How do I verify/check/test/validate my SSH password?

Question

I think I forgot the password for my SSH key, but I have a hunch what it might be. How do I check if I'm right?

Answer 1

You can verify your SSH key passphrase by attempting to load it into your SSH agent. With OpenSSH this is done via ssh-add.

Once you're done, remember to unload your SSH passphrase from terminal by running ssh-add -d

Answer 2

ssh-keygen -y

ssh-keygen -y will prompt you for the passphrase (if there is one).

    If you input the correct passphrase, it will show you the associated public key.
    If you input the wrong passphrase, it will display load failed.
    If the key has no passphrase, it will not prompt you for a passphrase and will immediately show you the associated public key.

e.g.,

Create a new public/private key pair, with or without a passphrase:

$ ssh-keygen -f /tmp/my_key
...

Now see if you can access the key pair:

$ ssh-keygen -y -f /tmp/my_key

Following is an extended example, showing output.

Create a new public/private key pair, with or without a passphrase:

$ ssh-keygen -f /tmp/my_key
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in /tmp/my_key.
Your public key has been saved in /tmp/my_key.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
de:24:1b:64:06:43:ca:76:ba:81:e5:f2:59:3b:81:fe rob@Robs-MacBook-Pro.local
The key's randomart image is:
+--[ RSA 2048]----+
|     .+          |
|   . . o         |
|    = . +        |
|   = + +         |
|  o = o S .      |
|   + = + *       |
|    = o o .      |
|     . .         |
|      E          |
+-----------------+

Attempt to access the key pair by inputting the correct passphrase. Note that the public key will be shown and the exit status ($?) will be 0 to indicate success:

$ ssh-keygen -y -f /tmp/my_key
Enter passphrase:
ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQDBJhVYDYxXOvcQw0iJTPY64anbwSyzI58hht6xCGJ2gzGUJDIsr1NDQsclka6s0J9TNhUEBBzKvh9nTAYibXwwhIqBwJ6UwWIfA3HY13WS161CUpuKv2A/PrfK0wLFBDBlwP6WjwJNfi4NwxA21GUS/Vcm/SuMwaFid9bM2Ap4wZIahx2fxyJhmHugGUFF9qYI4yRJchaVj7TxEmquCXgVf4RVWnOSs9/MTH8YvH+wHP4WmUzsDI+uaF1SpCyQ1DpazzPWAQPgZv9R8ihOrItLXC1W6TPJkt1CLr/YFpz6vapdola8cRw6g/jTYms00Yxf2hn0/o8ORpQ9qBpcAjJN
$ echo $?
0

Attempt to access the key pair by inputting an incorrect passphrase. Note that the "load failed" error message will be displayed (message may differ depending on OS) and the exit status ($?) will be 1 to indicate an error:

$ ssh-keygen -y -f /tmp/my_key
Enter passphrase:
load failed
$ echo $?
1

Attempt to access a key pair that has no passphrase. Note that there is no prompt for the passphrase, the public key will be displayed, and the exit status ($?) will be 0 to indicate success:

$ ssh-keygen -y -f /tmp/my_key_with_no_passphrase
ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQDLinxx9T4HE6Brw2CvFacvFrYcOSoQUmwL4Cld4enpg8vEiN8DB2ygrhFtKVo0qMAiGWyqz9gXweXhdmAIsVXqhOJIQvD8FqddA/SMgqM++2M7GxgH68N+0V+ih7EUqf8Hb2PIeubhkQJQGzB3FjYkvRLZqE/oC1Q5nL4B1L1zDQYPSnQKneaRNG/NGIaoVwsy6gcCZeqKHywsXBOHLF4F5nf/JKqfS6ojStvzajf0eyQcUMDVhdxTN/hIfEN/HdYbOxHtwDoerv+9f6h2OUxZny1vRNivZxTa+9Qzcet4tkZWibgLmqRyFeTcWh+nOJn7K3puFB2kKoJ10q31Tq19
$ echo $?
0

Answer 3

Extending @RobBednark's solution to a specific Windows + PuTTY scenario, you can do so:

1. Generate SSH key pair with PuTTYgen (following Manually generating your SSH key in Windows), saving it to a PPK file;

2. With the context menu in Windows Explorer, choose Edit with PuTTYgen. It will prompt for a password.

If you type the wrong password, it will just prompt again.

Note, if you like to type, use the following command on a folder that contains the PPK file: puttygen private-key.ppk -y.

Answer 4

If your passphrase is to unlock your SSH key and don't have ssh-agent, but do have sshd (the SSH daemon) installed on your machine:

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys;
ssh localhost -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Where ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub is the public key, and ~/.ssh/id_rsa is the private key.