Manpages - ssh-add.1

ssh-add - adds private key identities to the OpenSSH authentication agent

\\ ssh-add [*-CcDdKkLlqvXx*] [*-E* /fingerprint_hash/] [*-H* /hostkey_file/] [*-h* /destination_constraint/] [*-S* /provider/] [*-t* life/] [/file …/]
ssh-add -s /pkcs11 [*-Cv*] [/certificate/…]
ssh-add -e pkcs11
ssh-add -T pubkey…

ssh-add adds private key identities to the authentication agent, *ssh-agent*(1). When run without arguments, it adds the files ~.ssh/id_rsa/, ~.ssh/id_ecdsa/, ~.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk/, ~.ssh/id_ed25519/ and ~.ssh/id_ed25519_sk/. After loading a private key, ssh-add will try to load corresponding certificate information from the filename obtained by appending -cert.pub to the name of the private key file. Alternative file names can be given on the command line.

If any file requires a passphrase, ssh-add asks for the passphrase from the user. The passphrase is read from the user's tty. ssh-add retries the last passphrase if multiple identity files are given.

The authentication agent must be running and the SSH_AUTH_SOCK environment variable must contain the name of its socket for ssh-add to work.

The options are as follows:

-C

When loading keys into or deleting keys from the agent, process certificates only and skip plain keys.

-c

Indicates that added identities should be subject to confirmation before being used for authentication. Confirmation is performed by *ssh-askpass*(1). Successful confirmation is signaled by a zero exit status from *ssh-askpass*(1), rather than text entered into the requester.

-D

Deletes all identities from the agent.

-d

Instead of adding identities, removes identities from the agent. If ssh-add has been run without arguments, the keys for the default identities and their corresponding certificates will be removed. Otherwise, the argument list will be interpreted as a list of paths to public key files to specify keys and certificates to be removed from the agent. If no public key is found at a given path, ssh-add will append .pub and retry. If the argument list consists of ``-'' then ssh-add will read public keys to be removed from standard input.

-E fingerprint_hash

Specifies the hash algorithm used when displaying key fingerprints. Valid options are: ``md5'' and ``sha256''. The default is ``sha256''.

-e pkcs11

Remove keys provided by the PKCS#11 shared library pkcs11.

-H hostkey_file

Specifies a known hosts file to look up hostkeys when using destination-constrained keys via the -h flag. This option may be specified multiple times to allow multiple files to be searched. If no files are specified, ssh-add will use the default *ssh_config*(5) known hosts files: ~.ssh/known_hosts/, ~.ssh/known_hosts2/, /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts, and /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts2.

-h destination_constraint

When adding keys, constrain them to be usable only through specific hosts or to specific destinations. Destination constraints of the form `[user@]dest-hostname' permit use of the key only from the origin host (the one running *ssh-agent*(1)) to the listed destination host, with optional user name. Constraints of the form `src-hostname>[user@]dst-hostname' allow a key available on a forwarded *ssh-agent*(1) to be used through a particular host (as specified by `src-hostname' ) to authenticate to a further host, specified by `dst-hostname'. Multiple destination constraints may be added when loading keys. When attempting authentication with a key that has destination constraints, the whole connection path, including *ssh-agent*(1) forwarding, is tested against those constraints and each hop must be permitted for the attempt to succeed. For example, if key is forwarded to a remote host, `host-b', and is attempting authentication to another host, `host-c', then the operation will be successful only if `host-b' was permitted from the origin host and the subsequent `host-b>host-c' hop is also permitted by destination constraints. Hosts are identified by their host keys, and are looked up from known hosts files by . Wildcards patterns may be used for hostnames and certificate host keys are supported. By default, keys added by ssh-add are not destination constrained. Destination constraints were added in OpenSSH release 8.9. Support in both the remote SSH client and server is required when using destination-constrained keys over a forwarded *ssh-agent*(1) channel. It is also important to note that destination constraints can only be enforced by ssh-agent*(1) when a key is used, or when it is forwarded by a *cooperating *ssh*(1). Specifically, it does not prevent an attacker with access to a remote SSH_AUTH_SOCK from forwarding it again and using it on a different host (but only to a permitted destination).

-K

Load resident keys from a FIDO authenticator.

-k

When loading keys into or deleting keys from the agent, process plain private keys only and skip certificates.

-L

Lists public key parameters of all identities currently represented by the agent.

-l

Lists fingerprints of all identities currently represented by the agent.

-q

Be quiet after a successful operation.

-S provider

Specifies a path to a library that will be used when adding FIDO authenticator-hosted keys, overriding the default of using the internal USB HID support.

-s pkcs11

Add keys provided by the PKCS#11 shared library pkcs11. Certificate files may optionally be listed as command-line arguments. If these are present, then they will be loaded into the agent using any corresponding private keys loaded from the PKCS#11 token.

-T pubkey…

Tests whether the private keys that correspond to the specified pubkey files are usable by performing sign and verify operations on each.

-t life

Set a maximum lifetime when adding identities to an agent. The lifetime may be specified in seconds or in a time format specified in *sshd_config*(5).

-v

Verbose mode. Causes ssh-add to print debugging messages about its progress. This is helpful in debugging problems. Multiple -v options increase the verbosity. The maximum is 3.

-X

Unlock the agent.

-x

Lock the agent with a password.

DISPLAY , SSH_ASKPASS and SSH_ASKPASS_REQUIRE

If ssh-add needs a passphrase, it will read the passphrase from the current terminal if it was run from a terminal. If ssh-add does not have a terminal associated with it but DISPLAY and SSH_ASKPASS are set, it will execute the program specified by SSH_ASKPASS (by default ``ssh-askpass )'' and open an X11 window to read the passphrase. This is particularly useful when calling ssh-add from a .xsession or related script. SSH_ASKPASS_REQUIRE allows further control over the use of an askpass program. If this variable is set to ``never'' then ssh-add will never attempt to use one. If it is set to ``prefer'', then ssh-add will prefer to use the askpass program instead of the TTY when requesting passwords. Finally, if the variable is set to ``force'', then the askpass program will be used for all passphrase input regardless of whether DISPLAY is set.

SSH_AUTH_SOCK

Identifies the path of a UNIX-domain socket used to communicate with the agent.

SSH_SK_PROVIDER

Specifies a path to a library that will be used when loading any FIDO authenticator-hosted keys, overriding the default of using the built-in USB HID support.

~/.ssh/id_ecdsa

~/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk

~/.ssh/id_ed25519

~/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk

~/.ssh/id_rsa

Contains the ECDSA, authenticator-hosted ECDSA, Ed25519, authenticator-hosted Ed25519 or RSA authentication identity of the user.

Identity files should not be readable by anyone but the user. Note that ssh-add ignores identity files if they are accessible by others.

Exit status is 0 on success, 1 if the specified command fails, and 2 if ssh-add is unable to contact the authentication agent.

*ssh*(1), *ssh-agent*(1), *ssh-askpass*(1), *ssh-keygen*(1), *sshd*(8)

OpenSSH is a derivative of the original and free ssh 1.2.12 release by Tatu Ylonen. Aaron Campbell, Bob Beck, Markus Friedl, Niels Provos, Theo de Raadt and Dug Song removed many bugs, re-added newer features and created OpenSSH. Markus Friedl contributed the support for SSH protocol versions 1.5 and 2.0.