Xbase++

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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LOCAL nSuccess
LOCAL oSsh
LOCAL nSshPort
LOCAL cPassword
LOCAL oPrivKey
LOCAL cKeyStr
LOCAL oSecureLogin
LOCAL oSecurePassword

nSuccess := 0

//  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.

oSsh := CreateObject("Chilkat.Ssh")

//  Connect to the SSH server.  Port 22 is the usual SSH port.
nSshPort := 22
nSuccess := oSsh:Connect("ssh.example.com", nSshPort)
IF (nSuccess == 0)
    ? oSsh:LastErrorText
    oSsh:destroy()
    RETURN
ENDIF

//  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.
cPassword := "mySshPassword"

//  Load the SSH private key.  LoadText reads the file's text, which is then imported.
oPrivKey := CreateObject("Chilkat.SshKey")
cKeyStr := oPrivKey:LoadText("qa_data/id_rsa")
IF (oPrivKey:LastMethodSuccess == 0)
    ? oPrivKey:LastErrorText
    oSsh:destroy()
    oPrivKey:destroy()
    RETURN
ENDIF

nSuccess := oPrivKey:FromOpenSshPrivateKey(cKeyStr)
IF (nSuccess == 0)
    ? oPrivKey:LastErrorText
    oSsh:destroy()
    oPrivKey:destroy()
    RETURN
ENDIF

//  Place the login and password into SecureString objects.
oSecureLogin := CreateObject("Chilkat.SecureString")
oSecureLogin:Append("mySshLogin")
oSecurePassword := CreateObject("Chilkat.SecureString")
oSecurePassword:Append(cPassword)

nSuccess := oSsh:AuthenticateSecPwPk(oSecureLogin, oSecurePassword, oPrivKey)
IF (nSuccess == 0)
    ? oSsh:LastErrorText
    oSsh:destroy()
    oPrivKey:destroy()
    oSecureLogin:destroy()
    oSecurePassword:destroy()
    RETURN
ENDIF

? "Authenticated."

oSsh:Disconnect()

oSsh:destroy()
oPrivKey:destroy()
oSecureLogin:destroy()
oSecurePassword:destroy()