(PowerShell) SSH Authentication using X.509 Certificates

See more SSH Examples

Demonstrates how to authenticate with an SSH/SFTP server using an certificate's private key.

Note: See X.509v3 Certificates for SSH Authentication for more information.

Chilkat .NET Downloads Chilkat .NET Assemblies

Add-Type -Path "C:\chilkat\ChilkatDotNet47-9.5.0-x64\ChilkatDotNet47.dll"

# This example assumes the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
# See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

$ssh = New-Object Chilkat.Ssh

$hostname = "ssh.example.com"
$port = 22
$success = $ssh.Connect($hostname,$port)
if ($success -ne $true) {
    $($ssh.LastErrorText)
    exit
}

# Load the cert + private key from a .pfx.
# Note: Chilkat provides methods for loading certs and private keys from many sources, including smart cards and USB tokens (HSM's)
$cert = New-Object Chilkat.Cert
$success = $cert.LoadPfxFile("qa_data/pfx/example.pfx","pfx_password")
if ($success -ne $true) {
    $($cert.LastErrorText)
    exit
}

# Get the cert's private key (as PEM) to be used for SSH authentication.
# (The public key is installed on the server.)
$privKeyPem = $cert.GetPrivateKeyPem()
if ($cert.LastMethodSuccess -eq $false) {
    $($cert.LastErrorText)
    exit
}

$key = New-Object Chilkat.SshKey

# Load a private key from a PEM string:
$success = $key.FromOpenSshPrivateKey($privKeyPem)
if ($success -ne $true) {
    $($key.LastErrorText)
    exit
}

# Authenticate with the SSH server.
$success = $ssh.AuthenticatePk("myLogin",$key)
if ($success -ne $true) {
    $($ssh.LastErrorText)
    exit
}

$("Public-Key Authentication Successful!")