How can I test my ssh-keys locally without a server

Question

I want to test my keys in ~/.ssh. I do not have sshd running (Git-Bash@Windows does not provide it). I'd like to test if I still remember the passphrase for my keys.

I found these answers [1], [2], but they do not work for me.

Is there an easy way to verify my ssh keys without an ssh server?

score 48 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 29 '15 at 10:00

48

This should work:

ssh-keygen -y

Or to avoid filename prompt question:

ssh-keygen -y -f key_file

edited Jul 29 '15 at 10:00

michaelbn

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answered Feb 27 '12 at 14:30

sransara

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Thx! that worked like a charm. No funny software installs needed :) I love those pure command line tools. – Juve Feb 27 '12 at 14:53
And it works great on Windows with msysgit (which is not the case with the server based answers!). – gaborous Nov 05 '14 at 00:12
Newb question - Where should this command be run on a Windows machine? – Phill Healey Aug 04 '17 at 09:18
Git Bash would be the answer... ;-) – Phill Healey Aug 04 '17 at 09:35

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 27 '12 at 14:22

0

Using SSHNet and a bunch of code you can try to open your private key and check if provided password is correct.

PrivateKeyFile key = new PrivateKeyFile(keypath, passphrase);

Above code fails if passphrase is wrong.

answered Feb 27 '12 at 14:22

Marco

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Sorry, I can't install any new uncommon software here. – Juve Feb 27 '12 at 14:37
@Juve: don't you have Visual Studio installed? – Marco Feb 27 '12 at 14:48

How can I test my ssh-keys locally without a server

2 Answers2