Skip to main content
Contact Us
Register
Pure Technical Services

Equinix Metal Guide: Provision SSH Keys

  1. Last updated
  2. Save as PDF

Currently viewing public documentation. Please login to access the full scope of documentation.

Prior to any compute provisioning, it is important to create access to keys that will be configured by default to any provisioned metal for easy, default authentication.

Equinix provides documentation for key generation here: https://metal.equinix.com/developers/docs/accounts/ssh-keys/ For ease of use with this guide some basic instructions will be provided below. For alternative methods or more information refer to the preceding link.

By default server deployment will add all available project and user SSH keys to the server. You can specify specific keys during deployment if desired. They do require at least one user key--so generate a user key in addition to any "project" level keys you create.

Generating an SSH Key

There are a variety of ways to create keys (for more examples refer to Equinix documentation), for this guide we will use Putty keygen.

If Putty is not installed do so, then launch puttygen:

clipboard_e1cc905286d8516fefb82991f2ffbc94a.png

Click Generate and follow the instructions.

clipboard_e683decefa3238fdb5ac0bc96bcc1daa0.png

First, save the private key as a ppk file. Save the public key as well. Now copy what is in the public key window.

clipboard_e07ab2a41030ab3ade4631921cc3eb6de.png 
ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAABJQAAAQEAkqWkkmKMlVqcVbm/UK1fXp14NxS9aXr18+7f2yFQFt79CDJ3z8Y+vco+7wBJ+fZmyByIRQ0ZCtdwNJPq6XNNJaAksIPZdLpjWUKJCF81GEJQEd0dpXZ1zXRtjAZOw07P/BafdwnK6mrOFibOTAqnZx0fKdY3rMzWraoBn6aHJzexKZtWdxq8Y1gtx10DIYGxEvTYOv+2MVvGupqSCSuFIXdMHNQPwnWreJM27uv7nb/o78UXo76HdL8qkJOD+nhgc38KpRKzHm/AVWmFvsL7ZADhexhBba+XCZusKXBhge0xZWMplZfkOvfTT9SPblCbfvRKBOf//1h5XslbOMC1iw== pure-eqx-project

And login to the Equinix console.

Adding an SSH Key to Equinix

Click on Project Settings then SSH Keys then + Add Key:

clipboard_e697dba7043a278f67e91dfe7ef89b952.png

Enter in a name for the key and then paste the public key into the panel. 

clipboard_e2e454d3e6d1b66cae48b2ea7b6ce7dde.png

You can choose to select pre-existing devices to associate the key with--note though that this WILL NOT provide immediate access to those systems with this key. You will need to manually add the key into the server's authenticated key file to provide access. This process is only automated for new server deployments.

Click Add.

clipboard_e5cf398136ddd65d1e570b4b1a8b37dcb.png

Connecting to SOS Console with SSH Keys

Once a server has been provisioned, Equinix provides a mechanism to connect to the console of an offline (from the network) server via SSH keys.

Navigate to the Equinix Console and choose the desired server and then click Out of Band Console:

clipboard_ee5acc91a8ee04964290dcff40041b612.png

Copy the line.

clipboard_ea940e3f0161a7b71486695e6209708b2.png

To use this in Putty, open Putty and paste it into the host name line. REMOVE ssh from the beginning.

clipboard_e81ce5c2c9508810dd16b95dc99bc43f7.png

Now navigate to Connection > SSH > Auth and clock on Browse and choose your desired key.

clipboard_e8c94f970ea1837d6a0b17fe3c87e4761.png clipboard_e2e8db1ed5a0fbe15638d079fbe1704d8.png

Go back to Session and enter in a name for saved sessions and click Save.

clipboard_e39d6cd5db7063e9eaa5bd246d8a226df.png

You can now connect to the SOS console.

clipboard_ec6f5edca060d34ec0796a170d7353d8a.png