1 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .TH SSH-AGENT 1
  2 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .SH NAME
  3 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull ssh-agent \- SSH authentication agent
  4 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .SH SYNOPSIS
  5 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .B ssh-agent
  6 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull [
  7 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .B -l
  8 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull ]
  9 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I factotum-service
 10 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .SH DESCRIPTION
 11 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I Ssh-agent
 12 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull presents
 13 d32deab1 2020-08-16 rsc .MR factotum (4)
 14 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull using the interface that
 15 d32deab1 2020-08-16 rsc .MR ssh (1)
 16 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull requires.
 17 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .PP
 18 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull Once
 19 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I ssh-agent
 20 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull and
 21 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I factotum
 22 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull are running, the standard Unix SSH client
 23 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull can use
 24 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I ssh-agent
 25 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull (and, indirectly,
 26 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .IR factotum )
 27 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull to authenticate to remote systems using RSA or DSA keys.
 28 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .PP
 29 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I Ssh
 30 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull accesses
 31 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I ssh-agent
 32 24a84948 2005-03-21 devnull via a Unix socket named
 33 24a84948 2005-03-21 devnull .B ssh-agent.socket
 34 24a84948 2005-03-21 devnull in the name space directory
 35 24a84948 2005-03-21 devnull (see
 36 d32deab1 2020-08-16 rsc .MR intro (4) ).
 37 24a84948 2005-03-21 devnull Note that although the socket is posted in the name space
 38 24a84948 2005-03-21 devnull directory, it is not for 9P conversations.
 39 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I Ssh
 40 24a84948 2005-03-21 devnull expects the name of this socket to be in the environment as
 41 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .BR $SSH_AGENT_SOCK ,
 42 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull and expects the agent to be running with process id
 43 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .BR $SSH_AGENT_PID .
 44 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I Ssh-agent
 45 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull prints shell commands to set these two variables
 46 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull before forking itself into the background.
 47 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull It is typically invoked inside a shell
 48 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .B eval
 49 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull construct; see the examples below.
 50 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull The 
 51 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .B -e
 52 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull option causes
 53 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I ssh-agent
 54 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull to include
 55 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .B export
 56 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull commands to put the variables into the environment of future programs.
 57 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .PP
 58 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull If the
 59 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .B -l
 60 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull option is given, 
 61 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I ssh-agent
 62 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull lists the usable
 63 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I factotum
 64 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull keys in the standard SSH format, suitable for creating an
 65 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .B authorized_keys
 66 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull file.
 67 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .PP
 68 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I Ssh-agent
 69 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull connects to
 70 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I factotum
 71 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull by accessing
 72 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I factotum-service
 73 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull (default
 74 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .RB ` factotum ')
 75 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull in the current name space.
 76 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .PP
 77 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull There is a Unix program called
 78 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I ssh-agent
 79 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull that manages SSH keys itself.
 80 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull Invoke this one with
 81 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .B 9
 82 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .BR ssh-agent ;
 83 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull see
 84 d32deab1 2020-08-16 rsc .MR 9 (1) .
 85 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .SH EXAMPLES
 86 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull Assume
 87 d32deab1 2020-08-16 rsc .MR factotum (4)
 88 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull is already running and initialized with keys.
 89 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .PP
 90 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull Start a new agent, copying the commands by hand:
 91 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .IP
 92 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .EX
 93 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull $ 9 ssh-agent -e
 94 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/tmp/ssh-405795003d7ee27a/agent.4233;
 95 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull export SSH_AUTH_SOCK;
 96 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull SSH_AGENT_PID=4233;
 97 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull export SSH_AGENT_PID;
 98 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull $ SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/tmp/ssh-405795003d7ee27a/agent.4233;
 99 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull $ export SSH_AUTH_SOCK;
100 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull $ SSH_AGENT_PID=4233;
101 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull $ export SSH_AGENT_PID;
102 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull $ 
103 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .EE
104 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .PP
105 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull Start the agent from
106 d32deab1 2020-08-16 rsc .MR sh (1) :
107 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .IP
108 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .EX
109 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull $ eval `9 ssh-agent -e`
110 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull $ 
111 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .EE
112 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .PP
113 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull Start the agent from
114 d32deab1 2020-08-16 rsc .MR rc (1) :
115 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .IP
116 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .EX
117 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull % eval `{9 ssh-agent}
118 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull % 
119 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .EE
120 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .PP
121 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull Use the agent to connect to a remote system:
122 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .IP
123 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .EX
124 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull % ssh tux
125 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull tux% ^D
126 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull % 
127 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .EE
128 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .SH SOURCE
129 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .B \*9/src/cmd/auth/ssh-agent.c
130 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .SH SEE ALSO
131 d32deab1 2020-08-16 rsc .MR ssh (1) ,
132 d32deab1 2020-08-16 rsc .MR rsa (1) ,
133 d32deab1 2020-08-16 rsc .MR factotum (4)
134 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .SH BUGS
135 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull A surprise rather than a bug:
136 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I ssh-agent
137 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull connects to factotum on demand, so it can be
138 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull started before
139 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I factotum
140 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull is running and need not be restarted just because
141 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull .I factotum
142 c9d04e09 2005-02-14 devnull is.