[vox-tech] ssh-agent question

[vox-tech@lists.lugod.org]

hi all,

i've heard it said if you use ssh-agent, your passphrase is cached so
you can log in to a computer without your passphrase after the 1st
login.

i've used rsa authentication, but have never used ssh-agent.  so i've
always had to enter my passphrase whenever logging in to a host.

yesterday i created id_dsa.pub and started to play around.  here's what
i found:


1. if the remote .ssh/authorized_keys2 only has the id_rsa.pub, i need
   to enter my passphrase each time, since i haven't used ssh-agent yet.

2. if the remote .ssh/authorized_keys2 has both id_rsa.pub and
   id_dsa.pub, it asks me for my id_rsa passphrase each time, since i
   haven't used ssh-agent yet.

3. if the remote .ssh/authorized_keys2 only has id_dsa.pub, i only need
   to enter my passphrase ONCE.  after that, my passphrase is presumably
   cached and i no longer need to enter my passphrase to ssh into the
   remote system.


number 3 surprises me.  i've been trying to find references to dsa keys
being automatically cached without usine ssh-agent, and i can't find
any.

are dsa keys automatically cached?

pete

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