Note: This step is only done once, if you have already created your SSH keys, you can skip to part 2 of the file access guide: How to add your SSH key to the Templ panel
Note 2: Instead of using SSH Keys, it's also possible to enable and use SSH/SFTP password.
Introduction
Secure Shell (SSH) protocol uses encryption to secure the connection between a client and a server. All user authentication, and file transfers are encrypted to provide the highest possibly security.
You will generate 2 SSH keys:
a public key
a private key (stored safely on your computer, never give out your private key).
SSH key authentication provides the convenience of accessing your website files via SFTP without entering your passwords. SSH keys are also more secure than passwords, because the private key used to secure the connection is never shared.
How to generate SSH keys on Windows using PuTTY
Step 1 - Download PuTTy from this link - under Package Files you will find the download links for PuTTy. There are two versions available (32-bit and 64-bit version).
If you are unsure which file to download, you need to check if your Windows is running 32-bit or 64-bit version, to do that, right-click on "This PC" or "My Computer" and then select Properties and check if your System Type is 64 or 32-bit.
Step 2 - When you install the PuTTY client, you also install the PuTTYgen utility. PuTTYgen is what you will use to generate your SSH key for Windows.
After the installation of PuTTY is complete, go ahead and open the PuTTYgen utility, it will look like this:
Step 3 - Under "Type of key to generate" select RSA and then click the Generate button and wait for the process to finish, it may take a minute or two.
When the process is done, it should look similar to this:
Step 4 - Save your keys.
Now click "Save public key" and "Save private key" and save them in a new folder of your choice, preferably somewhere they won't get deleted accidentally.
Note: You don't need to create a passphrase for your key.