How to create a new public-private key pair for authentication to Terra Dotta SSH servers on a Mac
1. Launch Terminal from the Applications/Utilities folder or through Spotlight Search.
2. In the terminal window, type the following command and press the Return key: ssh-keygen -b 4096
3. Press Return again to confirm the default location in which the new key pair will be stored.
4. Enter a passphrase that will protect access to your private key and press the Return key. This passphrase should conform to secure password generation guidelines (i.e., be over 16 characters, contain uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and special characters, and should not be based on personal information or any words in any language).
5. Verify the passphrase and press the Return key
Be aware that your SFTP client may require this passphrase to initialize a connection successfully!
6. Record your passphrase and store it in a physically secure location and/or in an encrypted file or password management software program.
7. You should see that the key has been generated and stored in the default location.
8. Type exit and press the Return key
9. Quit the Terminal application.
10. Open the Finder and go to the Go menu and select Go To Folder.
11. In the new window, type /Users/[YourUserName]/.ssh and press the Return key.
12. Copy the id_rsa.pub file from the .ssh folder to a temporary directory. You may use your Documents folder, your Desktop, or you can create new folder in which to store the key.
13. You may communicate your public key to Terra Dotta in one of two ways:
- Attach the id_rsa.pub as a file to a reply to the email that you received from Terra Dotta that requested the key, or
- Open the id_rsa.pub key in a text editing program (e.g., Notepad) and copy and paste its contents into an email reply to the email that you received from Terra Dotta requested the key.
- Log into the Terra Dotta Support Portal and attach the public key to your integration case.