ssh while ssh-agent is running

[Jörn Heissler]

Hi Sam,

On Mon, Sep 30, 2024 at 11:37:18 -0600, Sam Darwin wrote:
> If you are specifying a key "-i key", then you are specifying a key, and
> clearly don't need to use the keys from ssh-agent.

The -i option is dual-use. From the man page:

> Selects a file from which the identity (private key) for public key authentication is read.

> You can also specify a public key file to use the corresponding
> private key that is loaded in ssh-agent(1) when the private key file
> is not present locally.

I think you can also load certificates using the -i option and use the
agent to generate the signature.

> Could ssh prefer the key from the command line? Give that precedence,
> over using the ssh-agent keys?

The IdentitiesOnly option takes care of that. Or you could set up
your ~/.ssh/config file with IdentitiesOnly + IdentityFile to specify
the correct key for each server.


Jörn