I want to configure PuTTY to use my own private key that I download from the RightScale dashboard Settings > User Settings > SSH > Download Private Key, as the default private key.
The private key format that is generated by RightScale is in the Linux/Unix format. The putty client uses a different format that has a .ppk extension. To use the private key, you have to first convert the key into a format that putty can understand.
To convert the private key from openssh to putty format:
Steps to configure the putty client to use the private key by default:
Open putty client by clicking Start > All Programs > PuTTY > PuTTY to open the PuTTY Configuration GUI window.
In the Category pane, make sure that Session is selected.
Select SSH as the protocol under the PuTTY basic options.
In the Category pane, click Connection > SSH.
Select 2 as the preferred SSH protocol version.
In the Category pane, click SSH > Auth.
In the Private key file for authentication field in the Authentication Parameters group, enter the path and filename for the private key file that you created using the PuTTY Key Generator. For example, C:\Users\<user>\PuTTY\id_rsa.ppk.
If you do not know the filename, you can click Browse to select the file name from the system directory.
In the Category pane, click Session.
In the Saved Sessions window, click Default Settings.
Click Save to save your settings.
To connect to the server:
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