How to convert and use the ppk secrets file to a pem file

In order to connect to major Zerto components such as VRAs and ZCCs via SSH, Zerto provides a .ppk file within the appliance to use with a tool such as putty. 

You can find this ppk file at /var/data/zerto/zvr/zvm/Secrets/ssh.ppk on the ZVMA.

To use it to connect to another component via the appliance, you first need to convert it to a pem file: 

sudo apt-get install putty-tools

puttygen /var/data/zerto/zvr/zvm/Secrets/ssh.ppk -O private-openssh -o /var/data/zerto/zvr/zvm/Secrets/ssh.pem

You then need to give it the correct permissions:

chmod 400  /var/data/zerto/zvr/zvm/Secrets/ssh.pem

And then you can connect to the desire red component substituting *component_ip* for the IP of the component:

ssh -i /var/data/zerto/zvr/zvm/Secrets/ssh.pem root@component_ip