--- a/src/ch/ethz/ssh2/Connection.java	Fri Jul 18 18:08:56 2014 -0700
+++ b/src/ch/ethz/ssh2/Connection.java	Fri Jul 18 18:33:40 2014 -0700
@@ -505,6 +505,58 @@
     }
 
     /**
+     * After a successful connect, one has to authenticate oneself. The
+     * authentication method "publickey" works by signing a challenge sent by
+     * the server. The signature is either DSA or RSA based - it just depends on
+     * the type of private key you specify, either a DSA or RSA private key in
+     * PEM format. And yes, this is may seem to be a little confusing, the
+     * method is called "publickey" in the SSH-2 protocol specification, however
+     * since we need to generate a signature, you actually have to supply a
+     * private key =).
+     * <p>
+     * If the authentication phase is complete, <code>true</code> will be
+     * returned. If the server does not accept the request (or if further
+     * authentication steps are needed), <code>false</code> is returned and
+     * one can retry either by using this or any other authentication method
+     * (use the <code>getRemainingAuthMethods</code> method to get a list of
+     * the remaining possible methods).
+     *
+     * @param user
+     *            A <code>String</code> holding the username.
+     * @param pair
+     *            A <code>RSAPrivateKey</code> or <code>DSAPrivateKey</code>
+     *            containing a DSA or RSA private key of
+     *            the user in Trilead object format.
+     *
+     * @return whether the connection is now authenticated.
+     * @throws IOException
+     */
+
+    public synchronized boolean authenticateWithPublicKey(String user, KeyPair pair)
+    throws IOException {
+        if (tm == null)
+            throw new IllegalStateException("Connection is not established!");
+
+        if (authenticated)
+            throw new IllegalStateException("Connection is already authenticated!");
+
+        if (am == null)
+            am = new AuthenticationManager(tm);
+
+        if (cm == null)
+            cm = new ChannelManager(tm);
+
+        if (user == null)
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("user argument is null");
+
+        if (pair == null)
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Key pair argument is null");
+
+        authenticated = am.authenticatePublicKey(user, pair, getOrCreateSecureRND());
+        return authenticated;
+    }
+
+    /**
      * A convenience wrapper function which reads in a private key (PEM format, either DSA or RSA)
      * and then calls <code>authenticateWithPublicKey(String, char[], String)</code>.
      * <p/>