Red Hat ENTERPRISE LINUX 4 System Administration Manual page 220

Chapter 20. OpenSSH
4. If you are running GNOME, skip to
you are not running GNOME, skip to
20.3.4.4. Configuring ssh-agent with GNOME
The ssh-agent utility can be used to save your passphrase so that you do not have to enter it each
time you initiate an ssh or scp connection. If you are using GNOME, the openssh-askpass-gnome
package contains the application used to prompt you for your passphrase when you log in to GNOME
and save it until you log out of GNOME. You will not have to enter your password or passphrase for
any ssh or scp connection made during that GNOME session. If you are not using GNOME, refer to
Section 20.3.4.5, "Configuring
To save your passphrase during your GNOME session, follow the following steps:
1. You will need to have the package openssh-askpass-gnome installed; you can use the
command rpm -q openssh-askpass-gnome to determine if it is installed or not. If it is not
installed, install it from your Red Hat Enterprise Linux CD-ROM set, from a Red Hat FTP mirror
site, or using Red Hat Network.
2. Select Main Menu Button (on the Panel) => Preferences => More Preferences => Sessions,
and click on the Startup Programs tab. Click Add and enter /usr/bin/ssh-add in the Startup
Command text area. Set it a priority to a number higher than any existing commands to ensure
that it is executed last. A good priority number for ssh-add is 70 or higher. The higher the priority
number, the lower the priority. If you have other programs listed, this one should have the lowest
priority. Click Close to exit the program.
3. Log out and then log back into GNOME; in other words, restart X. After GNOME is started, a
dialog box will appear prompting you for your passphrase(s). Enter the passphrase requested. If
you have both DSA and RSA key pairs configured, you will be prompted for both. From this point
on, you should not be prompted for a password by ssh, scp, or sftp.
20.3.4.5. Configuring ssh-agent
The ssh-agent can be used to store your passphrase so that you do not have to enter it each time
you make a ssh or scp connection. If you are not running the X Window System, follow these steps
from a shell prompt. If you are running GNOME but you do not want to configure it to prompt you for
your passphrase when you log in (refer to
this procedure will work in a terminal window, such as an XTerm. If you are running X but not GNOME,
this procedure will work in a terminal window. However, your passphrase will only be remembered for
that terminal window; it is not a global setting.
1. At a shell prompt, type the following command:
exec /usr/bin/ssh-agent $SHELL
2. Then type the command:
ssh-add
and enter your passphrase(s). If you have more than one key pair configured, you will be
prompted for each one.
202
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Section 20.3.4.5, "Configuring
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