Delphi ActiveX

SSH Authenticate with a SecureString Password

Demonstrates the Chilkat Ssh.AuthenticateSecPw method, which performs the same authentication as AuthenticatePw but receives the login and password as SecureString objects. The first argument is the login and the second is the password.

Background: A SecureString keeps the credential encrypted in memory, reducing the chance of a plaintext password lingering in the process. The connection-state, retry, and AuthFailReason behavior matches AuthenticatePw; only the credential handling is more protective. Populate the SecureString from a value obtained at runtime, not a hard-coded literal.

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var
success: Integer;
ssh: TChilkatSsh;
sshPort: Integer;
password: WideString;
secureLogin: TChilkatSecureString;
securePassword: TChilkatSecureString;

begin
success := 0;

//  Demonstrates the Ssh.AuthenticateSecPw method, which authenticates using SecureString login
//  and password objects.  The 1st argument is the login and the 2nd is the password.

ssh := TChilkatSsh.Create(Self);

//  Connect to the SSH server.  Port 22 is the usual SSH port.
sshPort := 22;
success := ssh.Connect('ssh.example.com',sshPort);
if (success = 0) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(ssh.LastErrorText);
    Exit;
  end;

//  Normally you would not hard-code the password in source.  You should instead obtain it
//  from an interactive prompt, environment variable, or a secrets vault.
password := 'mySshPassword';

//  Place the login and password into SecureString objects.
secureLogin := TChilkatSecureString.Create(Self);
secureLogin.Append('mySshLogin');
securePassword := TChilkatSecureString.Create(Self);
securePassword.Append(password);

success := ssh.AuthenticateSecPw(secureLogin.ControlInterface,securePassword.ControlInterface);
if (success = 0) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(ssh.LastErrorText);
    Exit;
  end;
Memo1.Lines.Add('Authenticated.');

ssh.Disconnect();