Using PKI keys to connect to Hosted~FTP~ on linux

When connecting from your Linux terminal to Hosted~FTP~, we recommended using PKI keys as the authentication method. This article details how to generate your PKI keys using your Linux terminal. This method automatically saves the PKI keys in the “/.ssh” folder. This will avoid local Linux permission issues.

Generating Your PKI Keys (Public and Private key pair)

To generate your RSA key pair, you need to run the following command “ssh-keygen -t rsa”. When you run the command, you need to follow the prompts on the screen as shown below.

After successful creation of the key pair, you can navigate into the /.ssh folder and run the “ls” command to list the generated keys.

Next, you need to copy and paste your public key into your Hosted~FTP~ account. To see the content of the id_rsa.pub file, you run the “cat id_rsa.pb” command.

Next, you need to highlight the key and copy the public key and paste it into your user setup under the public key section located at the bottom of the user setup page.

Connecting to your Hosted~FTP~ account

To connect to your Hosted~FTP~ account from the terminal using your PKI keys, first, navigate into your /.ssh folder

Then you run the following command “sftp -i keyname username@ftp.hostedftp.com” as shown in the image below.

You can run a few commands like “cd foldername” or “ls” to make sure the connection is successful.

NOTE:
During your first connection, the terminal might ask you for the passphrase used to store the key. Once you successfully connect for the first time, you should be able to log in without entering the passphrase again.