How do I start the ssh-agent?

[theRoboxx]

I tried

$ eval `ssh-agent`
Agent pid 8020

to start the ssh-agent but after that I get the response

$ ssh-add -t 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa
Could not open a connection to your authentication agent.

Whereas in bash and zsh ssh-add asks for my passphrase of the key.

Do I need to start the ssh-agent with a different command?

[leo-arch]

Hi @theRoboxx. I'll take a look at it and let you know.

Thanks for reporting.

[leo-arch]

The problem is the export line produced by eval ssh-agent. Basically, SSH_AUTH_SOCK and SSH_AGENT_PID are not being exported to the environment. Why?

1. export is a shell built-in, and as such is not recognized by clifm, which runs as a child of the shell: it can run whatever executable file is in your PATH, but not shell internals (functions, aliases, built-in commands, and so on)
2. Clifm's export function does not work the same as the shell built-in (which is why eval fails)

As a workaround:

# Run the ssh agent
ssh-agent

# Export the values outputted by the previous command (using clifm's built-in export function) 
export SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/tmp/ssh...
export SSH_AGENT_PID=...

# Now run ssh-add
ssh-add -t 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa

[theRoboxx]

Thanks for your response.

I'm trying to automate this process by running a bash script.
Is there a way to run the clifm-export-function from within a bash script or do I need to execute the command manually in clifm?

[leo-arch]

Adding it to your profile file is the right way.

[theRoboxx]

Quick question. Why can't I add the ssh-add -t 600 FILE command to the script of ssa?

#!/bin/sh

###
# Description: Start the SSH agent from within clifm
# Author: L. Abramovich
# License: GPL3
#
# Dependencies: openssh, cut, sed
###

vars="$(ssh-agent | cut -d';' -f1)"
var1="$(echo "$vars" | sed -n 1p)"
var2="$(echo "$vars" | sed -n 2p)"

printf "export %s; export %s" "$var1" "$var2" > "$CLIFM_BUS"


# only ask for the passphrase, if the key isn't unlocked
if ! [[ "$(ssh-add -l)" =~ "SHA" ]] ; then
  ssh-add -t 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa
fi

It doesn't show the prompt to enter the passphrase. It's like the printf "export %s; export %s" "$var1" "$var2" > "$CLIFM_BUS" line wasn't executed.

But if I enter the following into profile.clifm it works.

ssa

# only ask for the passphrase, if the key isn't unlocked
if ! [[ "$(ssh-add -l)" =~ "SHA" ]] ; then
  ssh-add -t 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa
fi

[leo-arch]

Hey @theRoboxx. Yes, printf "export %s; export %s" "$var1" "$var2" > "$CLIFM_BUS" will be executed immediately after the script's end by clifm. This line just writes the command to a temp file, which is read and executed after the plugin exits.

[leo-arch]

I'd try adding the ssh-add command to the line sent to CLIFM_BUS, something like this:

printf "export %s; export %s" "$var1" "$var2; if ! [[ "$(ssh-add -l)" =~ "SHA" ]]; then ssh-add -t 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa; fi" > "$CLIFM_BUS"

[theRoboxx]

Thanks for your reply.
Unfortunately this throws errors and I couldn't figure out why.

Could not open a connection to your authentication agent.
sh: -c: line 1: conditional binary operator expected
sh: -c: line 1: syntax error near `SHA'
sh: -c: line 1: `if ! [[  =~ SHA ]]'
sh: -c: line 1: syntax error near unexpected token `then'
sh: -c: line 1: `then ssh-add -t 600 /home/stew/.ssh/id_rsa'
sh: -c: line 1: syntax error near unexpected token `fi'
sh: -c: line 1: `fi'

Changing the brackets seems to eliminate two of the errors:

printf "export %s; export %s" "$var1" "$var2; if ! ( "$(ssh-add -l)" =~ "SHA" ); then ssh-add -t 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa; fi" > "$CLIFM_BUS"`

Could not open a connection to your authentication agent.
sh: -c: line 2: syntax error: unexpected end of file
sh: -c: line 1: syntax error near unexpected token `then'
sh: -c: line 1: `then ssh-add -t 600 /home/stew/.ssh/id_rsa'
sh: -c: line 1: syntax error near unexpected token `fi'
sh: -c: line 1: `fi'