Load key "privkey.ppk" invalid format

Question

What have I done:
I'm trying to connect to my remote server with private key with

ssh -i privkey.ppk root@ip

But it's returning an error.
Error message:

Load key "privkey.ppk": invalid format
root@ip: Permission denied (publickey).

Expected result:
I should be able to login into my remote server with ssh key.

Key file content:

PuTTY-User-Key-File-2: ssh-rsa
Encryption: aes256-cbc
Comment: rsa-key-20181019
Public-Lines: 6
some lines
Private-Lines: 14
some lines
Private-MAC: some letters

OS: Ubuntu 18.04

(p.s:

I'm using the same key in putty, termius to login into my remote server and its working fine
Ansible ping cmd also returning the same result)

score 31 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 27 '20 at 07:18

31

This key is generated by PuTTYgen software. To use it in linux you should start PuTTYgen, load the key (File->Load private key) and then export it as OpenSSH key ( Conversions->Export OpenSSH key)

answered Feb 27 '20 at 07:18

Romeo Ninov

5,263
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Can it be done on a Macbook? – Memphis Meng Jun 13 '23 at 13:47
@MemphisMeng, you have `ssh` client on MacOS, why you will need Putty? – Romeo Ninov Jun 13 '23 at 14:02
Never mind, it was just a silly question after I figured that I should ask for the passphrase. – Memphis Meng Jun 14 '23 at 14:45

score 16 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 27 '20 at 07:19

16

My PPK was in putty PPK format I had to convert into OpenSSH format.
I converted .ppk to OpenSSH using this answer, now I'm able to connect.

puttygen id_dsa.ppk -O public-openssh -o id_dsa.pub

answered Feb 27 '20 at 07:19

AATHITH RAJENDRAN

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For me, i was convert it to "pem" format instead of "pub" format and it's work. `puttygen id_dsa.ppk -O private-openssh -o id_dsa.pem`. Hope it's help some one. – fudu Jun 13 '23 at 06:42

Load key "privkey.ppk" invalid format

2 Answers2