Visual Basic 6.0

SFTP Authenticate with Password and Private Key

Demonstrates the Chilkat SFtp.AuthenticatePwPk method, which authenticates with a server that requires both a password and a private key. The arguments are the username, the password, and an 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: Most servers require either a password or a public key, not both — but some high-security deployments mandate two-factor SSH, combining something you know (the password) with something you have (the key). This method satisfies that policy in one call. As always, the password should come from a secure source rather than a literal in code.

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Visual Basic 6.0

Dim success As Long
success = 0

'  Demonstrates the SFtp.AuthenticatePwPk method, which authenticates with a server that requires
'  BOTH a password and a private key.  The 1st argument is the username, the 2nd is the password,
'  and the 3rd is an SshKey private key.

Dim sftp As New ChilkatSFtp

'  Step 1: Connect the SSH transport.  Port 22 is the usual port.
Dim port As Long
port = 22
success = sftp.Connect("sftp.example.com",port)
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print sftp.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

'  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.
Dim password As String
password = "mySshPassword"

'  Load the SSH private key.  LoadText reads the file's text, which is then imported.
Dim privKey As New ChilkatSshKey
Dim keyText As String
keyText = privKey.LoadText("qa_data/id_rsa")
If (privKey.LastMethodSuccess = 0) Then
    Debug.Print privKey.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

success = privKey.FromOpenSshPrivateKey(keyText)
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print privKey.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

success = sftp.AuthenticatePwPk("mySshLogin",password,privKey)
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print sftp.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

'  Step 3: Open the SFTP subsystem.  This must be done after authentication and before any
'  file or directory operations.
success = sftp.InitializeSftp()
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print sftp.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

Debug.Print "Authenticated with a password and a private key."

sftp.Disconnect