Java

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.

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

public class ChilkatExample {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // 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 ssh = new Ssh();

        // Connect to the SSH server.  Port 22 is the usual SSH port.
        int sshPort = 22;
        try {
            ssh.connect("ssh.example.com", sshPort);
        } 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 keyStr;
        try {
            keyStr = privKey.loadText("qa_data/id_rsa");

            privKey.fromOpenSshPrivateKey(keyStr);
        } 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 {
            ssh.authenticateSecPwPk(secureLogin, securePassword, privKey);
        } catch (ChilkatException e) {
            System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText());
            return;
        }

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

        ssh.disconnect();
    }
}