[openssh.git] / ssh-keyscan.1

.Dd January 1, 1996
.Dt ssh-keyscan 1
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm ssh-keyscan
.Nd gather ssh public keys
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm ssh-keyscan
.Op Fl t Ar timeout
.Op Ar -- | host | addrlist namelist
.Op Fl f Ar files ...
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.Nm
is a utility for gathering the public ssh host keys of a number of
hosts.  It was designed to aid in building and verifying
.Pa ssh_known_hosts
files.
.Nm
provides a minimal interface suitable for use by shell and perl
scripts.
.Pp
.Nm
uses non-blocking socket I/O to contact as many hosts as possible in
parallel, so it is very efficient.  The keys from a domain of 1,000
hosts can be collected in tens of seconds, even when some of those
hosts are down or do not run ssh.  You do not need login access to the
machines you are scanning, nor does does the scanning process involve
any encryption.
.Sh SECURITY
If you make an ssh_known_hosts file using
.Nm
without verifying the keys, you will be vulnerable to
.I man in the middle
attacks.
On the other hand, if your security model allows such a risk,
.Nm
can help you detect tampered keyfiles or man in the middle attacks which
have begun after you created your ssh_known_hosts file.
.Sh OPTIONS
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.It Fl t
Set the timeout for connection attempts.  If 
.Pa timeout
seconds have elapsed since a connection was initiated to a host or since the
last time anything was read from that host, then the connection is
closed and the host in question considered unavailable.  Default is 5
seconds.
.It Fl f
Read hosts or 
.Pa addrlist namelist
pairs from this file, one per line.
If
.Pa -
is supplied instead of a filename,
.Nm
will read hosts or 
.Pa addrlist namelist
pairs from the standard input.
.El
.Sh EXAMPLES
.Pp
Print the host key for machine
.Pa hostname :
.Bd -literal
ssh-keyscan hostname
.Ed
.Pp
Find all hosts from the file
.Pa ssh_hosts
which have new or different keys from those in the sorted file
.Pa ssh_known_hosts :
.Bd -literal
ssh-keyscan -f ssh_hosts | sort -u - ssh_known_hosts | \e\ 
	diff ssh_known_hosts -
.Ed
.Pp
.Sh FILES
.Pp
.Pa Input format:
1.2.3.4,1.2.4.4 name.my.domain,name,n.my.domain,n,1.2.3.4,1.2.4.4
.Pp
.Pa Output format:
host-or-namelist bits exponent modulus
.Pp
.Pa /etc/ssh_known_hosts
.Sh BUGS
It generates "Connection closed by remote host" messages on the consoles
of all the machines it scans.
This is because it opens a connection to the ssh port, reads the public
key, and drops the connection as soon as it gets the key.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr ssh 1
.Xr sshd 8
.Sh AUTHOR
David Mazieres <dm@lcs.mit.edu>
Commit	Line	Data
f6fdbddf	1	.Dd January 1, 1996
	2	.Dt ssh-keyscan 1
	3	.Os
	4	.Sh NAME
	5	.Nm ssh-keyscan
	6	.Nd gather ssh public keys
	7	.Sh SYNOPSIS
	8	.Nm ssh-keyscan
	9	.Op Fl t Ar timeout
	10	.Op Ar -- \| host \| addrlist namelist
	11	.Op Fl f Ar files ...
	12	.Sh DESCRIPTION
	13	.Nm
	14	is a utility for gathering the public ssh host keys of a number of
	15	hosts. It was designed to aid in building and verifying
	16	.Pa ssh_known_hosts
	17	files.
	18	.Nm
	19	provides a minimal interface suitable for use by shell and perl
	20	scripts.
	21	.Pp
	22	.Nm
	23	uses non-blocking socket I/O to contact as many hosts as possible in
	24	parallel, so it is very efficient. The keys from a domain of 1,000
	25	hosts can be collected in tens of seconds, even when some of those
	26	hosts are down or do not run ssh. You do not need login access to the
	27	machines you are scanning, nor does does the scanning process involve
	28	any encryption.
	29	.Sh SECURITY
	30	If you make an ssh_known_hosts file using
	31	.Nm
	32	without verifying the keys, you will be vulnerable to
	33	.I man in the middle
	34	attacks.
	35	On the other hand, if your security model allows such a risk,
	36	.Nm
	37	can help you detect tampered keyfiles or man in the middle attacks which
	38	have begun after you created your ssh_known_hosts file.
	39	.Sh OPTIONS
	40	.Bl -tag -width Ds
	41	.It Fl t
	42	Set the timeout for connection attempts. If
	43	.Pa timeout
	44	seconds have elapsed since a connection was initiated to a host or since the
	45	last time anything was read from that host, then the connection is
	46	closed and the host in question considered unavailable. Default is 5
	47	seconds.
	48	.It Fl f
	49	Read hosts or
	50	.Pa addrlist namelist
	51	pairs from this file, one per line.
	52	If
	53	.Pa -
	54	is supplied instead of a filename,
	55	.Nm
	56	will read hosts or
	57	.Pa addrlist namelist
	58	pairs from the standard input.
9616313f	59	.El
f6fdbddf	60	.Sh EXAMPLES
	61	.Pp
	62	Print the host key for machine
	63	.Pa hostname :
	64	.Bd -literal
	65	ssh-keyscan hostname
	66	.Ed
	67	.Pp
	68	Find all hosts from the file
	69	.Pa ssh_hosts
	70	which have new or different keys from those in the sorted file
	71	.Pa ssh_known_hosts :
	72	.Bd -literal
	73	ssh-keyscan -f ssh_hosts \| sort -u - ssh_known_hosts \| \e\
	74	diff ssh_known_hosts -
	75	.Ed
	76	.Pp
	77	.Sh FILES
	78	.Pp
	79	.Pa Input format:
	80	1.2.3.4,1.2.4.4 name.my.domain,name,n.my.domain,n,1.2.3.4,1.2.4.4
	81	.Pp
	82	.Pa Output format:
	83	host-or-namelist bits exponent modulus
	84	.Pp
	85	.Pa /etc/ssh_known_hosts
	86	.Sh BUGS
	87	It generates "Connection closed by remote host" messages on the consoles
	88	of all the machines it scans.
	89	This is because it opens a connection to the ssh port, reads the public
	90	key, and drops the connection as soon as it gets the key.
	91	.Sh SEE ALSO
	92	.Xr ssh 1
	93	.Xr sshd 8
	94	.Sh AUTHOR
	95	David Mazieres <dm@lcs.mit.edu>