Users Guide

For more information about the sshpkauth, see the Chassis Management Controller for PowerEdge
VRTX RACADM Command Line Reference Guide.
Generating Public Keys for Systems Running Windows
Before adding an account, a public key is required from the system that accesses the CMC over SSH.
There are two ways to generate the public/private key pair: using PuTTY Key Generator application for
clients running Windows or ssh-keygen CLI for clients running Linux.
This section describes simple instructions to generate a public/private key pair for both applications. For
additional or advanced usage of these tools, see the application Help.
To use the PuTTY Key Generator to create a basic key for clients running Windows:
1. Start the application and select SSH-2 RSA or SSH-2 DSA for the type of key to generate (SSH-1 is not
supported).
2. Enter the number of bits for the key. The number should be between 768 and 4096.
NOTE: CMC may not display a message if you add keys less than 768 or greater than 4096, but
when you try to log in, these keys it fails.
3. Click Generate and move the mouse in the window as directed.
After the key is created, you can modify the key comment field.
You can also enter a passphrase to make the key secure. Ensure that you save the private key.
4. You have two options for using the public key:
• Save the public key to a file to upload later.
• Copy and paste the text from the Public key for pasting window when adding the account using
the text option.
Generating Public Keys for Systems Running Linux
The ssh-keygen application for Linux clients is a command line tool with no graphical user interface.
Open a terminal window and at the shell prompt type:
ssh-keygen –t rsa –b 1024 –C testing
where,
–t must be dsa or rsa.
–b specifies the bit encryption size between 768 and 4096.
–c allows modifying the public key comment and is optional.
The <passphrase> is optional. After the command completes, use the public file to pass to the RACADM
for uploading the file.
RACADM Syntax Notes for CMC
When using the racadm sshpkauth command, ensure the following:
• For the –i option, the parameter must be svcacct. All other parameters for -i fail in CMC. The
svcacct is a special account for public key authentication over SSH in CMC.
• To log in to the CMC, the user must be service. Users of the other categories do have access to the
public keys entered using the sshpkauth command.
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