Why does Amazon release private keys instead of public keys?

Posted by S37H on Server Fault See other posts from Server Fault or by S37H
Published on 2012-08-20T21:44:11Z Indexed on 2012/11/16 5:02 UTC
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amazon-ec2

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sftp

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public-key

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private-key

My brain is wrapped around the axle on public and private keys. When you create a cloud server (instance) on Amazon's EC2 service and then want to connect to it via SSH, Amazon requires you to download private a key to make the connection. Doesn't the idea behind public/private key suggest that Amazon should be require you to download a public one?

Further, if I set up an SFTP server for a customer to use, should I be installing their key on the server or giving them a key from the server? In either case, should it be a public or private key?

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