455 lines
21 KiB
Plaintext
455 lines
21 KiB
Plaintext
SSH-KEYGEN(1) OpenBSD Reference Manual SSH-KEYGEN(1)
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NAME
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ssh-keygen - authentication key generation, management and conversion
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SYNOPSIS
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ssh-keygen [-q] [-b bits] -t type [-N new_passphrase] [-C comment]
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[-f output_keyfile]
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ssh-keygen -p [-P old_passphrase] [-N new_passphrase] [-f keyfile]
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ssh-keygen -i [-m key_format] [-f input_keyfile]
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ssh-keygen -e [-m key_format] [-f input_keyfile]
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ssh-keygen -y [-f input_keyfile]
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ssh-keygen -c [-P passphrase] [-C comment] [-f keyfile]
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ssh-keygen -l [-f input_keyfile]
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ssh-keygen -B [-f input_keyfile]
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ssh-keygen -D pkcs11
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ssh-keygen -F hostname [-f known_hosts_file] [-l]
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ssh-keygen -H [-f known_hosts_file]
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ssh-keygen -R hostname [-f known_hosts_file]
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ssh-keygen -r hostname [-f input_keyfile] [-g]
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ssh-keygen -G output_file [-v] [-b bits] [-M memory] [-S start_point]
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ssh-keygen -T output_file -f input_file [-v] [-a num_trials]
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[-W generator]
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ssh-keygen -s ca_key -I certificate_identity [-h] [-n principals]
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[-O option] [-V validity_interval] [-z serial_number] file ...
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ssh-keygen -L [-f input_keyfile]
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ssh-keygen -A
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DESCRIPTION
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ssh-keygen generates, manages and converts authentication keys for
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ssh(1). ssh-keygen can create RSA keys for use by SSH protocol version 1
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and DSA, ECDSA or RSA keys for use by SSH protocol version 2. The type
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of key to be generated is specified with the -t option. If invoked
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without any arguments, ssh-keygen will generate an RSA key for use in SSH
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protocol 2 connections.
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ssh-keygen is also used to generate groups for use in Diffie-Hellman
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group exchange (DH-GEX). See the MODULI GENERATION section for details.
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Normally each user wishing to use SSH with public key authentication runs
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this once to create the authentication key in ~/.ssh/identity,
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~/.ssh/id_ecdsa, ~/.ssh/id_dsa or ~/.ssh/id_rsa. Additionally, the
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system administrator may use this to generate host keys, as seen in
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/etc/rc.
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Normally this program generates the key and asks for a file in which to
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store the private key. The public key is stored in a file with the same
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name but ``.pub'' appended. The program also asks for a passphrase. The
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passphrase may be empty to indicate no passphrase (host keys must have an
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empty passphrase), or it may be a string of arbitrary length. A
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passphrase is similar to a password, except it can be a phrase with a
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series of words, punctuation, numbers, whitespace, or any string of
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characters you want. Good passphrases are 10-30 characters long, are not
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simple sentences or otherwise easily guessable (English prose has only 1-
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2 bits of entropy per character, and provides very bad passphrases), and
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contain a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and non-
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alphanumeric characters. The passphrase can be changed later by using
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the -p option.
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There is no way to recover a lost passphrase. If the passphrase is lost
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or forgotten, a new key must be generated and the corresponding public
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key copied to other machines.
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For RSA1 keys, there is also a comment field in the key file that is only
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for convenience to the user to help identify the key. The comment can
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tell what the key is for, or whatever is useful. The comment is
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initialized to ``user@host'' when the key is created, but can be changed
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using the -c option.
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After a key is generated, instructions below detail where the keys should
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be placed to be activated.
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The options are as follows:
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-A For each of the key types (rsa1, rsa, dsa and ecdsa) for which
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host keys do not exist, generate the host keys with the default
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key file path, an empty passphrase, default bits for the key
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type, and default comment. This is used by /etc/rc to generate
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new host keys.
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-a trials
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Specifies the number of primality tests to perform when screening
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DH-GEX candidates using the -T command.
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-B Show the bubblebabble digest of specified private or public key
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file.
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-b bits
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Specifies the number of bits in the key to create. For RSA keys,
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the minimum size is 768 bits and the default is 2048 bits.
