SSH File Generator

Overview

This simple script, gen_ssh, automates the process of generating SSH key pairs for a given email or credential and storing them in text files. It provides a convenient way to manage and organize SSH keys for secure connections.

Usage

./gen_ssh [credential] [file_name] [/path/to/dir]

Example:

./gen_ssh example1@email.com foo bar

This command generates an SSH key pair for the email credential example1@email.com, saves the private key in the text file foo and the public key in foo.pub, both located in the bar directory. Finally, it prints the content of foo.pub (the public key) to the screen.

If the destination directory already contains a file with the specified file name, the script appends a numerical suffix to create a unique file name (e.g.,foo1, foo2, ...)

Example:

./gen_ssh example2@email.com foo ~/.ssh

This command generates private and public keys - foo and foo.pub - and stores them in the ~/.ssh directory.

Example:

./gen_ssh example3@email.com foo 

For this command, since the directory field is empty, the SSH key pair is generated. The private key will be written into the file foo, while the public key is written in foo.pub and both files are stored in the ~/.ssh directory by default.

Example:

./gen_ssh example4@email.com

Here, both the directory and file name fields are empty, hence, ~/.ssh is the default directory, while id_rsa and id_rsa.pub are the default file names for the private and public keys respectively.

Error Handling:

• If the script is run without providing any parameters, it will display an error message:

Usage: ./gen_ssh [credential] [file_name] [/path/to/dir]

• If the script encounters any other errors, an appropriate error message is displayed on the screen, the script exits and the error code causing the error is set.

To see the latest error code:

echo $?

SSH Agent

The script sets up the SSH agent's environment variables to store the decrypted private key, ensuring persistent SSH connections. The private key is saved in the specified text file and must be kept private. Only the corresponding public key should be used for secure connections.

Manual Export of SSH_AUTH_SOCK:

In situations where the script is run from within a subshell or a different environment, the SSH_AUTH_SOCK variable should be exported manually to point to the correct agent socket:

export SSH_AUTH_SOCK=$(find /tmp/ssh-*/ ~/.ssh/* -type s -name agent.* 2>/dev/null | head -n 1)

This ensures that the SSH agent's environment variables are correctly set for persistent connections when the script is run from within a subshell or a different environment altogether.

Note

• Always keep your private keys secure and never share them.
• Use the corresponding public key for authentication on platforms like GitHub.

Enjoy secure and convenient SSH key management with gen_ssh!