why can't I connect to my ssh server UNLESS I enter eval "$(ssh-agent -s)" first?

dysprosium@lemmy.dbzer0.com to Linux@lemmy.ml – 113 points –

I have my own ssh server (on raspberry pi 5, Ubuntu Server 23) but when I try to connect from my PC using key authentication (having password disabled), I get a blank screen. A blinking cursor.

However, once I enter the command eval "$(ssh-agent -s)" and try ssh again, I successfully login after entering my passphrase. I don't want to issue this command every time. Is that possible?

This does not occur when I have password enabled on the ssh server. Also, ideally, I want to enter my passphrase EVERYTIME I connect to my server, so ideally I don't want it to be stored in cache or something. I want the passphrase to be a lil' password so that other people can't accidentally connect to my server when they use my PC.

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@dysprosium ssh agent manages your ssh keys and automatically passes them as an identity when connecting to a server

If you want to connect without it, you can simply pass -i \ flag

okay I tried that, using -i to specify private key. I get the same thing: blank / blinking cursor. When I use verbose -v flag, I see that in BOTH cases (I see about 50 lines) it ends with these two lines:

debug1: Offering public key: /home/username/.ssh/id_rsa RSA SHA256:j3MUkYzhTrjC6PHkIbre3O(etc) agent
debug1: Server accepts key: /home/username/.ssh/id_rsa RSA SHA256:j3MUkYzhTrjC6PHkIbre3OT(etc) agent

where (etc) is some redacted text. It seems the server is ACCEPTING the key, which is nice. But then it’s still a blinking cursor…