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Generally, 2048 bits is considered sufficient. DSA keys must be
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exactly 1024 bits as specified by FIPS 186-2. For ECDSA keys,
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the -b flag determines they key length by selecting from one of
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three elliptic curve sizes: 256, 384 or 521 bits. Attempting to
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use bit lengths other than these three values for ECDSA keys will
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fail.
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-C comment
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Provides a new comment.
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-c Requests changing the comment in the private and public key
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files. This operation is only supported for RSA1 keys. The
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program will prompt for the file containing the private keys, for
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the passphrase if the key has one, and for the new comment.
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-D pkcs11
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Download the RSA public keys provided by the PKCS#11 shared
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library pkcs11. When used in combination with -s, this option
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indicates that a CA key resides in a PKCS#11 token (see the
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CERTIFICATES section for details).
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-e This option will read a private or public OpenSSH key file and
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print to stdout the key in one of the formats specified by the -m
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option. The default export format is ``RFC4716''. This option
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allows exporting OpenSSH keys for use by other programs,
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including several commercial SSH implementations.
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-F hostname
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Search for the specified hostname in a known_hosts file, listing
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any occurrences found. This option is useful to find hashed host
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names or addresses and may also be used in conjunction with the
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-H option to print found keys in a hashed format.
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-f filename
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Specifies the filename of the key file.
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-G output_file
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Generate candidate primes for DH-GEX. These primes must be
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screened for safety (using the -T option) before use.
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-g Use generic DNS format when printing fingerprint resource records
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using the -r command.
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-H Hash a known_hosts file. This replaces all hostnames and
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addresses with hashed representations within the specified file;
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the original content is moved to a file with a .old suffix.
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These hashes may be used normally by ssh and sshd, but they do
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not reveal identifying information should the file's contents be
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disclosed. This option will not modify existing hashed hostnames
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and is therefore safe to use on files that mix hashed and non-
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hashed names.
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-h When signing a key, create a host certificate instead of a user
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certificate. Please see the CERTIFICATES section for details.
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-I certificate_identity
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Specify the key identity when signing a public key. Please see
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the CERTIFICATES section for details.
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-i This option will read an unencrypted private (or public) key file
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in the format specified by the -m option and print an OpenSSH
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compatible private (or public) key to stdout. This option allows
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importing keys from other software, including several commercial
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SSH implementations. The default import format is ``RFC4716''.
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-L Prints the contents of a certificate.
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-l Show fingerprint of specified public key file. Private RSA1 keys
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are also supported. For RSA and DSA keys ssh-keygen tries to
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find the matching public key file and prints its fingerprint. If
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combined with -v, an ASCII art representation of the key is
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supplied with the fingerprint.
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-M memory
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Specify the amount of memory to use (in megabytes) when
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generating candidate moduli for DH-GEX.
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-m key_format
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Specify a key format for the -i (import) or -e (export)
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conversion options. The supported key formats are: ``RFC4716''
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(RFC 4716/SSH2 public or private key), ``PKCS8'' (PEM PKCS8
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public key) or ``PEM'' (PEM public key). The default conversion
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format is ``RFC4716''.
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-N new_passphrase
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Provides the new passphrase.
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-n principals
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Specify one or more principals (user or host names) to be
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included in a certificate when signing a key. Multiple
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principals may be specified, separated by commas. Please see the
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CERTIFICATES section for details.
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-O option
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Specify a certificate option when signing a key. This option may
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be specified multiple times. Please see the CERTIFICATES section
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for details. The options that are valid for user certificates
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are:
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clear Clear all enabled permissions. This is useful for
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clearing the default set of permissions so permissions
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may be added individually.
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force-command=command
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Forces the execution of command instead of any shell or
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command specified by the user when the certificate is
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used for authentication.
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no-agent-forwarding
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Disable ssh-agent(1) forwarding (permitted by default).
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no-port-forwarding
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Disable port forwarding (permitted by default).
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no-pty Disable PTY allocation (permitted by default).
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no-user-rc
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Disable execution of ~/.ssh/rc by sshd(8) (permitted by
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default).
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no-x11-forwarding
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Disable X11 forwarding (permitted by default).
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permit-agent-forwarding
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Allows ssh-agent(1) forwarding.
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permit-port-forwarding
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Allows port forwarding.
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permit-pty
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Allows PTY allocation.
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permit-user-rc
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Allows execution of ~/.ssh/rc by sshd(8).
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permit-x11-forwarding
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Allows X11 forwarding.
