Running ssh-agent in bash script

Question

I have created file ssh-start.sh which contains:

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa

I'm running it and have output:

Agent pid 1234
Identity added: ~/.ssh/id_rsa (~/.ssh/id_rsa)

but when I run

ssh-add -l

I'm getting:

Could not open a connection to your authentication agent.

What am I doing wrong and how to fix that?

(when I run commands from ssh-start.sh file directly in terminal it works fine)

Is the last command i.e., ssh-add -l part of the script or you're running it after the script runs? — Technext
– Technext, Commented Jul 26, 2014 at 14:57
I'm running it after script runs. If I add it to script it show my identity, but run 5 seconds later from shell doesn't. — kuba
– kuba, Commented Jul 26, 2014 at 15:02

Technext · Accepted Answer · 2020-03-07 12:51:27Z

5

ssh command needs to know how to talk to the ssh-agent. They know that from the SSH_AUTH_SOCK environment variable.

[gc@slave4 ~]$ ssh-agent -s
SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/tmp/ssh-ln4RuPajkE2A/agent.11091; export SSH_AUTH_SOCK;
SSH_AGENT_PID=11092; export SSH_AGENT_PID;
echo Agent pid 11092;

If you run ssh-add -l after the script, neither ssh nor ssh-add will be able to see that the SSH_AUTH_SOCK environment variable is set. So run all commands as part of a script or all from the command prompt.

edited Mar 7, 2020 at 12:51

answered Jul 26, 2014 at 15:07

Technext

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4 Comments

kuba Over a year ago

Thanks for thank hint, that pointed me to right direction, now I know I need to run my script using "source" command: "source ./ssh-start.sh" (or use "." instead of "source" to make it shorter).

Technext Over a year ago

Yes, running in the same shell is the key whether you source it or keep everything in the script. I'm glad it helped. :)

Stepan Yudin Over a year ago

@Technext Spent half a day solving this issue) Thanks a lot!

Technext Over a year ago

I'm glad it helped you. :)

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