ssh-agent(1)							   User Commands						      ssh-agent(1)

NAME

       ssh-agent - authentication agent

SYNOPSIS

       ssh-agent [-a bind_address] [-c | -s ] [-d]
	    [command [args]...]

       ssh-agent [-c | -s] -k

DESCRIPTION

       ssh-agent is a program to hold private keys used for public key authentication (RSA, DSA). ssh-agent is often started at the beginning of a
       login session. All other windows or programs are started as clients to the ssh-agent program. Through use  of  environment  variables,  the
       agent  can  be located and automatically used for authentication when logging in to other machines using ssh(1). See the System Administra-
       tion Guide: Security Services.

       If a command line is given, this is executed as a subprocess of the agent. When the command dies, so does the agent.

       The agent initially does not have any private keys. Keys are added using ssh-add(1), which sends the identity to the agent. Several identi-
       ties  can  be  stored in the agent; the agent can automatically use any of these identities. Use the -l option in ssh-add(1) to display the
       identities currently held by the agent.

       The agent is run in the user's local host. Authentication data need not be stored on any  other	machine,  and  authentication  passphrases
       never  go  over	the  network. However, if the connection to the agent is forwarded over SSH remote logins, the user can use the privileges
       given by the identities anywhere in the network in a secure way.

       There are two main ways to get an agent setup. Either you let the agent start a new subcommand into which some  environment  variables  are
       exported, or you let the agent print the needed shell commands (either sh(1) or csh(1) syntax can be generated) which can be evalled in the
       calling shell. Later, use ssh(1) to look at these variables and use them to establish a connection to the agent.

       A unix-domain socket is created (/tmp/ssh-XXXXXXXX/agent.pid) and the name of this socket is stored in the SSH_AUTH_SOCK environment  vari-
       able. The socket is made accessible only to the current user. This method is easily abused by root or another instance of the same user.

       The SSH_AGENT_PID environment variable holds the agent's PID.

       The agent exits automatically when the command given on the command line terminates.

OPTIONS

       The following options are supported:

       -a bind_address	  Binds the agent to the unix-domain socket  bind_address. The default is /tmp/ssh-XXXXXXXX/agent.pid.

       -c		  Generates C-shell commands on stdout. This is the default if SHELL indicates that it is a csh style of shell.

       -d		  Debug mode. When this option is specified, ssh-agent will not fork.

       -k		  Kills the current agent (given by the SSH_AGENT_PID environment variable).

       -s		  Generates  Bourne  shell  commands  on  stdout. This is the default if SHELL does not indicate that it is a csh style of
			  shell.

EXIT STATUS

       The following exit values are returned:

       0    Successful completion.

       1    An error occurred.

FILES

       /tmp/ssh-XXXXXXXX/agent.pid

	   Unix-domain sockets used to contain the connection to the authentication agent. These sockets should only be readable by the owner. The
	   sockets are removed when the agent exits.

ATTRIBUTES

       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE	     |	    ATTRIBUTE VALUE	   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Availability		     |SUNWsshu			   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Interface Stability	     |Committed 		   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

SEE ALSO

       ssh(1), ssh-add(1), ssh-keygen(1), sshd(1M), attributes(5)

       System Administration Guide: Security Services

SunOS 5.11							    17 Nov 2008 						      ssh-agent(1)