Paramiko example using private key

paramiko_example.py

import paramiko
k = paramiko.RSAKey.from_private_key_file("/Users/whatever/Downloads/mykey.pem")
c = paramiko.SSHClient()
c.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
print "connecting"
c.connect( hostname = "www.acme.com", username = "ubuntu", pkey = k )
print "connected"
commands = [ "/home/ubuntu/firstscript.sh", "/home/ubuntu/secondscript.sh" ]
for command in commands:
	print "Executing {}".format( command )
	stdin , stdout, stderr = c.exec_command(command)
	print stdout.read()
	print( "Errors")
	print stderr.read()
c.close()

Error:

File "/usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages/paramiko/pkey.py", line 289, in _read_private_key
raise SSHException("not a valid " + tag + " private key file")
paramiko.ssh_exception.SSHException: not a valid RSA private key file

it worked for me when I created key with type RSA

ssh-keygen -m pem -t rsa

moreover in python3.8 print statement will not work the way it is mentioned above. Also changed from read to readlines and created a loop

xlist = (stdout.readlines())
for i in xlist:
print(i)
print("++++++++++++++++")

Nothing else need to be changed.

Just a note, if you have generated your keys via puttygen and they are in ppk format, it's not going to work, go back to puttygen, load you ppk key and export it as OpenSSH (Conversion -> Export OpenSSH Key)

Hi, I've converted the file to OpenSSH (with puttygen)
but now if I use pkey = pk.RSAKey.from_private_key_file(key_filename)
On the connect I got

Authentication failed

If I use the filename
ssh.connect(hostname=ip_server, username=username, key_filename=key_filename)
I got

 raise ValueError("q must be exactly 160, 224, or 256 bits long")

ValueError: q must be exactly 160, 224, or 256 bits long

Just a note, if you have generated your keys via puttygen and they are in ppk format, it's not going to work, go back to puttygen, load you ppk key and export it as OpenSSH (Conversion -> Export OpenSSH Key)

Worked perfectly for me. Thanks a lot!

Not working for me

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/opt/cms/scripts/bam_sdrtrace.py", line 227, in
transfer_file1()
File "/opt/cms/scripts/bam_sdrtrace.py", line 148, in transfer_file1
k = paramiko.RSAKey.from_private_key_file("/home/esbc/.ssh/authorized_keys")
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/paramiko/pkey.py", line 196, in from_private_key_file
key = cls(filename=filename, password=password)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/paramiko/rsakey.py", line 45, in init
self._from_private_key_file(filename, password)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/paramiko/rsakey.py", line 163, in _from_private_key_file
data = self._read_private_key_file('RSA', filename, password)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/paramiko/pkey.py", line 268, in _read_private_key_file
data = self._read_private_key(tag, f, password)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/paramiko/pkey.py", line 277, in _read_private_key
raise SSHException('not a valid ' + tag + ' private key file')
paramiko.ssh_exception.SSHException: not a valid RSA private key file

socket.py", line 918, in getaddrinfo for res in _socket.getaddrinfo(host, port, family, type, proto, flags):
socket.gaierror: [Errno 11001] getaddrinfo failed
what's wrong

Not working for me, while use the key using ssh client it works

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/Users/xx/code/compute-ops/scripts/launch_intance_benchmark.py", line 105, in
k = paramiko.RSAKey.from_private_key_file("/Users/xx/.ssh/id_rsa.pem")
File "/Users/xx/code/compute-ops/venv3/lib/python3.7/site-packages/paramiko/pkey.py", line 206, in from_private_key_file
key = cls(filename=filename, password=password)
File "/Users/xx/code/compute-ops/venv3/lib/python3.7/site-packages/paramiko/rsakey.py", line 48, in init
self._from_private_key_file(filename, password)
File "/Users/xx/code/compute-ops/venv3/lib/python3.7/site-packages/paramiko/rsakey.py", line 169, in _from_private_key_file
data = self._read_private_key_file('RSA', filename, password)
File "/Users/xx/code/compute-ops/venv3/lib/python3.7/site-packages/paramiko/pkey.py", line 279, in _read_private_key_file
data = self._read_private_key(tag, f, password)
File "/Users/xx/code/compute-ops/venv3/lib/python3.7/site-packages/paramiko/pkey.py", line 289, in _read_private_key
raise SSHException('not a valid ' + tag + ' private key file')
paramiko.ssh_exception.SSHException: not a valid RSA private key file

Converting the key
resolves the error
ssh-keygen -p -m PEM -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa

thanks.
if your private key is in .ppk, you need convert to .pem.

I resolve this problem with version paramiko-2.10.4