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PuTTY - "couldn't load private key from ..."

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Nikil Mehta

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Sep 29, 2002, 4:45:56 PM9/29/02
to
Hi all,

I'm trying to ssh into a remote Debian Linux server, and getting the
following message:

Sent username "nmehta"
Trying public key authentication.
No passphrase required.
Couldn't load private key from C:\Program Files\PuTTY\sunlab-dsa.prv.
nme...@in.cs.brown.edu's password:

Now, I checked the FAQ and I know FOR SURE that I have "Preferred SSH
Protocol Version: 2" selected. Anyone know why this might be happening? I
can connect to the sever using SSH1 by both selecting the SSH1-RSA key and
loading it in pageant, but using either a SSH2-RSA or DSA key by selecting
or loading in pageant doesn't work (obviously I've put all 3 public keys in
my ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file). Any ideas?

Thanks.


SouthBarbarian

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Sep 29, 2002, 9:53:43 PM9/29/02
to
PuTTY has its own format of the private key, you might have to convert the
format using PuTTYgen

"Nikil Mehta" <nme...@cs.brown.edu> 撰寫於郵件新聞
:an7oi7$sue$1...@saturn.services.brown.edu...

Nikil Mehta

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Sep 30, 2002, 12:25:47 AM9/30/02
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Forgot to mention- all keys were generated using PuTTYgen

=)

"SouthBarbarian" <S...@south.com> wrote in message
news:x5Ol9.725$U5.5...@nasal.pacific.net.au...

William Hooper

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Sep 30, 2002, 12:32:19 AM9/30/02
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"Nikil Mehta" <nme...@cs.brown.edu> wrote in message
news:an7oi7$sue$1...@saturn.services.brown.edu...

What version of Putty are you using? Have you checked the faq about reading
v2 private key files?
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/faq.html#A.1.2
--
William Hooper

All wiyht ... rho sritched mg kegtops awound ?


Nikil Mehta

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Sep 30, 2002, 11:31:12 AM9/30/02
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Ah, interesting, I downloaded the latest dev snapshot just now, and now I
get the following message...

Sent username "nmehta"
Trying public key authentication.

Key if of wrong type (PuTTY SSH2 private key)
nme...@in.cs.brown.edu's password:

hrmm....

"William Hooper" <who...@infinet.com.NO_SPAM> wrote in message
news:hkkk6-...@snowball.whooper.org...

Simon Tatham

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Sep 30, 2002, 6:58:27 PM9/30/02
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Nikil Mehta <nme...@cs.brown.edu> wrote:
> Sent username "nmehta"
> Trying public key authentication.
> Key if of wrong type (PuTTY SSH2 private key)
> nme...@in.cs.brown.edu's password:

Duhh, sorry. I should have spotted this immediately.

Your connection is an SSH1 connection (`Sent username' is the clue -
PuTTY in SSH2 prints `Using username', reflecting a difference in
the protocols). You can't use an SSH2 key with an SSH1 connection.
--
Simon Tatham "A cynic is a person who smells flowers and
<ana...@pobox.com> immediately looks around for a coffin."

Nikil Mehta

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Oct 1, 2002, 3:37:11 AM10/1/02
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Ah, that must be it... those bastard admins must have lied to me when they
told me that they were running SSH2 on their servers...

Thanks for the tip.

"Simon Tatham" <ana...@pobox.com> wrote in message
news:Rcl*ex...@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk...

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