4 ms·

> The Microsoft version of OpenSSH ships an SSH agent that doesn't use Unix sockets, but uses a named pipe instead. Looks like there is work on this at https:/

by nsteel 3y ago

> The Microsoft version of OpenSSH ships an SSH agent that doesn't use Unix sockets, but uses a named pipe instead. Looks like there is work on this at https://github.com/PowerShell/openssh-portable/pull/674 https://github.com/PowerShell/openssh-portable/pull/674 and eventually take advantage of https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/af_unix-comes-to-windows/ https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/af_unix-comes-to-...

chasil 3y ago
The problem with Microsoft's SSH agent is that it requires a running service. If you are not an Administrator, it is by default disabled and unusable. Later versions of PuTTY pageant.exe are now able to service the Microsoft clients, without extra privilege or a running service. It is a better fit. The PuTTY site isn't responding on my phone at the moment, or I'd post a link to the docs.
- nsteel 3y ago
  These are the notes I have for setting this up (in 2019). I am not an Administrator on this PC, it's joined to a corporate domain. 1. In the start menu search for "Services" 2. Double click on "OpenSSH Authentication Agent" 3. Set the startup type to "Automatic" 4. Click "Start" and then OK. And after that one-time fix it's perfectly usable. It is possible I also had to do something else and forgot to document it.
  - chasil 3y ago
    ...and that only serves Microsoft OpenSSH. Since PuTTY can do both, why bother with Microsoft? Here are the instructions: https://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/0.79/htmldoc/Chapter9.html#pageant-cmdline-openssh https://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/0.79/htmldoc/Chapter9.h...
    - nsteel 3y ago
      I've no idea why I'd bother with PuTTY but whatever you prefer to use. As I said, it works just fine and is not "unusable".
      - chasil 3y ago
        A couple of reasons. The PuTTY agent can service both PuTTY clients and Microsoft OpenSSH clients, and it can do this without a service, nor does it need the implied administrative privileges to launch said service. That is a hands-down win. The PuTTY clients can also accept raw passwords in several ways, by interactive prompt, by the -pw option on the command line (beware of exposure in task manager), and by the -pwfile option. The latter above can be adapted to the .netrc format (used by Microsoft curl.exe and ftp.exe), which vastly expands authentication options. So the question is why anyone bothers with Microsoft's ssh-agent.exe - it's quite limited. Ditch it.
NikkiA 3y ago
Or just use OmniSSHAgent which works for pretty much everything

by nsteel 3y ago

chasil 3y ago

The problem with Microsoft's SSH agent is that it requires a running service. If you are not an Administrator, it is by default disabled and unusable. Later versions of PuTTY pageant.exe are now able to service the Microsoft clients, without extra privilege or a running service. It is a better fit. The PuTTY site isn't responding on my phone at the moment, or I'd post a link to the docs.

nsteel 3y ago
These are the notes I have for setting this up (in 2019). I am not an Administrator on this PC, it's joined to a corporate domain. 1. In the start menu search for "Services" 2. Double click on "OpenSSH Authentication Agent" 3. Set the startup type to "Automatic" 4. Click "Start" and then OK. And after that one-time fix it's perfectly usable. It is possible I also had to do something else and forgot to document it.
- chasil 3y ago
  ...and that only serves Microsoft OpenSSH. Since PuTTY can do both, why bother with Microsoft? Here are the instructions: https://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/0.79/htmldoc/Chapter9.html#pageant-cmdline-openssh https://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/0.79/htmldoc/Chapter9.h...
  - nsteel 3y ago
    I've no idea why I'd bother with PuTTY but whatever you prefer to use. As I said, it works just fine and is not "unusable".
    - chasil 3y ago
      A couple of reasons. The PuTTY agent can service both PuTTY clients and Microsoft OpenSSH clients, and it can do this without a service, nor does it need the implied administrative privileges to launch said service. That is a hands-down win. The PuTTY clients can also accept raw passwords in several ways, by interactive prompt, by the -pw option on the command line (beware of exposure in task manager), and by the -pwfile option. The latter above can be adapted to the .netrc format (used by Microsoft curl.exe and ftp.exe), which vastly expands authentication options. So the question is why anyone bothers with Microsoft's ssh-agent.exe - it's quite limited. Ditch it.

NikkiA 3y ago

Or just use OmniSSHAgent which works for pretty much everything