[ILUG] SSH agent ideas

Kenn Humborg kenn at linux.ie
Mon Sep 11 00:45:11 IST 2000


Wouldn't it be great if ssh-agent would work like this:

1. You could configure it to 'forget' an identity a certain duration
   after entering its passphrase.  This should be configurable on a
   per-identity basis.

2. You could tell it where an identity file is, without having to give
   it the passphrase there and then.

3. When a remote sshd asks for an identity check, and ssh-agent has
   a DISPLAY set, and the identity has expired (or this is the first
   time) then pop up the {gnome,x11}-ssh-askpass app.

So, [xkg]dm startup scripts could do something like:

   if [ -f ~/.ssh/identity] ; then
      eval `ssh-agent --dont-ask-now --identity=~/.ssh/identity --forget=10m`
   fi

That would be cool...

Anyway, I'm off to Germany tomorrow til Wednesday evening, so I expect to 
see the new, improved ssh-agent on an FTP site by Thursday morning :-)

Later,
Kenn





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