MySQL Workbench (version 6.0.8) SSH Authentication

Question

I am trying to connection to a MySQL server on Host X through machine Y over SSH.

The same setup (but older version of MySQL workbench) works on my another box (CentOS 6.3).

However, the same setup doesn't work on my CentOS 6.5.

I tried to use the SSH key for authentication between my box and machine Y over SSH, and it works when I ssh from my box to machine Y.

However, MySQL workbench gave me the following error: ERROR Could not establish SSH connection: Bad authentication type (allowed_types=['publickey', 'gssapi-with-mic']).

Some people suggested that I set AllowTcpForwarding to yes in /etc/ssh/sshd_config, which I did, restarted the service and rebooted my machine.

But I still got the same error.

Any idea?

It seems like for some reason the .ssh/id_dsa key isn't picked up when MySQL workbench attemtps to connect.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I've just come across this again recently. If you use a password protected private key and you just upgraded to macOS Sierra you probably need to re-add your private key to your keychain again.

ssh-add -K ~/.ssh/id_rsa

This instantly fixed the problem for me.

Answer 2

You need to ensure that your private key is in openssh format. With puttygen you can export as Openssh. This worked for me.

Answer 3

Converting it to OpenSSH solves the issue. Just do the following:

1. Open Putty Key Generator.
2. Load the private key by going to File - > Private Key from the location you saved the private key file in - you should see your key loaded in Putty.
3. Now go to conversations and export to Openssh - save the file in a safe location.
4. Go to Workbench and under SSH key file point it to the new Openssh file instead of the old private key file. this should solve your problem.

Answer 4

For Linux users using ssh-keygen:

As per the other answers you need to use openssh format.

ssh-keygen -o -b 4096

That gives me a new keypair RSA type 4096 bits in openssh format. It's the -o that's key here (no pun intended).

Obviously this generates a new key so is only useful if you can upload the new public key to the server. Don't forget to back up your old keys first incase you use them elsewhere.

AFAIK ssh-keygen doesn't have the ability to convert an existing key.

Why Oracle have dropped support for the ubiquitous PEM format is beyond me.