# Key Pairs

The key pairs section enables the following actions: Add and Delete key pairs. Key pairs are commonly used by HPE Morpheus VM Essentials for accessing instances via SSH. HPE Morpheus VM Essentials stores key pairs to simplify administration and access across both private and public clouds.

HPE Morpheus VM Essentials only accepts key pairs in PEM format (for example, a private key beginning with `-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----`) and accepts RSA (PKCS#1 or PKCS#8, default), DSA (PKCS#1 or PKCS#8), EC (PKCS#8), and ed25519 (PKCS#8) keys. If you have a key in another format, such as OpenSSH, convert the key:

```
```
#No passphrase  
ssh-keygen -m pem -f /path/to/key  
#With passphrase  
ssh-keygen -p -P "old passphrase" -N "new passphrase" -m pem -f path/to/key
```
```

**Subtopics**  

- **[Add Existing Key Pair](https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/api/document/sd00007735en_us/render?page=GUID-3BCC85EA-1CBD-405F-AEFC-844BF2D9FE6C_2.html)**
- **[Generate Key Pair](https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/api/document/sd00007735en_us/render?page=GUID-9908E99D-69AC-4D1E-8A4D-A55FDAFE4086.html)**
- **[Delete Key Pair](https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/api/document/sd00007735en_us/render?page=GUID-5D0F2D33-623B-4AA3-A767-48980AA8A4E1_2.html)**