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source-address=address_list
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Restrict the source addresses from which the certificate
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is considered valid. The address_list is a comma-
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separated list of one or more address/netmask pairs in
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CIDR format.
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At present, no options are valid for host keys.
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-P passphrase
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Provides the (old) passphrase.
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-p Requests changing the passphrase of a private key file instead of
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creating a new private key. The program will prompt for the file
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containing the private key, for the old passphrase, and twice for
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the new passphrase.
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-q Silence ssh-keygen.
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-R hostname
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Removes all keys belonging to hostname from a known_hosts file.
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This option is useful to delete hashed hosts (see the -H option
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above).
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-r hostname
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Print the SSHFP fingerprint resource record named hostname for
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the specified public key file.
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-S start
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Specify start point (in hex) when generating candidate moduli for
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DH-GEX.
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-s ca_key
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Certify (sign) a public key using the specified CA key. Please
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see the CERTIFICATES section for details.
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-T output_file
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Test DH group exchange candidate primes (generated using the -G
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option) for safety.
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-t type
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Specifies the type of key to create. The possible values are
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``rsa1'' for protocol version 1 and ``dsa'', ``ecdsa'' or ``rsa''
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for protocol version 2.
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-V validity_interval
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Specify a validity interval when signing a certificate. A
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validity interval may consist of a single time, indicating that
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the certificate is valid beginning now and expiring at that time,
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or may consist of two times separated by a colon to indicate an
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explicit time interval. The start time may be specified as a
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date in YYYYMMDD format, a time in YYYYMMDDHHMMSS format or a
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relative time (to the current time) consisting of a minus sign
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followed by a relative time in the format described in the TIME
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FORMATS section of sshd_config(5). The end time may be specified
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as a YYYYMMDD date, a YYYYMMDDHHMMSS time or a relative time
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starting with a plus character.
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For example: ``+52w1d'' (valid from now to 52 weeks and one day
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from now), ``-4w:+4w'' (valid from four weeks ago to four weeks
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from now), ``20100101123000:20110101123000'' (valid from 12:30
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PM, January 1st, 2010 to 12:30 PM, January 1st, 2011),
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``-1d:20110101'' (valid from yesterday to midnight, January 1st,
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2011).
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-v Verbose mode. Causes ssh-keygen to print debugging messages
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about its progress. This is helpful for debugging moduli
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generation. Multiple -v options increase the verbosity. The
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maximum is 3.
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-W generator
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Specify desired generator when testing candidate moduli for DH-
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GEX.
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-y This option will read a private OpenSSH format file and print an
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OpenSSH public key to stdout.
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-z serial_number
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Specifies a serial number to be embedded in the certificate to
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distinguish this certificate from others from the same CA. The
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default serial number is zero.
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MODULI GENERATION
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ssh-keygen may be used to generate groups for the Diffie-Hellman Group
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Exchange (DH-GEX) protocol. Generating these groups is a two-step
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process: first, candidate primes are generated using a fast, but memory
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intensive process. These candidate primes are then tested for
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suitability (a CPU-intensive process).
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Generation of primes is performed using the -G option. The desired
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length of the primes may be specified by the -b option. For example:
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# ssh-keygen -G moduli-2048.candidates -b 2048
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By default, the search for primes begins at a random point in the desired
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length range. This may be overridden using the -S option, which
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specifies a different start point (in hex).
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Once a set of candidates have been generated, they must be tested for
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suitability. This may be performed using the -T option. In this mode
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ssh-keygen will read candidates from standard input (or a file specified
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using the -f option). For example:
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# ssh-keygen -T moduli-2048 -f moduli-2048.candidates
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By default, each candidate will be subjected to 100 primality tests.
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This may be overridden using the -a option. The DH generator value will
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be chosen automatically for the prime under consideration. If a specific
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generator is desired, it may be requested using the -W option. Valid
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generator values are 2, 3, and 5.
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Screened DH groups may be installed in /etc/moduli. It is important that
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this file contains moduli of a range of bit lengths and that both ends of
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a connection share common moduli.
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CERTIFICATES
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ssh-keygen supports signing of keys to produce certificates that may be
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used for user or host authentication. Certificates consist of a public
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key, some identity information, zero or more principal (user or host)
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names and a set of options that are signed by a Certification Authority
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(CA) key. Clients or servers may then trust only the CA key and verify
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its signature on a certificate rather than trusting many user/host keys.
