Configure and manage SSH keys

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Generate SSH keys

• Customer Portal
• CLI tools

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Generate SSH keys in the customer portal

• Generate an SSH key when creating a VM
• Generate an SSH key in the SSH Keys section

When creating a Virtual Instance, the SSH key section offers a dropdown to select an existing key and links to add or generate a new key.

• Select ssh key — add a key already stored in the Gcore Customer Portal by selecting it from the dropdown list.
• add a new SSH Key — add an existing key generated via CLI tools or an SSH client.
• generate a SSH Key — create a new key pair in the portal.

To use the generate a SSH Key option:

1. Click the generate a SSH Key link.
2. In the dialog that opens, enter the key name to identify the key in the system.
3. Click Create SSH Key — the browser downloads the private key file to local storage.

A pair of SSH keys can be generated separately and then selected during Virtual Instance creation.To generate the keys:

1. In the Gcore Customer Portal, go to Cloud > SSH Keys.
2. Click Autogenerate SSH Key.

3. Enter the key name and click Create SSH Key.

4. The public key is added to the system and the private key is saved to local storage.

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Generate SSH keys via CLI tools or SSH clients

• Terminal or Command Prompt
• Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
• PuTTYgen

To generate SSH keys on Linux, macOS, or Windows 10/11 devices:

1. Open Terminal (Linux, macOS) or Command Prompt (cmd.exe on Windows).
2. Run the following command to generate a key pair:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 2048

3. When prompted for the file path, specify a custom location (for example, .ssh/) or press Enter to save the keys to the default directory. The default directory is ~/.ssh/ for Linux/macOS and C:\Users\{username}\.ssh\ for Windows.
4. When prompted for a passphrase, enter a password for additional security or leave the field empty and press Enter to create the key without a password.
5. Confirm the passphrase by entering it again, or leave the field empty and press Enter. The key is saved in the default directory or in the custom location specified during creation.
6. The public key is saved in the .pub file. Add this public key to the Customer Portal as described in Add a public key.

Linux distributions on Windows 11 can generate SSH keys for Virtual Instance connections. WSL must be installed on the device.

To install WSL, see the official Microsoft guide: How to install Linux on Windows with WSL.

To generate SSH keys via WSL:

1. Open Windows Command Prompt or PowerShell.
2. Launch the default Linux distribution by running wsl.exe. For other ways to run a Linux distribution, see Ways to run multiple Linux distributions with WSL.
3. Run the following command to generate a key pair:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 2048

4. When prompted for the file path, specify a custom location (for example, .ssh/) or press Enter to save the keys to the default directory. The default directory is ~/.ssh/.
5. When prompted for a passphrase, enter a password or leave the field empty and press Enter to create the key without a password.
6. Confirm the passphrase by entering it again, or leave the field empty and press Enter. The key is saved in the default directory or in the custom location specified during creation.
7. The public key is saved in the .pub file. Add this public key to the Customer Portal as described in Add a public key.

To generate SSH keys on Windows 10/11 devices:

1. Download and install the PuTTY package.
2. Launch the PuTTYgen app.
3. Find the Type of key to generate parameter and select RSA.
4. In the Number of bits in a generated key field, set the value to 2048.

5. Click Generate. While the key is being generated, move the cursor in the Key field until the key appears.

6. (Optional) To protect the private key with a passphrase, enter a passphrase in the Key passphrase field and retype it in the Confirm passphrase field.
7. Click Save private key to download the key to local storage.

Keys generated via PuTTYgen or in the Gcore Customer Portal must be converted to .ppk format before connecting via PuTTY. See Key conversion.

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Add a public SSH key to the customer portal

1. In the Gcore Customer Portal, go to Cloud > SSH Keys.
2. Click Add SSH Key.

3. In the SSH key content field, paste the public key.
4. Enter a key name and click Add SSH Key.

5. The key appears in the SSH keys list and can be selected as an authentication method when creating a new instance.

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Manage SSH keys in the customer portal

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Delete SSH keys

1. In the Gcore Customer Portal, go to Cloud > SSH Keys.
2. Find the SSH key to delete and click the three-dot icon.
3. Click Delete.
4. In the confirmation dialog, click Delete SSH key.

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Stop sharing SSH keys

1. In the Gcore Customer Portal, go to Cloud > SSH Keys.

2. Find the SSH key to stop sharing and click the three-dot icon.
3. Click Stop sharing.
4. In the confirmation dialog, click Stop sharing.