SSH Keys Apple macOS

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SSH Keys on macOS

What are SSH Keys?

SSH (Secure Shell) keys are an access credential that is used in the SSH protocol.

The private key remains on the system being used to access the HPCC cluster and is used to decrypt information that is exchanged in the transfer between the HPCC cluster and your system.

A public key file is used to encrypt information, and is stored on your own system. The public key file is stored on the HPCC cluster and contains a list of authorized public keys.

Why do you need SSH Keys?

HPCC supports two authentication methods; Password+DUO and SSH Keys. The Password+DUO method requires a UCR NetID, if you do not have this then you will need to use SSH keys in order to access the HPCC cluster.

What you need

Filezilla

You will need to install Filezilla in order to transfer the public SSH key to the HPCC cluster.

1. Download the Filezilla Client for Mac OS X here.
   • Make sure your Mac OS X system is updated to the latest version.
2. Follow the install wizard to complete the install of Filezilla.

Sourcetree

You will need to install Sourcetree in order to generate your SSH keys (or use the command line method mentioned here: Manage SSH Keys via Command Line.

1. Download Sourcetree from here.
2. Click on Download for Mac OS X.
3. Install Sourcetree.

Create SSH Keys (Sourcetree)

1. Open the Sourcetree application and under the top Sourcetree menu click on the Preferences... sub-menu item.

   

2. Navigate to Accounts category and click on Add....

   

3. Click on Auth Type: and change the drop down menu from OAuth to Basic. Make sure Protocol: is set to SSH in the drop down menu.

   

4. Enter id_rsa in the Username field.

   

5. Click the Generate Key button.

   

6. Press Cancel to exit out of the window.

SSH Keys Location

By default, your key files are created in the path: /Users/macOSUsername/.ssh/.

To verify that the keys were created, do the following:

1. Open a new finder window. Click on your home directory on the left side pane.

   

2. Press the 3-button combo Command+Shift+. together (visualized below) to see hidden folders:

   

3. You will now be able to see your .ssh folder, open it by double-clicking.

   

4. You should see your newly generated pair of SSH key files in the folder.

   

5. Sourcetree adds the -Bitbucket to the end of the SSH key file names. Remove this by clicking on the file you want to rename and press the Enter key which allows us to rename the file before the extension.

   

6. After you have removed the -Bitbucket suffix from each of the SSH key file names, your new SSH key file names should be id_rsa and id_rsa.pub.

   

Configure SSH Keys

Public SSH Key

Now that you have created your SSH keys, and renamed them, you will need to placed the public key (id_rsa.pub) on the cluster using the cluster.hpcc.ucr.edu server.

1. Start the Filezilla application.

2. Fill in the Quickconnect fields at the top of the application window:

   • Enter your HPCC username in the Username field.
   • Enter the HPCC servername cluster.hpcc.ucr.edu for the Host field.
   • Enter your password in the Password field.
   • Enter 22 in the Port field.

   

3. Click on Quickconnect

   

4. If a pop up prompts you to save your password, select the Save passwords option, then click the OK button.

5. If the next pop up prompts you, then check the box that states Always trust this host, add this key to the cache, then click the OK button.

   

6. Now that you are connected to Filezilla transfer your public SSH key from your macOS system by dragging the file /Users/macOSUsername/.ssh/id_rsa.pub and dropping it into the HPCC cluster direcotry /rhome/username/.ssh/.

   

Private SSH Key

Once your public key is in place, now you can configure Filezilla to use your private SSH key and connect to the cluster through the secure.hpcc.ucr.edu server.

1. Open Filezilla Site Manager button in the top bar of icons.

   

2. Click on New Site, rename it (optional) and press enter.

   

3. Make sure the following fields are correctly filled before adding your SSH key file:

   • Protocol: should be set to SFTP - SSH File Transfer Protocol
   • Host: type in secure.hpcc.ucr.edu
   • Port: type 22
   • Logon Type: set to Key file
   • User: type in your HPCC username

   After these fields are finalized, click the Browse.. button.

   

4. Navigate to the folder you saved your key file in (default location is /Users/macOSUsername/.ssh) and open the private key file id_rsa.

   

5. You should see the added keyfile in the Key file: box, then click Connect.

   

   Subsequnt connections can be done from the Quickconnect history by clicking on the down arrow to the right side of the Quickconnect button.

   

6. Remember to select the secure.hpcc.ucr.edu address.

   

7. Transfer files by double clicking or drag-n-drop. For more details regarding file transfers vist Filezilla Usage.