VanDyke Software

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How to Manage Credentials in SecureCRT and SecureFX

A Credentials category in Global Options reduces complexity by allowing users to manage saved credentials globally for SSH1, SSH2, and RDP connections. The Credentials category is available in SecureCRT 9.2 and SecureFX 9.2 and newer.

Instead of replicating copies of credentials across saved sessions, credential sets can now be stored in the Global Options / General / Credentials category and referenced within a connection's Session Options.

If an account's password changes, that password change can now be applied to the corresponding entry in the Credentials category. All sessions linking to that credential set by title will automatically be able to use that new password during the connection attempt.

Managing Credentials

To add a new credential set:

1. Open SecureCRT's Global Options dialog and navigate to the General / Credentials category.

   

   Alternatively, open the Quick Connect dialog or a Session Options dialog, enable the Credentials option, and click on the credentials "keys" icon (shown below).

   

2. Press the Add… button to open the Credential Properties dialog.

   

3. Assign a unique Title for the credentials you are adding.
4. Specify the Username that is associated with the credentials you are adding.
5. Rearrange the Authentication list so that the authentication method ordering preferred by this credential set will reflect your preference. For example, if you are storing a saved password, make sure that the ordering of the list is Keyboard Interactive followed by Password (both of these authentication methods share the same saved password, but many systems won't work with the Password authentication method so Keyboard Interactive should normally be listed first in the Authentication list).
6. With either the Password or the Keyboard Interactive authentication method selected in the Authentication list, press the Properties… button to open the Password Properties dialog.
   1. Enable the Store Password option.
   2. Enter the password to be used for this credential set.
   3. Confirm the password that you have entered.
   4. Press the OK button to dismiss the Password Properties dialog.
   
7. Press the OK button to dismiss the Credential Properties dialog.
   
8. Repeat steps 1-7 for each different credential set that you want to add to the Saved credentials list.

Using Saved Credentials

Credential sets that you have stored in the Global Options / General / Credentials category will be available to you wherever you see an option to use credentials. To use a credential set, specify the Title as seen in the credentials selection dropdown. For example:

• From within the Quick Connect dialog.

• From within the New Session Wizard.

• From within the Session Options dialog.
  Note: Within saved sessions, to leverage credentials that you have saved in the Credentials category, you will need to edit existing sessions to change from using a local session-specific username and password to using the corresponding credential set (by title) instead.

Editing Saved Credentials

Whenever a username or password needs to be changed:

1. Open the Global Options / General / Credentials category.
2. Locate the entry by Title.
3. Make the necessary modifications.

All sessions which refer to that credential set by title will automatically be able to reference the new information the next time a connection is attempted.

If you change the Title of a saved credential set within the Global Options / General / Credentials category, all saved sessions which refer to the credential by its old title will automatically be updated to refer to the new title.