Public Key authentication uses a public/private key pair. The keys can be RSA or DSA. In this authentication scheme, the user provides the server with the public part of the key, and shows that they have the corresponding private part of the key (by signing data with it). For authentication just involving the RSA/DSA key, a mechanism needs to exist to provide authorized mapping between the key and a user. The mapping is provided by the authorized_keys file or Pragma Fortress SSH Server registry mapping.

Fortress Client Suite supports multiple certificate locations.

SmartCard\CAC - store keys on a smartcard and use an attached smart card reader

Key files - use PPK files

Certificate Store - use certificates stored with the operating system

Fortress Client Suite supports multiple types of keys, including DSA, RSA and X.509