How to generate an RSA key for a Linux host for a Foglight RSA credential (4258016)

The following steps use the ssh-keygen command to create a public/private key pair to generate a Foglight credential.

1. Use ssh-keygen to generate a public/private rsa/dsa key pair on a Linux System.

   ssh-keygen -t rsa -m PEM

   or

   ssh-keygen -t dsa -m PEM

   Follow the command tips to create your key pair.

2. After generating the rsa or dsa key pair, add the public key to the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file for the account.

   Command:

   cat id_rsa.pub >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

   Note: The permissions on the .ssh directory should be 700, and the permissions on the authorized_keys file (~/.ssh/authorized_keys) should be 600.

3. Add the Foglight credential.

   From the Credentials dashboard:

   • Go to the Administration > Credentials >Manage Credentials dashboard
   • Click the Add button and then RSA Key or DSA Key to open the Add A New Credential wizard for the respective credential type.
   • Select Load from file to load the Private Key, input the Pass Phrase and User Name, then Next.
   • Complete the wizard to specify the credential name and resource mappings as required.

    

   From the Hosts dashboard:

   • Go to the Infrastructure > Hosts > Hosts dashboard
   • Click the Add Host button to bring up the Add Monitored Hosts wizard to add a new Linux host.
   • In the Add Monitored Host wizard select Add host(s) to a new credential under the Credential Verification dialog.
   • Select the RSA Key credential type, select Load from file to load the Private Key, input the Pass Phrase and User Name, then select Finish.

Refer to the following KB Articles related to RSA credentials:

• "Invalid Private Key Pass Phrase and Private key combination" error when importing RSA private key (4311146)
• UnixAgent is not collecting data when RSA credential is used (4261638)