How do I get SecureCRT® and SecureFX® to share the host key database?

If you are installing SecureCRT 4.1 or later and SecureFX 2.2 or later on a machine that has never had SecureCRT or SecureFX installed on it, they will automatically share the host key database.

If you have an existing installation of SecureCRT or SecureFX and are upgrading to SecureCRT 4.1 or later and SecureFX 2.2 or later, you will need to complete the following steps.

Note: Versions prior to SecureCRT 4.1 and SecureFX 2.2 cannot share the host key database.

1. Create a folder called "Known Hosts" in the following location:

   Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\VanDyke

   Inside the "Known Hosts" folder, create a folder called "HostKeyDatabase".
   
   
2. Locate your SecureCRT configuration folder. To do this, select "Global Options" from the "Options" menu and navigate to the "Options/Advanced" category. Note the location of your configuration folder.
   
   
3. Exit SecureCRT and navigate to the SecureCRT configuration folder. Open the file called SSH2.ini and modify the "Host Key Database Location" to be that of the folder you created in Step 1. It should look something like the following:

   S:"Host Key Database Location"=C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\VanDyke\Known Hosts\HostKeyDatabase\

4. Locate your SecureFX host key database. To do this, open the registry using regedit and navigate to the following branch:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VanDyke\SecureFX\SSH

   If this branch does not exist, try:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Van Dyke Technologies\SecureFX\SSH

   Change the value of "Host Key Database Location" to that of the folder you created in Step 1. It should look something like:

   C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\VanDyke\KnownHosts\HostKeyDatabase\

5. Copy everything in the HostKeyDatabase folder from SecureCRT or SecureFX to the folder created in Step 1. Pick the one that has the most host keys you want to keep, because the others will have to be imported manually.
   
   
6. Start SecureCRT or SecureFX and manually import the remaining host keys.
1. To do this in SecureCRT, select "Global Options" from the "Options" menu and go to the "Host Keys" category under "SSH2".
2. To do this in SecureFX, select "Global Options" from the "Options" menu and go to the "Host Keys" category under "Options\SSH2".
   
   
7. Click the "Import" button, navigate to the old host key folder, and import the desired host key. The host keys must be imported one at a time. The host name, IP address, and port are indicated in the file name.

   After you have imported the host keys, you can delete the old SecureFX and SecureCRT HostKeyDatabase folders.