How to convert .pem file to .ppk file?

Question:- What is .pem file?

Answer: .pem Defined in RFC’s 1421 through 1424, this is a container format that may include just the public certificate (such as with Apache installs, and CA certificate files /etc/ssl/certs), or may include an entire certificate chain including public key, private key, and root certificates. The name is from Privacy Enhanced Email, a failed method for secure email but the container format it used lives on.

Question:- What is .ppk file?

Answer: The PPK file type is primarily associated with ‘PuTTY’. PuTTY is a terminal emulator application which can act as a client for the SSH, Telnet, rlogin, and raw TCP computing protocols. The name PuTTY has no definitive meaning, though tty is the name for a terminal in the Unix tradition, usually held to be short for teletype.

Benefit of converting .pem to .ppk file

PuTTY does not natively support the private key format generated. So it is advisable to convert the .pem file to .ppk so that it can be easily recognized by the FTP Clients like Filezilla, winSCP etc.

How to Convert .pem file to .ppk file?

Step-1: Start PuTTYgen (e.g., from the Start menu, click All Programs > PuTTY > PuTTYgen). if you don’t have puttyGen in your system download it from here.

Step-2: Click Load and browse to the location of the private key file that you want to convert (e.g., GSG_Keypair.pem). By default, PuTTYgen displays only files with extension .ppk; you’ll need to change that to display files of all types in order to see your.pem key file. The private key file must end with a newline character or PuTTYgen cannot load it correctly.

Step-3:
When you click OK, PuTTYgen displays a dialog box with information about the key you loaded, such as the public key and the fingerprint. Click Save private key to save the key in PuTTY’s format. Select a passphrase and save your private key somewhere secure if you click on save without giving a passphrase it will ask you whether you want to save it without passphrase.

Step-4: Save the file with the suitable name. You will get the desired .ppk file

Note: A passphrase on a private key is an extra layer of protection, so even if your private key is discovered, it will not be usable without the passphrase. The downside to using a passphrase is that it makes automation harder because human intervention is needed to log on to an instance, or copy files to an instance. For this exercise, we’re not using a passphrase.

Reference: http://p3lang.com/blog/2013/05/06/how-to-convert-pem-file-to-ppk-file/