Public bug reported: When connecting to an ssh server, that will accept two different keys for authentication, and both of them are present in the .ssh directory on the client, the client will prefer to ask the user for a passphrase for a protected keyfile instead of using an unprotected keyfile.
Asking for a passphrase when none is needed is bad for user experience and for productivity. More specifically what happens is that the ssh client will contact gnome-keyring-daemon to use a protected keyfile before it looks into the .ssh directory itself. This decision in the ssh client makes more sense with the stock ssh- agent, where a key provided by the agent is unlocked by default. With gnome-keyring-daemon, by default the agent will list all the keys that are currently protected and none of those, that are unprotected. A more appropriate order to test the keys in is: 1. Unprotected keys from ~/.ssh 2. Keys provided by the agent 3. Protected keys from ~/.ssh This will give a reasonable behavior even without knowing if keys provided by the agent are protected or not. The problem is not specific to gnome-keyring-daemon, the same problem is present when using "ssh-add -c" with a standard ssh-agent. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04 Package: openssh-client 1:5.3p1-3ubuntu7 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-33.70-generic 2.6.32.41+drm33.18 Uname: Linux 2.6.32-33-generic i686 Architecture: i386 Date: Sun Jul 24 18:54:44 2011 EcryptfsInUse: Yes InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release i386 (20110720.1) ProcEnviron: LANG=en_DK.utf8 SHELL=/bin/bash SourcePackage: openssh ** Affects: openssh (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided Status: New ** Tags: apport-bug i386 lucid -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Server Team, which is subscribed to openssh in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/815489 Title: ssh client should not ask for key passphrase when an unprotected key is available To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/openssh/+bug/815489/+subscriptions -- Ubuntu-server-bugs mailing list Ubuntu-server-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-server-bugs