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About This Document >>     Installing SSH Tectia Server for IBM z/OS >>     Getting Started with SSH Tectia Server for IBM z/OS >>     Setting up Non-Interactive Server and User Authentication >>         Key Distribution Tool         Authenticating Remote Server Hosts >>         Using Password for User Authentication         Using Public Key for User Authentication >>     Setting up Non-Interactive File Transfer >>

Key Distribution Tool

File transfer processing on mainframes is usually non-interactive. This means that the host keys of the remote servers must be stored in such a way that user interaction is not needed during the batch process, and that both users and processes use non-interactive authentication methods for user authentication.

The key distribution tool, /usr/lpp/ssh2/bin/ssh-keydist2, can be used for storing multiple remote host keys to a common key store and setting up public-key authentication to multiple hosts.

The syntax of ssh-keydist2 is as follows:

Usage: ssh-keydist2 [options] host [[options] [host]] ... Options: -u, --remote-user remote_user The default is the local username. -W, --ssh2-windows The remote host is running Windows and its Secure Shell server is SSH Tectia. -S, --ssh2-unix The remote host is running Unix and its Secure Shell server is SSH Tectia. -O, --openssh-unix The remote host is running Unix and its Secure Shell server is OpenSSH. -Z, --ssh2-zos The remote host is running z/OS and its Secure Shell server is SSH Tectia. -H, --hostlist-file hostlist_file File contains hostnames or username/hostname pairs. -p, --password-file pass_file File or dataset containing the password for authenticating to remote server(s) during public key setup. Use with care! -P, --empty-passphrase Generate the key pair with an empty passphrase. -d, --allow-keygen-overwrite Allow ssh-keygen2 to overwrite an existing key pair. -t, --key-type dsa|rsa Type of the generated key -b, --key-bits bits Length of the generated key -f, --pubkey-file public_key_file Disable key pair generation, distribute this key instead. -a, --accept-new-host-keys Automatically accept new hostkeys. Use with care! -N, --only-accept-new-host-keys Only accept the hostkeys. Do not generate or distribute user keys. -A, --accepted-host-key-log log_file Log file of accepted new hostkeys -n, --do-not-execute Print the commands but do not execute them. -v, --verbose Use verbose mode.