Can I save the password for a public key session?

[bugmenot]

Hi

I'm the only one that ever uses this machine and I have a real complicated password that I generated; I have created a public key for a server I login to and all works fine, the only thing is every time I open SecureCRT and load up that server it prompts me to enter my passphrase (pw), I'd like to have it remember this so that it just auto logs in whenever I open a connection to that server, I'm not real familiar with using the public key method of logging in, is there a way that I can have it save and auto enter the passphrase?

Thanks!

[rtb]

Hi bugmenot,

There is no way currently to save a passphrase for a private key. I have created a feature request on your behalf in our SecureCRT enhancement database to add this feature. Should we do so in the future, we will post to this thread.

If you would like to be notified directly, please complete and submit the form at the following location:

Submit Feature Request

[shoebear]

You could simply remove the passphrase for the key. Then you are relying solely on the filesystem security to protect your private key.

You can also enter the passphrase once per reboot of your client machine by putting activator.exe in the Startup folder. This will put Activator into your system tray, and it will keep your key active after you authenticate once. You can pre-load the key by right-clicking on the Activator icon and selecting Manage Agent Keys -- or by selecting Tools >Manage Agent Keys in SecureCRT. Or you can load the key automatically when you open a session. However you choose to do it, Activator will keep tabs on the key once it's authenticated, so that you don't have to enter the passphrase again. This is good until you reboot or close Activator. Activator functions similarly to PuTTY's pagent.exe.

At this time, I don't know a way to have Activator automatically load keys when started and ask for any relevant passphrases at that time (such as at system startup if you put Activator in the Startup folder). I've submitted my own forum question for that -- look for it if you are interested.