Public Keys

A PublicKey is used to authenticate to Files.com via SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol). This method of authentication allows users to use their private key (which is never shared with Files.com) to authenticate themselves against the PublicKey stored on Files.com.

When a user configures their PublicKey, it allows them to bypass traditional password-based authentication, leveraging the security of key-based authentication instead.

Note that Files.com's SSH support is limited to file operations only. While users can securely transfer files and manage their data via SFTP, they do not have access to a full shell environment for executing arbitrary commands.

When generating new SSH keys, here are the available options: Files.com supports multiple SSH key algorithms: RSA (default 4096 bits, range 1024-4096 in 8-bit increments), DSA (1024 bits only), Ed25519 (256 bits), and ECDSA (256, 384, or 521 bits). When generating keys, the system uses these default lengths unless a specific length is specified.

Files.com also supports importing additional key types that cannot be generated: security key types (sk-ecdsa-sha2-nistp256, sk-ssh-ed25519). RSA keys up to 8192 bits are also supported for import.

List Public Keys

SDK Method

Files::PublicKey.list

Return Object

List<PublicKey>

Authorization Requirement

Not available to user API keys or sessions from users that are marked as Shared/Bot users.

Method Arguments

ArgumentDescription
user_id
int64		User ID. Provide a value of 0 to operate the current session's user.

Additional Arguments

Example Request

begin
  public_keys = Files::PublicKey.list(
    user_id: 1
  )
  public_keys.auto_paging_each do |public_key|
    # Operate on public_key
  end
rescue Files::NotAuthenticatedError => e
  puts "Authentication Error Occurred (#{e.class.to_s}): " + e.message
rescue Files::Error => e
  puts "Unknown Error Occurred (#{e.class.to_s}): " + e.message
end

Show Public Key

SDK Method

Files::PublicKey.find

Return Object

PublicKey

Authorization Requirement

Not available to user API keys or sessions from users that are marked as Shared/Bot users.

Method Arguments

ArgumentDescription
id
int64
Required		Public Key ID.

Example Request

begin
  public_key = Files::PublicKey.find(id)
  # Operate on public_key
rescue Files::NotAuthenticatedError => e
  puts "Authentication Error Occurred (#{e.class.to_s}): " + e.message
rescue Files::Error => e
  puts "Unknown Error Occurred (#{e.class.to_s}): " + e.message
end

Create Public Key

SDK Method

Files::PublicKey.create

Return Object

PublicKey

Authorization Requirement

Not available to user API keys or sessions from users that are marked as Shared/Bot users.

Method Arguments

ArgumentDefaultDescription
user_id
int64		User ID. Provide a value of 0 to operate the current session's user.
title
string
Required		Internal reference for key.
public_key
string		Actual contents of SSH key.
generate_keypair
boolean		falseIf true, generate a new SSH key pair. Can not be used with public_key
generate_private_key_password
string		Password for the private key. Used for the generation of the key. Will be ignored if generate_keypair is false.
generate_algorithm
string		"rsa"Type of key to generate. One of rsa, dsa, ecdsa, ed25519. Used for the generation of the key. Will be ignored if generate_keypair is false.
generate_length
int64		Length of key to generate. If algorithm is ecdsa, this is the signature size. Used for the generation of the key. Will be ignored if generate_keypair is false.

Example Request

begin
  public_key = Files::PublicKey.create(
    title: "My Main Key"
  )
  # Operate on public_key
rescue Files::NotAuthenticatedError => e
  puts "Authentication Error Occurred (#{e.class.to_s}): " + e.message
rescue Files::Error => e
  puts "Unknown Error Occurred (#{e.class.to_s}): " + e.message
end

Update Public Key

SDK Method

public_key.update

Return Object

PublicKey

Authorization Requirement

Not available to user API keys or sessions from users that are marked as Shared/Bot users.

Method Arguments

ArgumentDescription
title
string
Required		Internal reference for key.

Example Request

begin
  # Find the public_key object by its id.
  public_key = Files::PublicKey.find(id)
  public_key.update(
    title: "My Main Key"
  )
rescue Files::NotAuthenticatedError => e
  puts "Authentication Error Occurred (#{e.class.to_s}): " + e.message
rescue Files::Error => e
  puts "Unknown Error Occurred (#{e.class.to_s}): " + e.message
end

Delete Public Key

SDK Method

public_key.delete

Return Object

nil

Authorization Requirement

Not available to user API keys or sessions from users that are marked as Shared/Bot users.

Example Request

begin
  # Find the public_key object by its id.
  public_key = Files::PublicKey.find(id)
  public_key.delete
rescue Files::NotAuthenticatedError => e
  puts "Authentication Error Occurred (#{e.class.to_s}): " + e.message
rescue Files::Error => e
  puts "Unknown Error Occurred (#{e.class.to_s}): " + e.message
end

The PublicKey Object

Some of the methods above return a PublicKey object. The attributes of this object are listed below.

AttributeDescription
id
int64		Public key ID
workspace_id
int64		Workspace ID (0 for default workspace).
title
string		Public key title
created_at
date-time		Public key created at date/time
expires_at
date-time		Public key expiration date/time
expired
boolean		Is this public key expired?
fingerprint
string		Public key fingerprint (MD5)
fingerprint_sha256
string		Public key fingerprint (SHA256)
status
string		Only returned when generating keys. Can be invalid, not_generated, generating, complete
Possible values: error, not_set, to_be_generated, generating, complete
last_login_at
date-time		Key's most recent login time via SFTP
generated_private_key
string		Only returned when generating keys. Private key generated for the user.
generated_public_key
string		Only returned when generating keys. Public key generated for the user.
username
string		Username of the user this public key is associated with
user_id
int64		User ID this public key is associated with