SSH Snippets

# Create a private and public key
ssh-keygen
# Create with type and email
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "myemail@domain.com"
# Optionally, can use flag to specific where files are created -f /path/to/key

# SSH to destination with an identity file "id_rsa_myidentity"
ssh -i id_rsa_myidentity user@ip_address

Start SSH agent and add keys

On Linux, Unix, MacOS and Windows with MSYS2/Cygwin

These commands also work using msys2 and cygwin on Windows with openssh package installed. See Working with SSH key passphrases - GitHub Docs for using a similar method with git bash on Windows.

Source: Generating a new SSH key and adding it to the ssh-agent - GitHub Docs

# Run ssh agent in background
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"

# Add ssh private key
ssh-add /path/to/key

# List identities and private keys
ssh-add -l

On Windows

Source: Key-based authentication in OpenSSH for Windows | Microsoft Learn

Below commands require administrative rights to start ssh-agent. For a non-administrative rights method, see the above instructions.

# By default, the ssh-agent service is disabled. Configure it to start automatically.
# Run the following command as an administrator - use an administrator powershell session
Get-Service ssh-agent | Set-Service -StartupType Automatic

# Start the service.
Start-Service ssh-agent

# The following command should return a status of Running.
Get-Service ssh-agent

# Load your key private files into ssh-agent
ssh-add $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_ecdsa

Example SSH Config File using Identity File

A user-specific config file is in ~/.ssh/config and system-wide configuration file for all users at /etc/ssh/ssh_config.

Host my-website.com
    HostName my-website.com
    User my-user
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa

See Also

• GNU Privacy Guard - GNU Privacy Guard (GPG)