Re: Base-64 and key format in general

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From: Neil W Rickert <rickert+nn@cs.niu.edu>
Date: 25 Feb 2002 21:11:10 GMT

swr@TheWorld.com (Scott W Reeve) writes:

>I have a few questions, please.

> - Are all dsa and rsa keys in base64 format?

No. For SSH protocol 2, the standard format for public keys is based
on base64 encoding.

> - Can the type (dsa or rsa) be gleaned from the key itself,
> i.e. just from the base64 characters?

The public key tells you the type of key.

> - What is this format:
> 1024 35 13346646368<snip many,many characters>055347 <username@isp.com>
> It can't be base64 because it's only digits...

That's an SSH protocol 1 key. It uses decimal digits, as you noted.

> - Are public keys supposed to be generated on the client side, or can they
> be generated anywhere, as long as the public and private keys are put
> into their proper locations (id_dsa client side, authorized_keys2 server
> side, etc...) ?

In theory, they can be generated anywhere. If you do this, make sure
you use an encrypted method to transfer the private keys.

In practice, there is a significant degree of mutual incompatibility
between keys for different implementations. As far as I can tell,
SSH.COM keys can be converted to OpenSSH format, using the OpenSSH
keygen utility. Other conversions of private keys might not be
possible, as far as I can tell. Public keys are convertible.
Protocol 1 keys are the same in all implementations that I have
seen.

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