Delphi DLL

SSH Authenticate with a SecureString Password and Private Key

Demonstrates the Chilkat Ssh.AuthenticateSecPwPk method, which performs the same combined password/private-key authentication as AuthenticatePwPk but receives the username and password as SecureString objects. The third argument is the SshKey private key.

Note: The private-key path is relative to the application's current working directory. Supply the path to your own key file.

Background: This is the SecureString form of multi-factor SSH authentication: the password is held encrypted in memory and combined with a private key for servers that require both. It is the most protective option when a deployment mandates two-factor SSH and you also want to minimize plaintext credential exposure in the process.

Chilkat Delphi DLL Downloads

Download Chilkat for Delphi DLL

Delphi DLL

var
success: Boolean;
ssh: HCkSsh;
sshPort: Integer;
password: PWideChar;
privKey: HCkSshKey;
keyStr: PWideChar;
secureLogin: HCkSecureString;
securePassword: HCkSecureString;

begin
success := False;

//  Demonstrates the Ssh.AuthenticateSecPwPk method, which authenticates using SecureString login
//  and password objects together with a private key.  The 1st argument is the username, the 2nd
//  is the password, and the 3rd is an SshKey private key.

ssh := CkSsh_Create();

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

//  Load the SSH private key.  LoadText reads the file's text, which is then imported.
privKey := CkSshKey_Create();
keyStr := CkSshKey__loadText(privKey,'qa_data/id_rsa');
if (CkSshKey_getLastMethodSuccess(privKey) = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkSshKey__lastErrorText(privKey));
    Exit;
  end;
success := CkSshKey_FromOpenSshPrivateKey(privKey,keyStr);
if (success = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkSshKey__lastErrorText(privKey));
    Exit;
  end;

//  Place the login and password into SecureString objects.
secureLogin := CkSecureString_Create();
CkSecureString_Append(secureLogin,'mySshLogin');
securePassword := CkSecureString_Create();
CkSecureString_Append(securePassword,password);

success := CkSsh_AuthenticateSecPwPk(ssh,secureLogin,securePassword,privKey);
if (success = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkSsh__lastErrorText(ssh));
    Exit;
  end;
Memo1.Lines.Add('Authenticated.');

CkSsh_Disconnect(ssh);

CkSsh_Dispose(ssh);
CkSshKey_Dispose(privKey);
CkSecureString_Dispose(secureLogin);
CkSecureString_Dispose(securePassword);