Create a PEM from a PPK file

Question

So there are plenty of tutorials on how to convert a PEM to a PPK using puttyGen. However my issue is that my windows machine had the only PEM copy and I converted it into a PPK and deleted it. Now I need to figure out how to convert a PPK into a PEM so that my mac can ssh into the server. I still have access to the server so I could also just make a new key if I had to, anyone know how to convert PPK to PEM?

How is this related to Linux? The server to which you're trying to connect is running it? — Kenny Evitt, Jun 19 '18 at 23:39
Linux also uses PEMs. But I agree the tag is a little misleading. — icedwater, Sep 18 '18 at 03:26

score 100 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 20 '19 at 15:02

100

Install PuttyTools
```
apt-get install putty-tools
```

Generate a pem file form the ppk

puttygen server.ppk -O private-openssh -o server.pem

The file server.pem file will be saved on same location

edited Jan 20 '19 at 15:02

scopchanov

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answered Aug 09 '16 at 15:33

Emizen Tech

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Since the OP mentioned using the .pem key on a Mac, I'll just mention that you can run the same `puttygen` command on the Mac after installing the `putty` package using Homebrew. – Erhhung Mar 06 '17 at 11:50
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on centos / redhat : 'yum install putty' provides the relevant executable – Bryji Oct 10 '17 at 14:08
works like a charm @Emizen ! – neaGaze Mar 07 '18 at 20:08
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In case anyone's wondering if that -0 is a zero, don't. It's an "O". – Dog Oct 23 '18 at 08:31

Kenny Evitt · Answer 2 · 2018-06-20T13:55:45.800

10

If you're on a Mac and you've previously installed Homebrew, from Terminal:

$ brew install putty
$ puttygen server.ppk -O private-openssh -o server.pem

The first command was suggested in this comment and the second from Emizen Tech's answer.

edited Jun 20 '18 at 13:55

answered Jun 19 '18 at 23:44

Kenny Evitt

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score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Feb 09 '17 at 11:12

2

Try this to install putty-tools

sudo apt install putty-tools
puttygen key.ppk -O private-openssh -o key.pem
ssh -i ~/key.pem {user}@{ip}

edited Feb 09 '17 at 11:12

osanger

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answered Feb 09 '17 at 10:28

Jayanta Mukherjee

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score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 02 '18 at 13:21

First, install PuTTY for Mac using

brew install putty

Then, use the following command to convert the .ppk format private key to a standard PEM format private key:

puttygen privatekey.ppk -O private-openssh -o privatekey.pem

Make sure permissions on the private key file are set properly. It should only be readable by the user that owns it.

chmod go-rw privatekey.pem

You can now use the key for logins from scripts and command line with:

ssh -i privatekey.pem user@hostname

On the final `ssh` I get Enter passphrase for key - I enter the login password and I get Invalid key length. — dashman, Nov 20 '18 at 14:35

Create a PEM from a PPK file

4 Answers4

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