diff --git a/api/crypto/ecdsa.go b/api/crypto/ecdsa.go
index 35cc0b283..210b65bd7 100644
--- a/api/crypto/ecdsa.go
+++ b/api/crypto/ecdsa.go
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import (
 	"crypto/x509"
 	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/hex"
+	"encoding/pem"
+	"golang.org/x/crypto/ssh"
 	"math/big"
 )
 
@@ -135,3 +137,28 @@ func (service *ECDSAService) CreateSignature(message string) (string, error) {
 
 	return base64.RawStdEncoding.EncodeToString(signature), nil
 }
+
+// GenerateDeploymentKeyPair will create a new PEM encoded key pairs with ECDSA.
+func (service *ECDSAService) GenerateDeploymentKeyPair() ([]byte, string, error) {
+	pubkeyCurve := elliptic.P256()
+
+	privateKey, err := ecdsa.GenerateKey(pubkeyCurve, rand.Reader)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, "", err
+	}
+
+	x509EncodedBytes, _ := x509.MarshalECPrivateKey(privateKey)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, "", err
+	}
+
+	pemEncodedPrivate := pem.EncodeToMemory(&pem.Block{Type: "EC PRIVATE KEY", Bytes: x509EncodedBytes})
+
+	publicKey, err := ssh.NewPublicKey(&privateKey.PublicKey)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, "", err
+	}
+	publicKeyAutorizedKey := ssh.MarshalAuthorizedKey(publicKey)
+
+	return pemEncodedPrivate, string(publicKeyAutorizedKey), nil
+}
diff --git a/api/http/handler/deploymentkeys/deploymentkey_create.go b/api/http/handler/deploymentkeys/deploymentkey_create.go
index da60a3084..c79eb8d40 100644
--- a/api/http/handler/deploymentkeys/deploymentkey_create.go
+++ b/api/http/handler/deploymentkeys/deploymentkey_create.go
@@ -38,10 +38,15 @@ func (handler *Handler) deploymentkeyCreate(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Reque
 
 	// Add a function to call and create public key and private key
 
+	private, public, err := handler.SignatureService.GenerateDeploymentKeyPair()
+	if err != nil {
+		return &httperror.HandlerError{http.StatusInternalServerError, "Unable to create private and public key pairs", err}
+	}
+
 	deploymentkey = &portainer.DeploymentKey{
 		Name:       payload.Name,
-		PublicKey:  "SHA256:hellotherepublic",
-		PrivateKey: "SHA256:hellothereprivate",
+		PublicKey:  public,
+		PrivateKey: private,
 	}
 
 	err = handler.DeploymentKeyService.CreateDeploymentKey(deploymentkey)
@@ -49,7 +54,7 @@ func (handler *Handler) deploymentkeyCreate(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Reque
 		return &httperror.HandlerError{http.StatusInternalServerError, "Unable to persist the deployment key inside the database", err}
 	}
 
-	hideFields(deploymentkey)
+	// hideFields(deploymentkey)
 
 	return response.JSON(w, deploymentkey)
 }
diff --git a/api/http/handler/deploymentkeys/handler.go b/api/http/handler/deploymentkeys/handler.go
index 125039757..d93ee35a0 100644
--- a/api/http/handler/deploymentkeys/handler.go
+++ b/api/http/handler/deploymentkeys/handler.go
@@ -13,10 +13,11 @@ import (
 type Handler struct {
 	*mux.Router
 	DeploymentKeyService portainer.DeploymentKeyService
+	SignatureService     portainer.DigitalSignatureService
 }
 
 func hideFields(deploymentkey *portainer.DeploymentKey) {
-	deploymentkey.PrivateKey = ""
+	deploymentkey.PrivateKey = nil
 }
 
 // NewHandler creates a handler to manage settings operations.
diff --git a/api/http/server.go b/api/http/server.go
index d735a184f..d7ceba92b 100644
--- a/api/http/server.go
+++ b/api/http/server.go
@@ -226,6 +226,7 @@ func (server *Server) Start() error {
 
 	var deploymentKeyHandler = deploymentkeys.NewHandler(requestBouncer)
 	deploymentKeyHandler.DeploymentKeyService = server.DeploymentKeyService
+	deploymentKeyHandler.SignatureService = server.SignatureService
 
 	server.Handler = &handler.Handler{
 		RoleHandler:            roleHandler,
diff --git a/api/portainer.go b/api/portainer.go
index a3875f7d5..e79eb6e19 100644
--- a/api/portainer.go
+++ b/api/portainer.go
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ type (
 		ID         DeploymentKeyID `json:"Id`
 		Name       string          `json:"Name"`
 		PublicKey  string          `json:"PublicKey"`
-		PrivateKey string          `json:"PrivateKey"`
+		PrivateKey []byte          `json:"PrivateKey"`
 	}
 
 	// DockerHub represents all the required information to connect and use the
@@ -778,6 +778,7 @@ type (
 	DigitalSignatureService interface {
 		ParseKeyPair(private, public []byte) error
 		GenerateKeyPair() ([]byte, []byte, error)
+		GenerateDeploymentKeyPair() ([]byte, string, error)
 		EncodedPublicKey() string
 		PEMHeaders() (string, string)
 		CreateSignature(message string) (string, error)