(PowerShell) Load an SSH Key from a File (Many Formats Supported)

Demonstrates how to load an SSH public or private key object from a file. The file can be in any of the following formats:

• OpenSSH private key
• OpenSSH public key
• PuTTY private key
• RFC 4716 public key

Chilkat .NET Downloads Chilkat .NET Assemblies

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

$sshkey = New-Object Chilkat.SshKey

# First, use the LoadText convenience method to load a text file (of any SSH key format)
# into a string:
$strKey = $sshkey.LoadText("../mySshKeys/myKey.txt")

# Next, load the key into the SSH key object.

# If the key is an OpenSSH private key:
# (In actuality, the From* methods will automatically detect the format and load
# the key correctly.  For example, if a PuTTY private key is passed to FromOpenSshPrivateKey,
# it  will still load correctly.)
$success = $sshkey.FromOpenSshPrivateKey($strKey)
if ($success -ne $true) {
    $($sshkey.LastErrorText)
}
else {
    $("Loaded OpenSSH private key.")
    exit
}

# If the key is an OpenSSH public key:
$success = $sshkey.FromOpenSshPublicKey($strKey)
if ($success -ne $true) {
    $($sshkey.LastErrorText)
}
else {
    $("Loaded OpenSSH public key.")
    exit
}

# If the key is a PuTTY private key:
$success = $sshkey.FromPuttyPrivateKey($strKey)
if ($success -ne $true) {
    $($sshkey.LastErrorText)
}
else {
    $("Loaded PuTTY private key.")
    exit
}

# If the key is an RFC 4716 public key:
$success = $sshkey.FromRfc4716PublicKey($strKey)
if ($success -ne $true) {
    $($sshkey.LastErrorText)
}
else {
    $("Loaded RFC 4716 public key.")
}