From d4a8b7e34dd619a4debf9a206c81db26d1402ea6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Damien Miller Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 13:42:43 +1000 Subject: Initial revision --- ssh-agent.1 | 124 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 124 insertions(+) create mode 100644 ssh-agent.1 (limited to 'ssh-agent.1') diff --git a/ssh-agent.1 b/ssh-agent.1 new file mode 100644 index 000000000..01c43cdee --- /dev/null +++ b/ssh-agent.1 @@ -0,0 +1,124 @@ +.\" -*- nroff -*- +.\" +.\" ssh-agent.1 +.\" +.\" Author: Tatu Ylonen +.\" +.\" Copyright (c) 1995 Tatu Ylonen , Espoo, Finland +.\" All rights reserved +.\" +.\" Created: Sat Apr 23 20:10:43 1995 ylo +.\" +.\" $Id: ssh-agent.1,v 1.1 1999/10/27 03:42:45 damien Exp $ +.\" +.Dd September 25, 1999 +.Dt SSH-AGENT 1 +.Os +.Sh NAME +.Nm ssh-agent +.Nd authentication agent +.Sh SYNOPSIS +.Nm ssh-agent +.Ar command +.Sh DESCRIPTION +.Nm +is a program to hold authentication private keys. The +idea is that +.Nm +is started in the beginning of an X-session or a login session, and +all other windows or programs are started as children of the ssh-agent +program (the +.Ar command +normally starts X or is the user shell). Programs started under +the agent inherit a connection to the agent, and the agent is +automatically used for RSA authentication when logging to other +machines using +.Xr ssh 1 . +.Pp +The agent initially does not have any private keys. Keys are added +using +.Xr ssh-add 1 . +When executed without arguments, +.Xr ssh-add 1 +adds the +.Pa $HOME/.ssh/identity +file. If the identity has a passphrase, +.Xr ssh-add 1 +asks for the passphrase (using a small X11 application if running +under X11, or from the terminal if running without X). It then sends +the identity to the agent. Several identities can be stored in the +agent; the agent can automatically use any of these identities. +.Ic ssh-add -l +displays the identities currently held by the agent. +.Pp +The idea is that the agent is run in the user's local PC, laptop, or +terminal. Authentication data need not be stored on any other +machine, and authentication passphrases never go over the network. +However, the connection to the agent is forwarded over SSH +remote logins, and the user can thus use the privileges given by the +identities anywhere in the network in a secure way. +.Pp +A connection to the agent is inherited by child programs: +A unix-domain socket is created +.Pq Pa /tmp/ssh-XXXX/agent. , +and the name of this socket is stored in the +.Ev SSH_AUTH_SOCK +environment +variable. The socket is made accessible only to the current user. +This method is easily abused by root or another instance of the same +user. +.Pp +The agent exits automatically when the command given on the command +line terminates. +.Sh FILES +.Bl -tag -width Ds +.It Pa $HOME/.ssh/identity +Contains the RSA authentication identity of the user. This file +should not be readable by anyone but the user. It is possible to +specify a passphrase when generating the key; that passphrase will be +used to encrypt the private part of this file. This file +is not used by +.Nm +but is normally added to the agent using +.Xr ssh-add 1 +at login time. +.It Pa /tmp/ssh-XXXX/agent. , +Unix-domain sockets used to contain the connection to the +authentication agent. These sockets should only be readable by the +owner. The sockets should get automatically removed when the agent +exits. +.Sh AUTHOR +Tatu Ylonen +.Pp +OpenSSH +is a derivative of the original (free) ssh 1.2.12 release, but with bugs +removed and newer features re-added. Rapidly after the 1.2.12 release, +newer versions bore successively more restrictive licenses. This version +of OpenSSH +.Bl -bullet +.It +has all components of a restrictive nature (ie. patents, see +.Xr ssl 8 ) +directly removed from the source code; any licensed or patented components +are chosen from +external libraries. +.It +has been updated to support ssh protocol 1.5. +.It +contains added support for +.Xr kerberos 8 +authentication and ticket passing. +.It +supports one-time password authentication with +.Xr skey 1 . +.El +.Pp +The libraries described in +.Xr ssl 8 +are required for proper operation. +.Sh SEE ALSO +.Xr ssh 1 , +.Xr ssh-add 1 , +.Xr ssh-keygen 1 , +.Xr sshd 8 , +.Xr ssl 8 -- cgit v1.2.3