
0zyiSWhFw+S/m9GayzwGGQQyCUoaxSCRo7//WxxMPCEAAAAVAO6ae6AgEuerk0Wa
/HfbwxbsPOHzAAABAHPoUUfiIl16qFb9SzpTDPuo0ZxChX9zbkL8Y+vDo1k4664P
--- redacted ---
Private-Lines: 1
AAAAFHhl3RpT/xmScMoRL2RcA5z6gGO3
Private-MAC: 3617639b950751ab5149bdbf8b88044b6af394f1

I get this error message:

[Error: Cannot parse privateKey: Unsupported key format]

[unknownbrackets]

You want it to start like this:

-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----

Using PuTTYgen, load the existing key, and then select Conversions -> Export OpenSSH key. This file should work fine. You'll want this version for other tools as well.

That being said, supporting PuTTY style keys might be a useful feature request for some, I suppose. In fact, there's a TODO for it.

-[Unknown]

[mscdex]

FWIW PPKs are now supported in the rewrite branch.

[btz1211]

I am attempting to write a Restful style File Service that allows you to grab files from servers. I am getting the following error: ERROR::Error: All configured authentication methods failed. I use the same exact .ppk file that I use for putty and that works.

this is my code for making the connection:

this.client.connect({
    host: hostInfo['host'],
    port: hostInfo['port'],
    username: hostInfo['username'],
    password: hostInfo['password'],
    publicKey: fs.readFileSync(hostInfo['key']['path']).toString('utf8').trim()
});

[mscdex]

@btz1211 You should be using privateKey and not publicKey

[btz1211]

@mscdex, thank you for replying so promptly. I've updated my code to use 'privateKey' instead:

this.client.connect({
host: hostInfo['host'],
port: hostInfo['port'],
username: hostInfo['username'],
password: hostInfo['password'],
privateKey: fs.readFileSync(hostInfo['key']['path']).toString('utf8').trim()
});

now I am getting: Error: Malformed private key (expected sequence) at genPublicKey

[mscdex]

@btz1211 Is your key encrypted? Either way, are you able to generate a new and unused PPK that reproduces the same error?

[btz1211]

My key is not encrypted. Just used PuttyGen to generate another private key. I got the same error. This is what my ppk file look like:

PuTTY-User-Key-File-2: ssh-rsa
Encryption: none
Comment: imported-openssh-key
Public-Lines: 6
AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQDXnAkBSiMnU8r/M8s/qjqFqqivwcuq2tqR
...
Private-Lines: 14
AAABADIaCymmjaas3QYShg9kQjcfYhV9ZhNsyc+LMdvonN2KdauMniuJD+2QK6Kq
...

[mscdex]

Can you provide the actual literal file contents somewhere? I'd like to add it as a test so I can duplicate it on my end as well.

[btz1211]

@mscdex , sure. Here is the full file content:

PuTTY-User-Key-File-2: ssh-rsa
Encryption: none
Comment: imported-openssh-key
Public-Lines: 6
AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQDXnAkBSiMnU8r/M8s/qjqFqqivwcuq2tqR
PaepSzxYX91xaEy3Gk8uiBGmfIlUgNXF0JUDSe6zQOkGgJg7etO/tYdSYXOuZRt3
0772tkRz+lasNPJnO/xpxTf5hClsOGs2MVSGeWAxuoAH7filtPZcxhA34f/ai13x
Kh3pVjKLQvaeyc4fC1a+7JVuKpbOs+QAZaAqtPzJtKm/2qKJodfkqe6eVrcI5gMT
YQ82C/++BbnSLj5VAzBg07NQYIpUUwNp7KUyhHa/eS8gGQPPAmr8+VETs8Bsvfx9
IUL3uhXJhc8PfcLkccIvq0j7mV565BdVOHLCIePdSao2q3hItnoX
Private-Lines: 14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Private-MAC: 74991ab5b9e5adbae8e0fa0c6781b1db8ba1240c

Just a quick question, I see in the genPublicKey method your first check is:

if (privKey[0] === 0x30)

Why is that? I think that's the issue here. My file starts with 'A'

[mscdex]

@btz1211 Try re-installing ssh2 and it should pick up the fix that I just pushed to ssh2-streams. Let me know if it does or doesn't work for you.

[btz1211]

I am still getting the same error:

Error: Malformed private key (expected sequence) at genPublicKey (E:\NodeJS\NodeJS-SSH-Service\node_modules\ssh2\node_modules\ssh2-streams\lib\utils.js:307:13) at Client.connect

[ganna-shmatova]

+1 getting this too =[

PuTTY-User-Key-File-2: ssh-rsa
Encryption: none
Comment: imported-openssh-key
Public-Lines: 6
AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQDY3ZZzql+hnn8TpOHUk96KiX2pk8ND5p+c
EqLbFnpi5+5iqx1hdJbZo0oW69Gx3wcWD3RVT8fVJDPmtsXlZkRhjGAOiz8VFpKJ
u2i2dyLZiX3xLzDI76aHIVW7Xehf3NE3ugHFjBiV41XaN6MSE+xeP3U7Mp16Ee3l
QZ8BJ5ujC5ZGhEgd27GIyV+yndee/T9YHms0tpYh6AC039QFWot5LlHnz2FlvTqU
mIvdn99KZSERlZ1sATceHxFHauJN6M0tFmN1h/KfNBTflI5IUevOwpbEWnSBXOVM
3pCFyftu9j7oQydtozE4G5T5GoxiJJ5DbznnEcdW8lKAX7lMznvR
Private-Lines: 14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Private-MAC: 91b6b2cd0050a2d8c5cf9920b9baf568c28cb16b

[btz1211]

Ganna,
In the mean while, you can try to import your *.pem file in Puttygen and under "Conversions" pick "Export OpenSSH key", that should provide you with a key file that works with ssh2. Hope this helps

[mscdex]

@ganna-shmatova @btz1211 What version of PuTTYGen did you use to create those keys? I get a MAC error when trying to load either of your keys (via PuTTYGen).

[ganna-shmatova]

@mscdex it was generated with 0.9.52 beta filezilla

[mscdex]

@ganna-shmatova How did you generate a PPK with FileZilla?

[ganna-shmatova]

@mscdex Open FileZilla server, connect,
edit > settings > FTP over TLS > generate new certificate

[mscdex]

@ganna-shmatova That's not for generating PuTTY keys, that's for generating a TLS certificate (for the server). Those are two different things. As far as I know the only way to generate PuTTY keys is to use PuTTYGen, which can save out to the .PPK key format.

[DevStarlight]

@btz1211 that worked like a charm!