This page describes how to obtain an SSH key for public cloud and how to add it to your user Abiquo account.
SSH keys to create and access VMs in public cloud
To access your VMs in many public cloud providers, such as AWS, you must have an RSA key pair.
For example, see http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/AccessingInstances.html:
When you deploy a VM, Abiquo launches it in the provider with a key pair.
To connect to the VM, you will need the private key file of the key pair that you selected when you launched the instance.
Abiquo stores a public key for a user and automatically adds it to VMs at deploy time.
The user must keep the corresponding private key in a safe place and use it to access the VM.
Generate a basic key pair for private cloud
On Linux you can create a basic RSA key for SSH in a test environment in Linux using the following command.
ssh-keygen -t rsa ssh-add id_rsa
By default the keys will be saved in a folder such as ~/.ssh and the public key in a file such as ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
Generate a key pair for public cloud
When you generate a key pair for public cloud, you should use a pass phrase.
For AWS, you can generate your own key pair or get AWS to generate one for you. See http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/generating-a-keypair.html
For Azure, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/linux/create-ssh-keys-detailed
For GCP, see https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/connect/create-ssh-keys
Generally, for AWS and Azure, you could use a 4096 bit RSA key in PEM format, which for Linux and Mac you can generate with a command like this one.
ssh-keygen -m PEM -t rsa -b 4096
For GCP and OCI, you can use a 2048 bit RSA key, which you can generate with a command like this one.
ssh-keygen -b 2048 -t rsa
Add your public key to Abiquo
To save a public key in Abiquo:
Edit an Abiquo user who will use the public datacenter. There are two ways to edit a user:
In Users view, by selecting the enterprise name, then the user name and clicking the edit button OR
If allowed in your installation, cloud users can edit their user details by clicking on the user name in the bottom left hand corner of the screen
Enter the RSA public key for the user
The user should keep the private key in a safe place and supply it to access their VMs