SFTP: How do I pick they key to use?

[Erik Harclerode]

I was playing with some "-D" 3 debugging and came up with this
debug: server offers auth methods 'publickey,password'.
debug: SshConfig/SSHCONFIG.C:3240: Unable to open ssh2/identification._pp
debug: Ssh2AuthClient/SSHAUTHC.C:377: Method 'publickey' disabled.

It seems like it is unable to use my identification file which could very likely be the problem

[Steven Schweda · Accepted solution]

> debug: SshConfig/SSHCONFIG.C:3240: Unable
> to open ssh2/identification._pp
> debug: Ssh2AuthClient/SSHAUTHC.C:377:
> Method 'publickey' disabled.

That looks like a clue. Where's your
"identification._pp" file? (An actual
DIRECTORY listing would be most convincing.)

Around here (where SYS$LOGIN is
"ALP$DKA0:[SMS]"):

alp $ dire /date /prot /size [.ssh2]id*

Directory ALP$DKA0:[SMS.SSH2]

IDENTIFICATION.;3 1 23-JUL-2003 22:46:43.97 (RWED,RWED,,)
IDENTIFICATION._NPP;1
1 23-JUL-2003 22:46:43.97 (RWED,RWED,,)
IDENTIFICATION._PP;3
1 26-JUN-2003 23:43:35.79 (RWED,RWED,,)

Total of 3 files, 3 blocks.

You might throw in /OWNER, too, just in case.


> [...] identification._pp file just to mimic
> [...]

Wouldn't be my choice (for a NO-passphrase
key set), but it shouldn't matter.

[Erik Harclerode]

Hi Steve,
Great news! I was able to get it working thanks to your advice. After poking around for a while I found that for whatever reason SSH/SFTP was looking for the identification file and the secret and public keys in my personal VMS directory, so once I moved those files into that directory everything started to work as expected.

Thanks for all of your help with this.

Erik

[Steven Schweda]

> [...] I was able to get it working [...]

What could go wrong?

> [...] I found that for whatever reason [...]

The SSH _client_ must use user-specific data,
so it looks for them under SYS$LOGIN. The
documentation on this is somewhere between
confused and hopeless, I'll admit.

Fir example:
http://h71000.www7.hp.com/doc/83final/BA548_90007/ch03s02.html

[...] If you want to specify user-specific
parameters, you can create a client
configuration file in the [username.SSH2]
directory. [...]

Well, maybe, and maybe not.

Not having a good way to say something like
"SYS$LOGIN:[.SSH2]" makes it hard for UNIX
people who expect to be able to say things
like "$HOME/ssh2" or "~/ssh2".

[Erik Harclerode]

Solution found. Please see thread.