The User Key Generation Wizard dialog box allows you to create DSA or RSA user keys step by step. You can open it by clicking User Key Generation Wizard on the Tools menu.

Step 1: Key Generation Parameters

This step allows you to select the type and length of the user key.

Select DSA or RSA in the list. SSH1 protocol supports only RSA keys and SSH2 protocol supports both RSA and DSA. Select the one that is supported by the remote server.

Select a key length in the list. Longer keys provide better security while shorter keys provide better performance. The optimal key length for most applications is 1024 bits.

Step 2: User Key Generation

This step generates a user key with the parameters selected in the previous step.

After the key has been generated successfully you can click the Next button.

Step 3: User Key Information

This step allows you to enter the name and passphrase of the user key.

Enter the name of the user key generated. The user key is saved as the name entered here and the name must have valid characters for a filename.

Enter the passphrase of the user key. It is used every time when you open it.
IMPORTANT: You must remember it.

Enter the same passphrase again to confirm it.

Step 4: Public Key Registration

This step allows you to register the public key part of the user key to a remote server. You can also register it later on the User Keys dialog box. The private key is stored in the User Keys database of Xshell.

From the list, select one of the formats: SSH1, SSH2-OpenSSH, and SSH2-IETF SECSH. The text box below shows you the public key in the selected format. You can copy the text and store it as a file on the remote server. Depending on the server, how to register the public key is different. In most cases, the following guideline will work for each format.

• SSH1: Copy the text and save it to $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys file. Run the following commands to turn off the write permission of the files and directories:

  $ cd
  $ chmod go-w . .ssh .ssh/authorized_keys

• SSH2-OpenSSH: OpenSSH servers use this format. Copy the text and save it to $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys2 file. Run the following commands to turn off the write permission of the files and directories:

  $ cd
  $ chmod go-w . .ssh .ssh/authorized_keys2

• SSH2-IETF SECSH: Some commercial ssh servers such as ssh.com's use this format. Copy the text and save it to a unique name such as mypublickey.pub in the $HOME/.ssh2 directory. And then add a line into the $HOME/.ssh2/authorization file such as: Key mypublickey.pub Run the following commands to turn off the write permission of the files and directories:

  $ cd
  $ chmod go-w . .ssh2
  $ chmod go-w .ssh2/authorization .ssh2/mypublickey.pub

Opens the Save As dialog box. You can save the public key file to be stored in SSH server.