-.\" $OpenBSD: ssh-agent.1,v 1.33 2002/06/19 00:27:55 deraadt Exp $
+.\" $OpenBSD: ssh-agent.1,v 1.45 2007/05/31 19:20:16 jmc Exp $
.\"
.\" Author: Tatu Ylonen <ylo@cs.hut.fi>
.\" Copyright (c) 1995 Tatu Ylonen <ylo@cs.hut.fi>, Espoo, Finland
.\" (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF
.\" THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
-.Dd September 25, 1999
+.Dd $Mdocdate: June 5 2007 $
.Dt SSH-AGENT 1
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm ssh-agent
.Op Fl a Ar bind_address
.Op Fl c Li | Fl s
+.Op Fl t Ar life
.Op Fl d
.Op Ar command Op Ar args ...
.Nm ssh-agent
Bind the agent to the unix-domain socket
.Ar bind_address .
The default is
-.Pa /tmp/ssh-XXXXXXXX/agent.<pid> .
+.Pa /tmp/ssh-XXXXXXXXXX/agent.\*(Ltppid\*(Gt .
.It Fl c
Generate C-shell commands on
.Dv stdout .
Kill the current agent (given by the
.Ev SSH_AGENT_PID
environment variable).
+.It Fl t Ar life
+Set a default value for the maximum lifetime of identities added to the agent.
+The lifetime may be specified in seconds or in a time format specified in
+.Xr sshd_config 5 .
+A lifetime specified for an identity with
+.Xr ssh-add 1
+overrides this value.
+Without this option the default maximum lifetime is forever.
.It Fl d
-Debug mode. When this option is specified
+Debug mode.
+When this option is specified
.Nm
will not fork.
.El
When executed without arguments,
.Xr ssh-add 1
adds the files
-.Pa $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa ,
-.Pa $HOME/.ssh/id_dsa
+.Pa ~/.ssh/id_rsa ,
+.Pa ~/.ssh/id_dsa
and
-.Pa $HOME/.ssh/identity .
+.Pa ~/.ssh/identity .
If the identity has a passphrase,
.Xr ssh-add 1
asks for the passphrase (using a small X11 application if running
remote logins, and the user can thus use the privileges given by the
identities anywhere in the network in a secure way.
.Pp
-There are two main ways to get an agent setup:
-Either the agent starts a new subcommand into which some environment
-variables are exported, or the agent prints the needed shell commands
-(either
+There are two main ways to get an agent set up:
+The first is that the agent starts a new subcommand into which some environment
+variables are exported, eg
+.Cm ssh-agent xterm & .
+The second is that the agent prints the needed shell commands (either
+.Xr sh 1
+or
+.Xr csh 1
+syntax can be generated) which can be evalled in the calling shell, eg
+.Cm eval `ssh-agent -s`
+for Bourne-type shells such as
.Xr sh 1
or
+.Xr ksh 1
+and
+.Cm eval `ssh-agent -c`
+for
.Xr csh 1
-syntax can be generated) which can be evalled in the calling shell.
+and derivatives.
+.Pp
Later
.Xr ssh 1
looks at these variables and uses them to establish a connection to the agent.
.Pp
The
.Ev SSH_AGENT_PID
-environment variable holds the agent's PID.
+environment variable holds the agent's process ID.
.Pp
The agent exits automatically when the command given on the command
line terminates.
.Sh FILES
.Bl -tag -width Ds
-.It Pa $HOME/.ssh/identity
+.It Pa ~/.ssh/identity
Contains the protocol version 1 RSA authentication identity of the user.
-.It Pa $HOME/.ssh/id_dsa
+.It Pa ~/.ssh/id_dsa
Contains the protocol version 2 DSA authentication identity of the user.
-.It Pa $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa
+.It Pa ~/.ssh/id_rsa
Contains the protocol version 2 RSA authentication identity of the user.
-.It Pa /tmp/ssh-XXXXXXXX/agent.<pid>
+.It Pa /tmp/ssh-XXXXXXXXXX/agent.\*(Ltppid\*(Gt
Unix-domain sockets used to contain the connection to the
authentication agent.
These sockets should only be readable by the owner.
The sockets should get automatically removed when the agent exits.
.El
+.Sh SEE ALSO
+.Xr ssh 1 ,
+.Xr ssh-add 1 ,
+.Xr ssh-keygen 1 ,
+.Xr sshd 8
.Sh AUTHORS
OpenSSH is a derivative of the original and free
ssh 1.2.12 release by Tatu Ylonen.
created OpenSSH.
Markus Friedl contributed the support for SSH
protocol versions 1.5 and 2.0.
-.Sh SEE ALSO
-.Xr ssh 1 ,
-.Xr ssh-add 1 ,
-.Xr ssh-keygen 1 ,
-.Xr sshd 8