Embedding key as string in Paramiko application

Question

I'm trying to create a single file executable in Python and using Paramiko for my SSH. I need to eliminate external files such as private key files and try to go for embedded strings.

I tried this solution but it's not working for me:
Paramiko: Creating a PKey from a public key string

How do I accomplish this? Thanks.

Answer 1

The solution you mentioned:

key = paramiko.RSAKey(data=base64.b64decode('AAblablabla...'))

works fine however it may be inconvenient to store the key in base64 format.

The following code shows how to use the key stored in "plain-text" format (as key-files in ~/.ssh directory):

import paramiko
import StringIO

my_key = """\
-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
<your key here>
-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----"""

pkey = paramiko.RSAKey.from_private_key(StringIO.StringIO(my_key))

ssh = paramiko.SSHClient()
ssh.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
ssh.connect(hostname='host', username='user', pkey=pkey)

...

ssh.close()

---

In Python 3:

import io
# ...
pkey = paramiko.RSAKey.from_private_key(io.StringIO(my_key))

See StringIO in Python3