[NFBCS] Questions about ssh-agent and ssh-ad

[Jim Barbour]

Hey All,

ssh-agent works better than .ssh/config for keys with passphrases.

My suggestions are that you

* Don't use passphrases
* run ssh-agent inside a VM, so you never have to reboot it, just suspend it.
* there's a way to use the unix expect command to push passphrases into ssh-add, which removes having to type complicated phrases.

Hope this helps,

Jim

On Fri, Feb 21, 2025 at 09:11:58AM -0600, Lewis Wood via NFBCS wrote:
> I personally store my ssh keys in the .ssh folder, although you could store
> it any where (make sure it is chmode 600  where ever you store them.
> 
> I edit the config file in the .ssh folder and add an alias perroute and
> login.
> 
> For example:
> My PI Kubernetes Master is KM alias and my root is rkm.
> 
> Thus I do:  ssh km  or ssh rkm or scp rkm:/etc/hosts . 
> 
> I even have one called github which logs into my id with my idententy file.
> 
> My non root logins allow me to enter a password and my rkm on works with the
> identity file.
> 
> I use linux/wsl , if you use windows you can do the same via your .ssh
> folder, I do not think it needs a chmod  Windows is more lax.
> 
> Lewis Wood
> lewislwood at gmail.com
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NFBCS <nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Brian Buhrow via NFBCS
> Sent: Friday, February 21, 2025 8:21 AM
> To: nfbcs at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Brian Buhrow <buhrow at nfbcal.org>
> Subject: [NFBCS] Questions about ssh-agent and ssh-ad
> 
> 	Hello.  This is a question for those of you who make use of openssh
> and its various features. 
> Recently, I've started using ssh-agent and ssh-add to add private keys to
> access my work environment.  I run ssh-agent on my source machine and, when
> I log into that machine, ssh-agent is started.  At this point I can add keys
> to ssh-agent's list of keys with the ssh-add command.
> All of that works fine and does exactly what I expect.  However, when I log
> out, or if  I reboot my source machine, ssh-agent terminates, to be started
> the next time I log into that machine.  The problem is that all the keys I
> added to ssh-agent are now gone and I must re-add them with ssh-add.  
> 
> 	Is there a way to make keys stored with ssh-agent persistent across
> reboots and login sessions?  I find it highly surprising that people
> consider using ssh-agent a time saver if they have to keep adding keys every
> time they restart ssh-agent for what ever reason.  So, I must be missing
> something. Anyone here have ideas?
> 
> -thanks
> -Brian
> 
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