SSH Key Manager

A comprehensive SSH key management tool that provides a menu-driven interface for managing SSH keys in the ssh-agent. This tool is designed to simplify the process of managing SSH keys across different platforms while providing robust error handling and logging capabilities.

Features

• Menu-Driven Interface: Easy-to-use command-line interface for managing SSH keys
• Cross-Platform Support: Works on both macOS and Linux systems
• Automatic SSH Agent Management:
  • Automatically starts ssh-agent if not running
  • Manages agent environment variables
  • Handles key loading and unloading
• Key Management:
  • Load keys from SSH directory
  • List currently loaded keys
  • Delete individual keys
  • Delete all keys at once
• Directory Management:
  • Validate SSH directory permissions
  • Support for custom SSH directories
  • Automatic directory creation with correct permissions
• Comprehensive Logging:
  • Platform-specific log locations
  • Log rotation (1MB max size, 5 files)
  • Detailed operation logging
  • Error and warning tracking

Requirements

• Bash shell (version 4.0 or higher)
• SSH tools installed (ssh-add, ssh-agent)
• Write permissions to log directory
• Read/Write permissions to SSH directory

Installation

1. Download the script:

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ggthedev/ssh-key-manager/main/LOADSSHKey.sh

2. Make the script executable:

chmod +x LOADSSHKey.sh

3. (Optional) Move to a directory in your PATH:

sudo mv LOADSSHKey.sh /usr/local/bin/ssh-key-manager

Usage

Basic Usage

Run the script:

./LOADSSHKey.sh

Menu Options

The script provides the following menu options:

1. Set SSH Directory: Configure the directory where SSH keys are stored

   • Default: ~/.ssh
   • Custom paths supported
   • Validates permissions automatically

2. List Current Keys: Display all keys currently loaded in ssh-agent

   • Shows key fingerprints
   • Displays key types and comments
   • Handles empty key lists gracefully

3. Reload All Keys: Clear and reload all keys from the SSH directory

   • Removes existing keys
   • Loads all valid keys from directory
   • Provides loading status

4. Display Log File Location: Show where log files are stored

   • Platform-specific locations
   • Current log file size
   • Log rotation status

5. Delete Single Key: Remove a specific key from ssh-agent

   • Interactive key selection
   • Confirmation prompt
   • Success/failure feedback

6. Delete All Keys: Remove all keys from ssh-agent

   • Confirmation required
   • Bulk removal
   • Status reporting

7. Quit: Exit the program

   • Graceful exit
   • Cleanup of temporary files
   • Log final status

Example Workflows

1. Initial Setup

# Start the script
./LOADSSHKey.sh

# Set custom SSH directory (Option 1)
Enter choice [1-6, q]: 1
Current SSH directory: /Users/user/.ssh
Select SSH directory:
  1) Use standard location (/Users/user/.ssh)
  2) Enter custom directory path
  c) Cancel
Enter choice [1-2, c]: 2
Enter full path to directory: /path/to/ssh/keys
Working directory set to: /path/to/ssh/keys

# Load keys (Option 3)
Enter choice [1-6, q]: 3
Reloading all keys...
Found 3 SSH key(s) in /path/to/ssh/keys
Adding SSH keys to agent...
Adding key: id_rsa
  ✓ Successfully added
Adding key: github_key
  ✓ Successfully added
Adding key: bitbucket_key
  ✗ Failed to add (status: 1)

Summary: 2 key(s) added, 1 key(s) failed

2. Key Management

# List current keys (Option 2)
Enter choice [1-6, q]: 2
+++ Currently Loaded SSH Keys +++
  1) 2048 SHA256:abc123... user@host (RSA)
  2) 4096 SHA256:def456... user@host (RSA)

# Delete a specific key (Option 5)
Enter choice [1-6, q]: 5
+++ Delete Single Key +++
Select a key to delete:
  1) 2048 SHA256:abc123... user@host (RSA)
  2) 4096 SHA256:def456... user@host (RSA)
Enter key number to delete (or 'c' to cancel): 1
Deleting key: 2048 SHA256:abc123... user@host (RSA)
Key successfully deleted.

3. Troubleshooting

# Check log location (Option 4)
Enter choice [1-6, q]: 4
----------------------
|Log File Information|
----------------------
Location: /Users/user/Library/Logs/sshkeygen/sshkeygen.log
Current Size: 45K

# View log contents
tail -f /Users/user/Library/Logs/sshkeygen/sshkeygen.log

Logging

The script maintains detailed logs of all operations:

• macOS: ~/Library/Logs/sshkeygen/sshkeygen.log
• Linux: /var/log/sshkeygen/sshkeygen.log or ~/.local/log/sshkeygen/sshkeygen.log

Log files are rotated when they reach 1MB in size, keeping up to 5 backup files.

Log Format

2024-03-14 10:30:45 - 12345 - INFO: Script starting
2024-03-14 10:30:45 - 12345 - INFO: Platform: Darwin
2024-03-14 10:30:45 - 12345 - INFO: User: user
2024-03-14 10:30:45 - 12345 - INFO: Host: hostname

Error Handling

The script includes comprehensive error handling:

• Directory permission validation
• SSH agent status checking
• Key loading verification
• Operation confirmation for destructive actions
• Graceful handling of missing dependencies

Common Error Messages

1. SSH Agent Not Running:

SSH agent is not running or not accessible.
Would you like to:
  1) Start SSH agent and load keys
  2) Return to main menu

2. Permission Issues:

Error: SSH directory '/path/to/ssh' is not writable

3. Key Loading Failures:

Failed to add key: id_rsa (status: 1)

Limitations

1. Platform Support:

   • Primarily tested on macOS and Linux
   • Limited support for other Unix-like systems
   • No Windows support

2. Key Types:

   • Best support for RSA and ED25519 keys
   • Limited support for other key types

3. Security:

   • Requires proper permissions for SSH directory
   • Depends on system's SSH implementation
   • No built-in encryption for stored keys

4. Performance:

   • May be slow with large numbers of keys
   • Log rotation can be resource-intensive

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions:

1. SSH Agent Not Starting:

   • Check if SSH tools are installed
   • Verify system permissions
   • Check for existing agent processes

2. Keys Not Loading:

   • Verify key file permissions (should be 600)
   • Check SSH directory permissions (should be 700)
   • Ensure keys are in correct format

3. Logging Issues:

   • Check directory permissions
   • Verify disk space
   • Ensure write access to log location

Debug Mode

To enable debug output, set the IS_VERBOSE variable to "true" in the script:

declare IS_VERBOSE="true"

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Commit your changes
4. Push to the branch
5. Create a Pull Request

Development Guidelines

• Follow the existing code style
• Add comprehensive comments
• Include tests for new features
• Update documentation
• Handle errors gracefully

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Author

Gaurav Gupta

Version History

• 1.0.0 (2024-03-14)
  • Initial release
  • Basic key management functionality
  • Cross-platform support
  • Logging system