Bluemix VM Login using Putty
After creating the virtual machine in Bluemix, what is the process to access the VM via SSH? Where are the credentials located? What is login/pwd to be used? Is there a way to download the image?
It is confusing to find this and there is no clear documentation.
You need to have SSH product like Putty and PuTTygen. The first thing you need to do is create the SSH private and public key. This is required when you create the bluemix VM. Check this link:- http://www.ng.bluemix.net/docs/starters/index-gentopic4.html#vms
PuTTygen will help you generate the Private and public key. https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-create-ssh-keys-with-putty-to-connect-to-a-vps
You will have to specify passphrase during this key generation. Once you create your VM and it is started.
Start Putty and then specify your connection details for ssh connection under Connection -> SSH -> AUTH , browse and specify the private key that was generated using PuTTygen.
Then click Open and you will be asked to login Enter ibmcloud and then it will ask you for the passphrase that you enter during key creation.
I hope this helps.
Hello @nimblesolutions
When you create the VM you have the option to create an SSH key or import an existing one. If you choose the option to create an SSH key you will be prompted to download the private key to your client machine (your Windows system). Once the VM is created you can use PuTTY and PuTTYgen to access it.
First you need to use PuTTYgen to save the private key (a .pem extension file) to a PuTTY Private Key file (extension .ppk - this is the only format PuTTy recognizes).
Simply open PuTTygen and import the .pem key, it will automatically asked you to save the file as a ppk file. You have the option to also select a passphrase, if you select one you will need to enter it later on when you ssh to your VM.
With the ppk file created open a PuTTy session.
In the session tab enter the host name of your new VM
Go to Data tab and enter "ibmcloud" for auto-login user name (this is the default user created in the VM)
Expand the SSH tab and go to Auth
On the "Private Key for Authentication" field, browse to the private key (ppk file) you created above
Go back to the Session tab, provide a name for your session under "Saved Sessions" and save it.
Make sure this new session is the current one loaded and click on the "Open" button to open new session. The first time you open a new session you are asked to verify the authenticity of the remote server, accept it and the new session will open. (If you choose a passphrase when importing the private key with PuttyGen above you will be prompted to enter it now).
It does not work. While connecting using the .ppk file, it say "Server refused our key". Please help.
Hello,
I can concur that documentation for VM service on Bluemix is somewhat spartan so far but the overview of Bluemix VM service by Smith Naik at https://smithsnaik.wordpress.com/2015/06/01/virtual-machines-on-ibm-bluemix/ had proven useful to me.
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