Add an SSH Key

If you plan to access cloud resources via Secure Shell (SSH), you must add an SSH key. This is not required if you work exclusively within the CONVERGE Horizon web interface.

SSH Requirements

The ssh-agent service must be installed and running on your device. This is installed on Linux systems by default. On Windows, it is included in Windows 10 Version 1903 or later versions.

CONVERGE Horizon supports SSH keys generated with Ed25519 or RSA encryption. We recommend Ed25519. If you are using RSA, the key size should be at least 4096 bits.

Check for Existing Keys

First, check whether you have an existing SSH key pair that can be used with CONVERGE Horizon. Open a Linux/macOS terminal or Windows PowerShell and enter

ls ~/.ssh

If a key pair exists, you will see the files for the keys in this directory. The default file names for public keys of the supported types are id_ed25519.pub and id_rsa.pub (the file names could be different if a custom file name was specified when they were generated). You can check the fingerprint of the public key with

ssh-keygen -E md5 -lf $HOME/.ssh/<name>.pub

replacing <name> with id_ed25519, id_rsa, or your custom file name. The output will look something like

256 MD5:b7:d3:ef:38:ef:41:d8:f5:8a:08:ab:54:b3:1c:3a:0a user@domain (ED25519)

or

4096 MD5:7e:2f:6f:74:48:25:5a:9d:d4:96:d8:fd:a9:e6:c6:bf user@domain (RSA)

The first few digits indicate the key size. If you are using RSA, the key size must be at least 4096.

The string after MD5: is the MD5 fingerprint. If you have already added the public key to CONVERGE Horizon, you will see this fingerprint in My Account > SSH Keys.

Generate a Key Pair

If you do not have an existing key pair that can be used with CONVERGE Horizon, go to your home directory and run the following command:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -a 100

When you are prompted to enter a file name, you can press Enter to use the default file name.

When you are prompted to enter a passphrase, you can either provide a passphrase or press Enter if you don’t want to use one.

Add the Public Key to CONVERGE Horizon

At this point, you should have a key pair (either an existing pair or one you just generated) that you can use with CONVERGE Horizon. To add the public key to your CONVERGE Horizon account, follow these steps:

  1. Go to My Account and expand the SSH Keys section.

  2. Click Add Key.

  3. In the Key Name field, enter a name for the key that will help you remember what it’s for.

  4. Copy the public key (the entire contents of the id_*.pub file) and paste it into the Public SSH Key field.

  5. Click Add SSH Key.