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Note that OpenSSH certificates are a different, and much simpler, format
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to the X.509 certificates used in ssl(8).
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ssh-keygen supports two types of certificates: user and host. User
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certificates authenticate users to servers, whereas host certificates
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authenticate server hosts to users. To generate a user certificate:
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$ ssh-keygen -s /path/to/ca_key -I key_id /path/to/user_key.pub
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The resultant certificate will be placed in /path/to/user_key-cert.pub.
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A host certificate requires the -h option:
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$ ssh-keygen -s /path/to/ca_key -I key_id -h /path/to/host_key.pub
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The host certificate will be output to /path/to/host_key-cert.pub.
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It is possible to sign using a CA key stored in a PKCS#11 token by
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providing the token library using -D and identifying the CA key by
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providing its public half as an argument to -s:
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$ ssh-keygen -s ca_key.pub -D libpkcs11.so -I key_id host_key.pub
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In all cases, key_id is a "key identifier" that is logged by the server
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when the certificate is used for authentication.
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Certificates may be limited to be valid for a set of principal
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(user/host) names. By default, generated certificates are valid for all
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users or hosts. To generate a certificate for a specified set of
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principals:
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$ ssh-keygen -s ca_key -I key_id -n user1,user2 user_key.pub
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$ ssh-keygen -s ca_key -I key_id -h -n host.domain user_key.pub
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Additional limitations on the validity and use of user certificates may
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be specified through certificate options. A certificate option may
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disable features of the SSH session, may be valid only when presented
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from particular source addresses or may force the use of a specific
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command. For a list of valid certificate options, see the documentation
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for the -O option above.
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Finally, certificates may be defined with a validity lifetime. The -V
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option allows specification of certificate start and end times. A
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certificate that is presented at a time outside this range will not be
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considered valid. By default, certificates have a maximum validity
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interval.
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For certificates to be used for user or host authentication, the CA
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public key must be trusted by sshd(8) or ssh(1). Please refer to those
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manual pages for details.
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FILES
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~/.ssh/identity
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Contains the protocol version 1 RSA authentication identity of
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the user. This file should not be readable by anyone but the
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user. It is possible to specify a passphrase when generating the
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key; that passphrase will be used to encrypt the private part of
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this file using 3DES. This file is not automatically accessed by
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ssh-keygen but it is offered as the default file for the private
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key. ssh(1) will read this file when a login attempt is made.
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~/.ssh/identity.pub
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Contains the protocol version 1 RSA public key for
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authentication. The contents of this file should be added to
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~/.ssh/authorized_keys on all machines where the user wishes to
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log in using RSA authentication. There is no need to keep the
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contents of this file secret.
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~/.ssh/id_dsa
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~/.ssh/id_ecdsa
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~/.ssh/id_rsa
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Contains the protocol version 2 DSA, ECDSA or RSA authentication
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identity of the user. This file should not be readable by anyone
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but the user. It is possible to specify a passphrase when
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generating the key; that passphrase will be used to encrypt the
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private part of this file using 128-bit AES. This file is not
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automatically accessed by ssh-keygen but it is offered as the
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default file for the private key. ssh(1) will read this file
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when a login attempt is made.
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~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub
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~/.ssh/id_ecdsa.pub
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~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
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Contains the protocol version 2 DSA, ECDSA or RSA public key for
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authentication. The contents of this file should be added to
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~/.ssh/authorized_keys on all machines where the user wishes to
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log in using public key authentication. There is no need to keep
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the contents of this file secret.
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/etc/moduli
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Contains Diffie-Hellman groups used for DH-GEX. The file format
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is described in moduli(5).
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SEE ALSO
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ssh(1), ssh-add(1), ssh-agent(1), moduli(5), sshd(8)
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The Secure Shell (SSH) Public Key File Format, RFC 4716, 2006.
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AUTHORS
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OpenSSH is a derivative of the original and free ssh 1.2.12 release by
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Tatu Ylonen. Aaron Campbell, Bob Beck, Markus Friedl, Niels Provos, Theo
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de Raadt and Dug Song removed many bugs, re-added newer features and
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created OpenSSH. Markus Friedl contributed the support for SSH protocol
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versions 1.5 and 2.0.
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OpenBSD 5.0 April 13, 2011 OpenBSD 5.0
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