Under MacOS X
You can generate a key in Mac OS using the ssh-keygen command. You should run it in Terminal. You will be asked for a file in which the key should be saved to and for a passphrase (password) for the key:
user@localhost: ssh-keygen -t dsa
Generating public/private dsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/Users/user/.ssh/id_dsa): id_dsa
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): XXXXXXXX
Enter same passphrase again: XXXXXXXX
Your identification has been saved in id_dsa.
Your public key has been saved in id_dsa.pub.
Under Windows using PuTTY
You can generate an SSH key on Windows using the free PuTTY SSH client.
To generate a key with PuTTY, you should:
1. Download and start the puttygen.exe generator.
2. In the “Parameters” section choose SSH2 DSA and press Generate.
3. Move your mouse randomly in the small screen in order to generate the key pairs.
4. Enter a key comment, which will identify the key (useful when you use several SSH keys).
5. Type in the passphrase and confirm it. The passphrase is used to protect your key. You will be asked for it when you connect via SSH.
6. Click “Save private key” to save your private key.
7. Click “Save public key” to save your public key.