Generate public/private ssh key for java.net and git use on Windows with putty

Setting up PuTTY and Generating a Key

You can use the free program PuTTY to create an SSH key. To manage and access the key, you'll probably want to download Pageant and Plink as well. You can get them all at PuTTY Download Page.

After installing PuTTY, make sure the install path has been added to your PATH environment variable.

PuTTY comes with excellent documentation on what SSH is and how to generate a key with PuTTYgen. Here are some short instructions:

1. Start PuTTYgen by clicking Start > All Programs > PuTTY > PuTTYgen.
2. At the bottom of the window, click SSH-2 RSA to generate the most secure kind of key. Project Kenai requires an SSH-2 key.
3. Click Generate and move the mouse around until the key starts generating.
4. When the key is generated, you see the public key listed in the Public Key for Pasting box at the top of the window.
5. Optionally enter a passphrase for the key, which makes it more secure on your machine.
6. Click Save public key and save it in a file in your user directory. For example, you might save it in
   C:\Documents and Settings\your-user-name\.ssh\puttypublickey-ssh2rsa
   Note: You can use the Command window to see what your user directory is. On the command line, enter echo %USERPROFILE%.
7. Click Save private key to save the private key to a file in the same directory as your public key. For example, you might save it in 
   C:\Documents and Settings\your-user-name\.ssh\puttyprivatekey-ssh2rsa.ppk
8. Keep PuTTYgen open so you can copy and paste your public key to your Project Kenai account. (See next section.)

Copying the Public Key to Project java.net

The public key that you see in the Public Key for Pasting box in PuTTYgen needs to be added to your SSH Keys tab in your Project Kenai public profile. To add the key:

1. In a browser, log in to Project Kenai.
2. If necessary, open your My Page.
3. Click Edit My Profile in the left navbar.
4. On the My Profile edit page, click the SSH Keys tab.
5. Copy the public key from PuTTYgen and then follow the instructions at Adding an SSH Key to Your Profile.