Java

SFTP Authenticate with a SecureString Password and Private Key

Demonstrates the Chilkat SFtp.AuthenticateSecPwPk method, which authenticates using SecureString login and password objects together with a private key. 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 two-factor SFTP 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.

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import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.ChilkatException;
import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.SFtp;
import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.SecureString;
import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.SshKey;

public class ChilkatExample {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Demonstrates the SFtp.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.

        SFtp sftp = new SFtp();

        // Step 1: Connect the SSH transport.  Port 22 is the usual port.
        int port = 22;
        try {
            sftp.connect("sftp.example.com", port);
        } catch (ChilkatException e) {
            System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText());
            return;
        }

        // 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.
        String password = "mySshPassword";

        // Load the SSH private key.  LoadText reads the file's text, which is then imported.
        SshKey privKey = new SshKey();
        String keyText;
        try {
            keyText = privKey.loadText("qa_data/id_rsa");

            privKey.fromOpenSshPrivateKey(keyText);
        } catch (ChilkatException e) {
            System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText());
            return;
        }

        // Place the login and password into SecureString objects.
        SecureString secureLogin = new SecureString();
        secureLogin.append("mySshLogin");
        SecureString securePassword = new SecureString();
        securePassword.append(password);

        try {
            sftp.authenticateSecPwPk(secureLogin, securePassword, privKey);

            // Step 3: Open the SFTP subsystem.  This must be done after authentication and before any
            // file or directory operations.
            sftp.initializeSftp();
        } catch (ChilkatException e) {
            System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText());
            return;
        }

        System.out.println("Authenticated.");

        sftp.disconnect();
    }
}