Visual Basic 6.0

SSH Tunnel Authenticate with a Private Key

Demonstrates the Chilkat SshTunnel.AuthenticatePk method, which authenticates the SSH connection using public-key authentication. The first argument is the username and the second is an SshKey private key. The matching public key must already be installed for the account on the SSH server.

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: Public-key authentication suits tunnels especially well because they typically run unattended for long periods: the private key stays on the client, the server trusts the corresponding public key, and no reusable password crosses the wire. The SshKey object imports several formats; for an encrypted key, set its Password before importing.

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Visual Basic 6.0

Dim success As Long
success = 0

'  Demonstrates the SshTunnel.AuthenticatePk method, which authenticates the SSH connection using
'  public-key authentication.  The 1st argument is the username and the 2nd is an SshKey private
'  key.  The matching public key must already be installed for the account on the SSH server.

Dim tunnel As New ChilkatSshTunnel

'  The tunnel forwards accepted local connections to this destination through the SSH server.
tunnel.DestHostname = "db.internal.example.com"
tunnel.DestPort = 5432

'  Connect to the SSH server.  This performs the TCP/proxy connection and SSH handshake, but
'  does not authenticate yet.
Dim sshPort As Long
sshPort = 22
success = tunnel.Connect("ssh.example.com",sshPort)
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print tunnel.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

'  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 = tunnel.AuthenticatePk("mySshLogin",privKey)
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print tunnel.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

Debug.Print "Authenticated with a private key."

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

Dim waitForThreadExit As Long
waitForThreadExit = 1
success = tunnel.CloseTunnel(waitForThreadExit)
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print tunnel.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If