Connect to server using SFTP and a public SSH key using FileZilla on Windows

Question

Is it possible to generate an SSH key on a Windows machine and then use that key to connect to a server using SFTP via FileZilla?

This is all working with my Mac, but I have a client that is stuck in a Windows environment. Our server does not have traditional FTP access and I need to get him connected.

Details would be greatly appreciated.

Solution 1

FileZilla uses the PuTTY suite of tools for its SSH implementation. PuTTY supports using public keys, so by default so does FileZilla. It's as simple as downloading and running Pageant and importing your key, or generating a new one using PuTTYgen.

You can also manually specify a key file using menu Edit → Settings, item Connection (first item in the left panel)

• FileZilla HowTo Wiki Entry
• Pageant documentation
• PuTTYgen documentation

Solution 2

If the private SSH key already exists, this can be done from within FileZilla, without the need to install extra software. Simply go to menu Edit → Settings → Connection → FTP → SFTP.

Click button Add key file and add your private key there. It will convert the key for you.

Comments

[Chris]

Minor correction: You need to add the private key to FileZilla. The public key must be present on the server and the private key must be present on the client (i.e. FileZilla).

[jchavannes]

Is there any way to get FileZilla on Mac to show hidden files? I can't get it to navigate to ~/.ssh/

[jchavannes]

Answered my own question: superuser.com/questions/302732/…

[Sergey P. aka azure]

It does not allow me to connect to my sftp server by using public key auth since FileZilla knows nothing about public key. openssh server knows only about public key. Filezilla also prints in connection log that 0 keypairs loaded from file.

[TrickyDBA]

@jchavannes: Like you said for Mac press: Shift-Command-Period while in the finder window