Net::SSH::Perl::Key(3)User Contributed Perl DocumentatioNet::SSH::Perl::Key(3)NAMENet::SSH::Perl::Key - Public or private key abstraction
SYNOPSIS
use Net::SSH::Perl::Key;
my $key = Net::SSH::Perl::Key->new;
DESCRIPTIONNet::SSH::Perl::Key implements an abstract base class interface to key
objects (either DSA or RSA keys, currently). The underlying
implementation for RSA is an internal, hash-reference implementation;
the DSA implementation uses Crypt::DSA.
USAGE
Net::SSH::Perl::Key->new($key_type [, $blob [, $compat_flag_ref ]])
Creates a new object of type Net::SSH::Perl::Key::$key_type, after
loading the class implementing $key_type. $key_type should be either
"DSA" or "RSA1", currently; these are the only supported key
implementations at the moment.
$blob, if present, should be a string representation of the key, from
which the key object can be initialized. In fact, it should be the
representation that is returned from the as_blob method, below.
$compat_flag_ref should be a reference to the SSH compatibility flag,
which is generally stored inside of the Net::SSH::Perl object. This
flag is used by certain key implementations ("DSA") to work around
differences between SSH2 protocol implementations.
Returns the new key object, which is blessed into the subclass.
Net::SSH::Perl::Key->read_private($key_type, $file [, $pass])
Reads a private key of type $key_type out of the key file $file. If the
private key is encrypted, an attempt will be made to decrypt it using
the passphrase $pass; if $pass is not provided, the empty string will
be used. An empty passphrase can be a handy way of providing password-
less access using publickey authentication.
If for any reason loading the key fails, returns undef; most of the
time, if loading the key fails, it's because the passphrase is
incorrect. If you first tried to read the key using an empty
passphrase, this might be a good time to ask the user for the actual
passphrase. :)
Returns the new key object, which is blessed into the subclass denoted
by $key_type (either "DSA" or "RSA1").
Net::SSH::Perl::Key->keygen($key_type, $bits)
Generates a new key and returns that key. The key returned is the
private key, which (presumably) contains all of the public key data, as
well. $bits is the number of bits in the key.
Your $key_type implementation may not support key generation; if not,
calling this method is a fatal error.
Returns the new key object, which is blessed into the subclass denoted
by $key_type (either "DSA" or "RSA1").
Net::SSH::Perl::Key->extract_public($key_type, $key_string)
Given a key string $key_string, which should be a textual
representation of the public portion of a key of $key_type, extracts
the key attributes out of that string. This is used to extract public
keys out of entries in known_hosts and public identity files.
Returns the new key object, which is blessed into the subclass denoted
by $key_type (either "DSA" or "RSA1").
$key->write_private([ $file [, $pass] ])
Writes out the private key $key to $file, and encrypts it using the
passphrase $pass. If $pass is not provided, the key is unencrypted, and
the only security protection is through filesystem protections.
If $file is not provided, returns the content that would have been
written to the key file.
$key->dump_public
Performs the inverse of extract_public: takes a key $key and dumps out
a textual representation of the public portion of the key. This is used
when writing public key entries to known_hosts and public identity
files.
Returns the textual representation.
$key->as_blob
Returns a string representation of the public portion of the key; this
is not the same as dump_public, which is intended to match the format
used in known_hosts, etc. The return value of as_blob is used as an
intermediary in computing other values: the key fingerprint, the known
hosts representation, etc.
$key->equal($key2)
Returns true if the public portions of $key are equal to those of
$key2, and false otherwise. This is used when comparing server host
keys to keys in known_hosts.
$key->size
Returns the size (in bits) of the key $key.
$key->fingerprint([ $type ])
Returns a fingerprint of $key. The default fingerprint is a hex
representation; if $type is equal to "bubblebabble", the Bubble Babble
representation of the fingerprint is used instead. The former uses an
MD5 digest of the public key, and the latter uses a SHA-1 digest.
AUTHOR & COPYRIGHTS
Please see the Net::SSH::Perl manpage for author, copyright, and
license information.
perl v5.14.1 2008-10-02 Net::SSH::Perl::Key(3)
