Java

SSH Tunnel Authenticate with a SecureString Password and Private Key

Demonstrates the Chilkat SshTunnel.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. Absolute paths may also be used. Supply the path to your own key file.

Background: This is the SecureString form of two-factor tunnel 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 a long-running process.

Chilkat Java Downloads

Download Chilkat for Java

Chilkat2 Java

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

public class ChilkatExample {

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

        SshTunnel tunnel = new SshTunnel();

        // The tunnel forwards accepted local connections to this destination through the SSH server.
        tunnel.setDestHostname("db.internal.example.com");
        tunnel.setDestPort(5432);

        // Connect to the SSH server.  This performs the TCP/proxy connection and SSH handshake, but
        // does not authenticate yet.
        int sshPort = 22;
        try {
            tunnel.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 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 {
            tunnel.authenticateSecPwPk(secureLogin, securePassword, privKey);
        } catch (ChilkatException e) {
            System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText());
            return;
        }

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

        // After authenticating, call BeginAccepting to start listening for local connections to forward.

        boolean waitForThreadExit = true;
        try {
            tunnel.closeTunnel(waitForThreadExit);
        } catch (ChilkatException e) {
            System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText());
            return;
        }
    }
}