RSA public/private keys in YAML

Question

I need to store an RSA key pair in a YAML file, but a still limited understanding of yaml syntax and a lack of examples has me searching for an answer.

I'll just start working with what I've got, but I was wondering if someone could explain quickly and concisely how I could store something of this nature in yaml.

score 30 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 26 '11 at 16:27

30

You can store your keys as text ("ASCII-armored" / base 64 encoded). From Wikipedia, the syntax for multiline strings in YAML is:

- title: An example multi-line string in YAML
  body : |
    This is a multi-line string.
    "special" metacharacters may
    appear here. The extent of this string is
    indicated by indentation.

answered Dec 26 '11 at 16:27

Snowball

11,102
3
34
51

how about a list? I.e. `script: - mkdir ~/.ssh/ - echo $SSH_KEY > ~/.ssh/id_rsa` ? – Frederick Nord Nov 16 '15 at 11:18
This worked well for me when supplying RSA Private Keys in Yaml to Python services for remote SSH work – Chaffelson Jan 27 '19 at 16:03

Lakhan Saiteja · Answer 2 · 2020-10-28T16:47:08.763

You can add the ssh key in your yaml file like below -

---
ssh-key: |-
  -----BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----
  b3BlbnNzaC1rZXktdjEAAAAABG5vbmUAAAAEbm9uZQAAAAAAAAABAAABFwAAAAdzc2gtcn
  NhAAAAAwEAAQAAAQEAssBRe91wZ0TJBIWK2V1NH/ourcFPb0cA4ln32a3j5QITMS3zhs/o
  euh8jPJ9eca93B+mfep5ly/UjwmDctGbwX54sJngE4Vuv5FgqctR8oHTxV+V18UdolBSsy
  yiAVycGUexN2yz7P5JBzwfOG3WEwNe4dNVzmFj51nXAlaX+MB+wLfrZfU1vQpqmU8Esiu+
  Hdab948qhmGlMepBw+M4Z7wVfgfz855ywxgL3NrVk2WhXxE9ng/jTLjHKkxKE/3sM/81wt
  bvjejPvEMeFPD2XXBZSPi7TpgOiMBWDPXUwbrDYH6S6J2HAvYgwDm1pdQZGrOLrTBVJJE/
  DX1KpYZJzQAAA9DSZOo10mTqNQAAAAdzc2gtcnNhAAABAQCywFF73XBnRMkEhYrZXU0f+i
  6twU9vRwDiWffZrePlAhMxLfOGz+h66HyM8n15xr3cH6Z96nmXL9SPCYNy0ZvBfniwmeBP
  hW6/kWCpy1HygdPFX5XXxR2iUFKzLKIBXJwZR7E3bLPs/kkHPB84bdYTA17h01XOYWPnWd
  cCVpf4wH7At+tl9TW9CmqZTwSyK74d1pv3jyqGYaVN6kHD4zhnvBV+B/PznnLDGAvc2tWT
  ZaFfET2eD+NMuMcqTEoT/ewz/zXC1u+N6M+8Qx4U8PZdcFlI+LtOmA6IwFYM9dTBusNgfp
  LonYcC9iDAObWl1Bkas4itMFUkkT8NfUqlhknNAAAAAwEAAQAAAQBN1kUlROX/cgp+t5Ag
  2uoMtKrC6tymPir6ZebxmTEVtfOZhML4v2wiqT4jOiy9bHecdQPQ7NuJpEBREPl2dCP4/B
  OeA0OUHSx+qtWG2oySp0oKNndPf/xJg+SfNR5OrX8j2v4mfmVTG9+9EMcfkWSY3uzgNWC1
  /967DXn9AKwomx8yszA7YY0vKanLPx5C14WtzMPSbfwYZoKV4ddBHAF/7JHXAXxMisc9Ud
  kziaS8SV4YJt7gSYKKMvzOEj+uiyk9DKoYWf6t++SQ93CUnZKLfhwYTUx/rsYt6ubblQeP
  IHI/j8LKiVz6nvyDt2NXSJ2Z2j0s6roREYgnLaqbjlPZAAAAgQC6DgqTehb2XTrg69D8lt
  Lyo5sutB3bTIHyg6GBSBW2qYh3D2PQaWdrcYe7WYGtp6OGmTgGcXX0DBCCTtrwTdxsPVeL
  XhC/HBY271v9T18Ur4h310iJWVPJ8I7TgJuaSsfui/04NcqcW5XwFy6DHDQKxNwDhEscwg
  wIaUrd8UYfkAAAAIEA552RMzZ5OCAEryh1OXnV3EeqhumsCbET6dpDOpSQnHss7u3CZ8d6
  2LwHQJ/fjwDcrMYwEUwDkNoZjhEmj1e5LVTLjRS02VBgjg7RnphpuaphPZ+CDNlq3Om5C9
  xW96+4eC9/T7SRaspF3FxhgtPUMI1beu1QnpL0jduT/GQSqaMAAACBAMWR+CLktU6cTBH7
  RnfnB2K7E8slA8/hSGUZJ35JXJj5XujQgaf2d8hi4Lmt8smBojaERlCxxx3B9hWVYRkwCM
  C8YRNCLnBgR2CCp27D0wuadL9aFITlx91GPytF9BKxzy949VaF6SEw9M86oouj362u/BvP
  CO7Hnjlg77HRNFXPAAAAFWxrYW1pcmVkZHlAdm13YXJlLmNvbQECAwQF
  -----END OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----

Please note that the SSH key is indented one level.

score 15 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:26

As of 27-Oct-2016, this is the first result in Google when searching for "yaml rsa key", so I would like to add an answer on the specific syntax needed for RSA keys in Yaml.

If you include the key in a single line in the yaml file, there are no issues. If you want to split it in different lines for readability and you cannot accept newlines in the generated string, the only option seems to be double quotes with escape codes.

In my case, I needed a generated single-line, no-spaces string, since the key definition was being used by a templating engine to insert the key into a script variable. The following syntax will join each line with no spaces (please note the '\' on each line for removing the newlines):

    yourKey: "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----\
      xxx...\
      yyy...\
      zzz...\
      -----END PUBLIC KEY-----"

    result: "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----xxx...yyy...zzz...-----END PUBLIC KEY-----"

A very good reference on the formats for literals can be found here on SO: https://stackoverflow.com/a/21699210/4228798

Also the first result at duckduckgo! :) I would like to note that this does work, but in my case, I also needed to escape the `\` because it came from another environment variable. So I had a app with an environment variable with the key, that puts it into yaml, and uses it to start another pod in kubernetes — Nebulosar, Aug 26 '21 at 08:44

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 18 '19 at 11:49

It would be good practice to store your keys inside yaml file by creating pem files

 security:
   publickeypemfile: /config/env/xyz.pem
   keystorefile: /secret/pqr.jks
   testmode: true


xyz.pem: |-
  -----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY——
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
……………………………………….
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 11 '22 at 03:35

1

actual if copy rsa file ,it has \n\r invisible ,just use - in yaml file and watch out SSH key is indented one level.

answered Oct 11 '22 at 03:35

rook1ewang

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RSA public/private keys in YAML

5 Answers5