SSH Keys Management

You can upload an SSH private key into a project via the TeamCity web interface and then use it in VCS roots configuration or in SSH Agent build feature.

Supported Key Format

TeamCity supports keys in the PEM format only. If your private key uses a different format, it has to be converted to PEM. For example, the Putty private key format (*.ppk) not supported by TeamCity can be converted to the PEM format using PuTTY Key Generator: use the menu Conversions-> Export OpenSSH key.

Uploading SSH Key to TeamCity Server

1. Go to the Administration | <ProjectName> page.

2. On the left of the page, in Project Settings, click SSH Keys.

3. On the page that opens, click Upload SSH Key.

4. In the dialog that opens, select a private key usually stored in <USER_HOME>/.ssh/id_rsa or <USER_HOME>/.ssh/id_dsa.

When you upload an SSH key for the project, it is stored in < >/config/ projects/ <project>/pluginData/ssh_keys. TeamCity tracks this folder and is able to pick up new keys on the fly. The key will be available in the current project and its subprojects.

Once the key is uploaded, a VCS root can be configured to use this uploaded key.

SSH Key Usage

See SSH Agent for usage from within the build scripts.

The uploaded key can be used in a VCS root. SSH key is used on the server and is also passed to the agent in case agent-side checkout is configured.

During the build with agent-side checkout, the Git plugin downloads the key from the server to the agent. It temporarily saves the key on the agent's file system and removes it after git fetch/clone is completed.

To transfer the key from the server to the agent, TeamCity encrypts it with a DES symmetric cipher. For a more secure way, configure an https connection between agents and the server.