connecting to SFTP with SSH - public / private keys

Question

Hi, I am testing this before we buy and I am new to this kind of FTP.

Client has supplied us GPG Public key to encrypt data. How do I use it. Also, when I create private/public key, where are they saved? I need to send public key for server side validation.

I was looking at samples, but it is not clear.

Thank you in advance.

Ubuser

Answer 1

Hi,

it's a bit unclear what protocol you are planning to use. The subject is about SFTP and, in question text you are talking about FTP and GPG.

FTP, SFTP, GPG

• FTP - plain, old file transfer protocol. Unencrypted password is sent over the network

• FTP/SSL - plain, old file transfer protocol sent over the TLS/SSL channel. Often called FTPS. Relation betewwn FTP and FTPS is the same as between HTTP and HTTPS.

• SFTP - SSH File Transfer Protocol. Completely unrelated to FTP. Different protocol and is run over the SSH communication channel.

• GPG is GNU implementation of OpenPGP cryptographic software. It can be used for encryption of files and emails. I'm not aware of any way how to use GPG keys for SFTP authentication.

SFTP, FTP, FTP/SSL are fully supported by Rebex components. We don't have any component supporting GPG yet.

For more info about SFTP, FTP and FTPS see http://www.rebex.net/kb/secure-ftp.aspx

For more info about GPG see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Privacy_Guard

Storing public/private keys

1) Storing keys on server:

This varies from server to server. Check your FTP or SFTP server documentation or consult with it's admin for details.

2) Generating keys and key storage on client

Following articles will help you to implement it in your code:

• SFTP - Public key authentication (includes hints how to use it with OpenSSH server)
• SFTP - Private and public key generation (Generated keys are saved to file system and private keys are encrypted. Public keys should be transferred to the SFTP server)
• FTP/SSL - Authenticating the client using a certificate

Comments

BTW, I am referring to SFTP and SSH. You mean I can not use GPG public key with your components? Let me know. Thanks

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None of our components supports GPG, sorry. We are considering adding a PGP/GPG component in a future. If you are interested in one please vote for one of those two feature requests: PGP/GPG mail encryption: http://rebex.uservoice.com/forums/18155-rebex-net-components/suggestions/895133-openpgp-support-in-mail or PGP/GPG file encryption: http://rebex.uservoice.com/forums/18155-rebex-net-components/suggestions/895129-openpgp-support-for-file-encryption-signatures